A true leader – a person made of presidential stuff – does not leave her shell-shocked supporters standing before an empty stage, literally speechless.
Not liking what she saw on the U.S. federal election scoreboard Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton picked up her ball and went home, leaving one of her handlers to tell her dejected followers to do the same.
Election night was the time for the Democrat leader to speak to the people who fought for her presidency for long months and years.
We think waiting until morning just doesn’t cut it.
President-elect Donald Trump’s victory speech can only be described as surprisingly noble, at least until it started to sound like he was accepting an Oscar.
Much was said during this horribly uncivil election campaign about who is fit to lead a great nation like the United States, who is possessed of a president’s temperament, and who is not.
Much was said, in speculation, about how Trump would respond to what almost every pundit predicted to be his imminent defeat at the polls on Tuesday.
Clinton, in defeat, could have made the speech of her life in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
She could have tried to build bridges, as she often spoke of during her campaign.
Now, that would have been a legacy. One from the heart, for the history books.
Sleeping it off, to make a speech the following morning, is not what good leaders do. Good leaders rise to difficult occasions, especially on the world stage.
Clinton could have shone.
Instead, she slinked off the battlefield.
The Now
Did the right person win?#ElectionNight #Trump2016 #Clinton2016 #ElectionHangover #ElectionResults
— The Now Newspaper (@TheNowNewspaper) November 9, 2016