In her famous 1969 book “On Death and Dying”, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross describes the five stages of grief by which people deal with grief and tragedy. Since Barack Obama’s victory in Iowa on January 3rd, we may be seeing Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill go through Ms. Kübler-Ross’s five stages as Barack Obama slowly but surely takes the nomination away from her.

First, there is denial, “this can’t be happening to me”. This stage was epitomized by Bill Clinton’s comparing Barack Obama’s win in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson’s similar but different win in 1988 in the same state. Barack Obama’s win, coming after taking Iowa, almost winning New Hampshire, and positioning himself as the leading contender to take the nomination away from Hillary, was certainly real. That the Clintons tried to convince themselves that this was all just a fairy tale was typical denial mode.

The next stage after denial is anger. “Why me? It’s not fair.” Both Hillary and Bill have exhibited anger throughout the primary, but the highlight of their anger came after the debate in Texas, when Team Hillary began to complain about press bias, called shame on Barack Obama for his hits on her Nafta and healthcare positions, and with Bill’s wagging finger (which still hasn’t quite gone away).

Anger only lasts so long, however, and has to give way to a more reasoned emotion. The third step in the grieving process is called bargaining. When dealing with death and dying, it is an attempt to reason with terminal illness and extend the living process to just another day. Hillary Clinton is in the midst of the bargaining process with the electorate right now.

The odds are against Senator Clinton. By winning in a few states and garnering a few extra delegates here and there, Ms. Clinton is trying to bargain her way out of impending doom. If only, she argues, she can gain a few delegates here and a few over there, perhaps she can magically make the 150-odd delegate lead that Senator Obama has go away. She must also somehow argue that Michigan and Florida count, and in particular that her 55% score in Michigan (which at the time was seen to be quite low, given that she was the only candidate) is valid. Fantastical arguments are all part of the bargaining process.

It is likely that the bargaining stage will last at least until May 6th if not until June 3rd, when all the states will have voted. By then, it should be obvious to Clinton that she cannot overtake Obama in either delegates or votes cast. At that stage, she would enter the fourth stage of grief, depression. Depression has to come before stage five, acceptance.

The Clintons’ depression stage will likely take part in private, with friends, colleagues, leading supporters and the like. Except for Bill, that is, whose narcissistic ways will likely provoke him into displays of self-pity for all to see. All of these stages fall into the natural rhythm of their surrounding environs. In this case, the window will close in August, at the convention.

What this means then is that it could take Senator Clinton until mid-July or so to fully come into the acceptance stage, “It’s going to be OK.” We’ve already seen some symptoms crop up. It did in the debate in Texas, where she told the audience of what an honor it was to simply be there with Obama. We’ve also seen it during the Philadelphia debate (“Yes. Yes. Yes. He can win.”) and in her pledge to do everything she can to make sure that a Democratic candidate takes the White House.

For all the cynicism about Senator Clinton and her husband’s conduct during this campaign, it must be remembered that she is a person who has stood by her arguably less intelligent husband for over 30 years despite his philandering, triangulating, and his advancement due to a luck in gender that she did not have. He gained successes that she played an equal part in achieving. When finally society had advanced to a degree that it was possible for a woman of her capabilities to be elected president, she has found to her chagrin that her time has past. What she gained for her husband came at a considerable cost for her own possibilities.

It is not simply that she feels that the
presidency rightfully belonged to her; it is that in a way, she has earned it
more than anyone can imagine. But what she paid for in spades was no doubt
based on an progressive ideology that, in the end, should make her step back from
the abyss many are accusing her of stepping into. Nonetheless, no-one should totally
fault her for going through a serious and most public grieving process.