TIME’S UP HILLARY

She had a great run but should move on now.

President Barack Obama (ah, it feels good to say that!) said during the 2016 presidential campaign that Hillary Clinton was the most qualified candidate in history. That might be true.

The former first lady spent eight years, not just in the White House but as an active participant. Before that she supported Bill Clinton’s work in the governor’s mansion in Arkansas.

Hillary became a U.S. Senator representing the great state of New York City, er, New York. She served in the Obama administration as secretary of state and was in the situation room the night Osama bin Laden was killed. Then she won the Democratic nomination for president.

On Election Day, Hillary tallied more popular votes than Electoral College winner Trump. (Full disclosure, I voted for Hillary in the general election after voting for Bernie Sanders in the primary. And I took a long look at John Kasich during the Republican primary.)

Whether you agree or disagree with her policy-wise, Hillary’s intellectual capacity is undeniable. As did President Obama and President Clinton, she demonstrates depth of knowledge on a wide range of topics, from the economy to global affairs.

Hillary has reached celebrity status, cemented by the public often referring to her, like Oprah and Beyonce, on a first-name only basis. Hillary. She’s inspired tens of millions of women and girls to reach higher than maybe they thought they could – or have been allowed to reach.

Hillary’s had a pretty darn good life. The aforementioned accomplishments are extraordinary. Her speaking fees are astronomical. It’s been reported she fetches $200,000, sometimes much more, for a speech. And she’s raised a smart, grounded daughter.

For sure there have been tough periods, Bill Clinton’s impeachment among them, but overall it has been a great run.

Now go away Hillary.

Her book, and book tour, should be the last we hear from Hillary for a long, long time.

After a lifetime of high achievement that would fill most people’s life experiences bucket to the brim, there is nothing left to prove.

The longer Hillary stays the more she’ll have to explain what happened, how she, arguably the most qualified candidate in history, lost to the most unqualified candidate in history.

The reasons Hillary lost have been well-documented.

But one reason stands above all others. She didn’t run a winning campaign. It happened in 2008 and again in 2016.

Hillary and her strategists missed the critical importance of boots on the ground in working-class counties in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in the days leading up to Election Day. She was cruising when she should have been visibly engaged with those voters – grinding it out - at the grassroots level up until the last possible moment.

That’s what cost Hillary the election, her failure to better connect with the working class.

Undeniable, oft-proven Russian interference, and possible collusion by Trump officials, certainly hurt. Too many disaffected Bernie Sanders supporters didn’t help, either. Unpatriotic voter I.D. laws, designed to stop minorities from voting, didn’t help (by suppressing the right to vote we are becoming a rogue, third-world nation when it comes to elections).

Then-FBI Director James Comey’s horrific stirring of the private email server pot, just days before the election, didn’t help. The stench and stupidity of Bill Clinton’s tarmac meeting with then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch didn’t help.

And it didn’t help that so many men, unable to handle the thought of a smart woman as commander in chief, cast their vote elsewhere, not because of policy but because of gender. Pathetic.

Even with this mountainous wall of opposition, a bigger wall than Obama faced, Hillary’s campaign should have seized and won a winnable election. But her campaign operation didn’t come through.

Now, suspicion looms over Hillary, the DNC, and the country in the wake of the election.

The recently reported financial sponsorship of the DNC by Hillary’s campaign, which surely hurt Bernie Sanders, has led some to question whether the DNC primary was compromised. Accusations of a rigged primary have not been proven, but it seems likely Hillary had an advantage. How could she not?

Between the Rusher thing (as Trump called Russia during his interview with Lester Holt) and the DNC-Hillary revelation, the U.S. political system is sinking into blatant, over-the-top thievery and recklessness. Our country has traditionally rejected this as being the stuff of banana republics. It’s not hyperbole to say our democracy is hanging in the balance right now.

The fact is Hillary elicits an extreme, negative reaction by Republicans at the very moment we need politicians from both sides who can work together. Realistically, she should follow Harry Reid, John Boehner, and Charlie Rangel, all of whom knew when to say when, and leave the political stage.

Besides Hillary, other Dems who should go include Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Patrick Leahy, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Donna Brazile. (The formidable, entertaining Maxine Waters should stay as should Independent Bernie Sanders, both of whom possess fresh ideas and youthful energy.)

It’s time for Dems to clear the way for smart people like Kamala Harris, Eric Swalwell, Amy Klobuchar, Ted Lieu, Adam Schiff and Tom Perez.

And the GOP needs to do the same, as both parties are in dire need of reset so a broken America can be repaired.

Seriously, is America going to be modern and progressive if we’re dependent on Senate leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan? GOP, give us more Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, David Jolly and Steve Schmidt, and less Mitch and Paul.

Considering she is so very deeply polarizing and lost at two chances at the presidency, now is the time for Hillary (and Bill) to permanently step aside and make way for the next generation.

Go away Hillary.

And Chelsea, don’t even think about it.

Douglas FreelandNovember 16, 2017