Hillary in the rearview mirror
Rob Price

Watching the gradual implosion of Hillary Clinton's campaign didn't feel exactly like watching a great Shakespearean tragedy unfold. But Hillary's gradual loss to Barack had a kind of jaw-dropping impact nonetheless. In five months, starting in January, the woman who looked like a sure bet to become the country's 44th president now is looking only like a pretty good bet to become the country's 45th or 46th president.

Because mark my words, Hillary is not going away. A Wall Street Journal columnist - whose name I have forgotten - once predicted Hillary Clinton will someday make it into the Oval Office if she has to march every voter in the country into a voting booth and hold a gun to their head. And I agree.

All the same, I hope Hillary doesn't spend a lot of effort trying to become Barack Obama's running mate. A lot of the country is suffering from Clinton fatigue, and Hillary must be a little pooped herself. I hope she and her husband take a little time off from politics, go on a vacation; maybe visit a couple bed and breakfasts in upstate New York - where my wife and I might run into them and buy them a drink. That would be a fun evening!

Here's what I would tell Hillary: You must be feeling disappointed. But about that glass ceiling? It's broken. You broke it. You're the first woman to run a credible campaign for the U.S. presidency. And you almost won. In politics, someone has to lose. Just because you lost doesn't mean the country can't abide the idea of a woman president. Big beefy coal miners in West Virginia voted for you. Tough old farmers in central Pennsylvania voted for you. You showed us what a woman president would look like, and we didn't swoon. A lot of us liked you.

Most of us don't care much about people who lose presidential primaries, but I wouldn't be surprised to see books written about Hillary's campaign. There will be play by play accounts of the elections and caucuses; analyses of the campaign's big strategic mistakes, marvelous accounts of Bill Clinton's big blowups - What was he thinking? - and perhaps a few thoughtful pieces on the Clintons' relationship with the media.

Rarely has so much media spleen been vented on one candidate. Peggy Noonan, whom I generally enjoy reading for the conservative line, called Hillary's campaign "the How Else Can I Offend You tour." Christopher Hitchens asked: "What do you have to forget or overlook in order to desire that this dysfunctional clan once more occupies the White House and is again in a position to rent the Lincoln Bedroom to campaign donors and to employ the Oval Office as a massage parlor?"

I confess to some conflicting emotions on my own part when it comes to Hillary Clinton. During her campaign there were times I said to myself, "Okay, she would probably make a pretty good president." And there were other times, generally while she was spouting some self-righteous platitude, when I wished she'd just fall of the stage.

That's what I mean about Clinton fatigue. When the simple sound of a politician's voice begins to grate, it's time to give that politician a rest. Let them get their real voice back - the voice they used with their children, or their spouse. Hillary didn't find her voice in New Hampshire; she lost it when she decided to calculate how every public utterance would play out in a campaign for the presidency.

So she needs to step back, call it a day and use the next few years to reflect honestly on how the campaign got away from her. She needs to address the mistakes she made; she needs to reflect on what personal flaws may have gone into Democrats swinging gradually behind Barack Obama. And I hope she decides the media is not her enemy, but instead is filled mostly with people who are ready to like her, but for some reason feel uneasy with the prospect of covering another Clinton presidency.

I've seen Hillary Clinton in person on two occasions and liked her personally. Her visit to Alfred University nine years ago was an actual fun occasion - and Hillary seemed to enjoy just hanging out with people who came to hear her talk. She has a great big booming laugh that's as natural as the sunrise. And I hope she gets it back.