Post-Run Interview with Hillary
By LisaB on June 16, 2008 at 3:30 PM in Barack Obama, Clinton, Current Affairs, Democratic Party, Democrats, Gender Bias, General Election, Hillary Clinton
John Heilemann interviews Hillary Clinton for an article in the NY Magazine. It is quite interesting, offering some new perspective and some post mortem thoughts not found elsewhere (yet). I think what Heilemann says here will gradually appear elsewhere. He says that by losing, Hillary has at least gained something: stature and respect. I think he’s absolutely right and all the PUMA activity is evidence of exactly that.
Here is what Hillary said about herself and one of the reasons we still want HER.
Clinton, in fact, makes no bones about the matter when we speak. “I’m not a very comfortable public figure,” she explains. “I don’t particularly like the attention. I like the work. I like the sense of forward movement and progress. At the end of the day, what I’m interested in is what we’ve done that actually moves the agenda forward.”
Heilemann also says the democrats may have a new group to worry about, a la the Reagan democrats – the Hillary democrats. And, as to whether or not Hillary would be Obama’s VP – as many of us hope she does NOT do, Heilemann offers this:
If the call doesn’t come from Obama, Clinton will return to the Senate—where, in many ways, she will instantly become the first among equals. “She’ll be greatly, greatly enhanced,” says former senator Bob Kerrey. “She’ll have the most valuable e-mail list in the Senate. She’ll be the most heavily sought out person in the Congress as an endorser, a fund-raiser. Everybody is gonna want to have her come and campaign for them. She’s gonna be at the very top of everybody’s list.”
In this sense, if Obama wishes to marginalize her, he may offer the VP.
Also quite interesting is the fact that Hillary allowed herself to go on record as pessimistic about Obama’s chances in the fall. This is backed up by a discussion of the relative coalitions both candidates forged and should serve as a warning to the DNC, but is not likely to. Given Gov. Strickland’s unwillingness to endorse Obama and Gov. Rendell’s recent experiences with the Obama campaign (and the fact it was reported), it seems something is going on.
It’s worth your time to read this; even the accompanying pictures are good.

















