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Some reflections, now that the dust is beginning to settle from the primary.

Hillary is doing the best she can. Her behavior throughout the campaign has been on a continuum, sometimes more toward one end or the other, but it’s all been of a type.

She and Bill and some followers believe she's been treated unfairly because she's a woman, that she’s been criticized for no reason, persecuted by the media, and forced by others from her previously-assigned place of Democratic nominee.

Publicly, she has not admitted that she and her campaign have made any mistakes or have had any part in her loss: Others made her lose.

These are statements of one who sees herself as a victim. She could no more act like Obama and be sincere than vice versa.  That's not who she is.

Hillary and Bill and her campaign have called to similar victim beliefs in many of her supporters, notably some women who probably comprise a small percentage of the 18M who voted for Hillary.

During the campaign, they recognized her themes as their own: They, too, are treated unfairly because they're women, criticized for no reason, persecuted by those in power, and forced from what is rightfully theirs in this world.

Hillary projected onto them her own emotions, and they responded by identifying with her. IF ONLY Hillary would win, THEN she'll rise above her victim status, and I will, too, and my life will be fixed.

Hillary's losing means they have lost their one chance to escape their deep misery.

For Hillary and these supporters, salvation or damnation comes from forces outside themselves, rather than from within. This is implicit in many cases of “if only/then” reasoning.

Virtually everyone uses this reasoning, just not always to this extent. As with all our beliefs and emotions, it’s not a rational process. Providing these women with additional information or logical reasoning is the language of the mind. They are speaking from the language of values and feelings.

Research suggests that, in these cases, those in the women’s position become more resistant to your rational stance, and their anger escalates.

It may be that, in the next 5 months, some will decide to vote for Obama. Some may not be able to act in their own best interests and may vote for McCain. I’m guessing that, either way, they’ll reach this decision by themselves, rather than from efforts by others.

If I’m ready for a concept, it’ll be everywhere - I’ll hear it in songs on the radio, see it in TV ads, practically have a sky-writing plane spell it out. If I’m not ready, nothing short of someone sawing off the top of by head and pouring in the concept will make a difference.

Because of the depth of these women’s hurts, it’s about them, rather than about Hillary, so of course they turn on her when she abandons them.

I wish peace for them and bless them on their way.

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If Hillary were a man, what would the wise heads in the party do right now?  What would the media be doing?

No, it's not the same because Hillary's the first female candidate, but maybe the male version is Hispanic and has all the labor union endorsements rather than Hillary's supposed locked-up block of women and working class folks.

Would they treat "him" the exact way they're treating Hillary?  Would they say he needs to catch his breath and take his time to concede on his own schedule?

Would everyone be tiptoeing around, afraid to anger him?

Would he have been given the air time and intense attention the last 24 hours that Hillary has?  Would the media have let him hijack Obama's historic night?

Alternately, would a male candidate likely be handling the situation as Hillary is, or is her style here more (stereo)typically female?  Would a male more (stereo)typically have a different approach?  It's not this simple, but it's akin to guys being less likely to ask directions.

Hillary & crew have accused the media of sexism toward her.  Are they cutting her extra slack because of her attacks on them?  By her accusations, has she introduced sexism into the equation in a way it wouldn't be otherwise?

By contrast, I haven't heard that Obama's brought up racism in similar ways.

Of course, there's no way to answer these questions, but I'm dumbfounded and uneasy about her behavior and am looking for a framework that makes sense.

If it's two days beyond the new moon, in the 7th month of the 5th year after the 2nd decade since that one eclipse ...

Check out her "nuclear option" for the Rules and Bylaws Committee to vaporize Obama and blast herself into the White House.

This over at Huffington Post: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/04/clinton-camp-considering_n_100051.html

It may never end. 

Is there more info about formatting posts than the options above the text box - Bold, Italic, Underline, etc.?

It seems that someone mentioned it a few days ago, but I'm not finding anything.

Thanks, Scott P.