WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hillary Clinton fell short of political immortality in her quest to be the first woman president, but she is re
lishing the "18 million cracks" she punched in America's highest glass ceiling.
As she shelved her campaign, and admitted defeat for her hopes for a return to the White House in her own right, Clinton could take consolation in her new status as a pathbreaking, historic figure.
"If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House," she told 2,000 supporters who turned up to see her endorse Democratic rival Barack Obama, the presumptive party nominee.
"Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it," she said, referring to her tally of Democratic nominating votes.
"And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time."
Senator Clinton, 60, said she did not run as a woman, but in the belief, which she apparently still harbors, that she would be the best president.
Despite her losing the five month, coast-to-coast Democratic nominating marathon, the former first lady moved confidently out of her husband Bill Clinton's shadow, despite his status as a two-term president.
She also solidified a constituency of Democratic voters, many of them white, working class, and women, who are crucial in a general election, that look to her for direction.
On the downside, and despite a vaunted political machine, Clinton's campaign was beset by internal divisions, missteps and a failure to recognize that Obama's "change" not her "experience" matched America's current foul mood.
Stunningly, for a couple seen as America's most gifted political duo, the Clintons were outwitted and out-organized by the insurgent Obama who piled up delegate victories, even while she won bigger, more solidly Democratic states.
Clinton finally found her voice, only when her campaign was all but over, rejecting the poll-tested, marketing messages of her handlers, to become a crusader for the working class, with a populist economic message to match.
Clinton put a brave face on her loss.
"Today, I have never felt so blessed," she said, as she stared out at a phalanx of television cameras and the waving arms of supporters.
"The challenges that I have faced in this campaign are nothing compared to those that millions of Americans face every day in their own lives.
"I'm going to count my blessings and keep on going," she said.
Exactly what Clinton will do now though, is unclear.
The Clintonian powers of redemption, recovery, and hunger for the political fight are such, that they will not be consigned to history just yet.
But the shape of Clinton's political career is now be out of her hands: if Obama wins the presidency, and she is not chosen as his vice president, her dreams of the White House are probably over.
If he loses however, she may be unable to resist an "I told you so" run in 2012, when Senator Clinton would still be only 64.
Obama might offer a cabinet post, or ask her to pilot healthcare reform, her signature issue, through the Senate.
In future, a Senate leadership post might be on offer, though the chamber's seniority rules may mean a long wait.
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