generalities

I am guilty of this myself, all the time -- when a person says, "That's not fair!" it usually signals a displacement of logic and is more or less an emotional knee jerk. And I get annoyed with myself for doing this (Remember my adorable outburst of a month ago when I was frustrated with Clinton for persisting in campaigning? Totally sheeshed at myself ever since!). But as a practitioner of that mentality, I empathize. And people who are currently invested in Clinton the person have spent so much time identifying with her struggle and relating to her that for the time being, they are wholeheartedly adopting her perceptible bitterness over being "robbed." It's not a smart way to feel, and I think plenty of people will quickly feel a little silly about it, but I don't anticipate any news stories about the Hillary hangover to be cropping up.

That Frank Rich bit about the "angry white women" is the recognizable, well-drummed dramatic point, and I imagine that's the engine that will fuel commentary of her campaign in the weeks ahead. And that's a shame, but for me it doesn't change the sense that Obama is a superior candidate, and the timing here didn't work out for Clinton. It's just too bad, as usual, that the complexity of feelings will never be represented. It's been a fascinating battle and I hope it's been compelling enough to produce a revolutionary change in the population's investment in politics.

Diana