Poor Hillary

I know it's not over yet, but I have to say I feel bad for Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. With Barack Obama coming in first in the Iowa caucuses and John Edwards coming in second, Clinton was left with third place, a disappointing setback for her campaign, even though her husband won the presidency without competing in the Iowa caucuses.

Republican presidential hopeful and former Iowa front-runner Mitt Romney experienced a similar setback with Mike Huckabee winning the caucuses today. But I don't feel badly for this phony.

As a former figure skater, I can't help but be reminded of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games when I think about Clinton's candidacy and its current condition. In the skating contest in Nagano, everyone expected Michelle Kwan, the longtime favorite who was well-known in the skating world, to win. But out of nowhere came Tara Lipinski, a 15-year-old who had technical elements Kwan couldn't match. Just as Obama seems to have something innate that Clinton does not possess and is using it to take away her lifelong dream that if she doesn't achieve this year she may never fulfill, Lipinski snatched away Kwan's Olympic gold medal, a defeat Kwan was never able to overcome (two subsequent Olympic tries resulted in a bronze medal and a last-minute drop out).

I am having to realign my vote now that Joe Biden dropped out of the race, and I can't say I will vote for Clinton, despite the fact that I feel she is the most qualified candidate for the job and I love the idea of having a woman president. I don't think my pity should result in a vote, but I can't help but feel that Clinton has worked hard for this for so many years, she has dreamed about this since at least college, and it could all come crashing down before her eyes at the hands of a newcomer whom in some ways she just can't compete with. I am pretty new to politics, hence the figure skating comparison, so I'm not sure if this kind of thing happens all the time, but, despite how I feel about Obama and his policies (both of which I like), I know I will feel as though the world is so unfair if he gets the nomination.