Tell

In poker you call it the tell. With all the televised poker the term, "tell," is making its way into the common vernacular. This evening, in the Austin, Texas, debate Hillary Clinton had a couple of tells.

Many other commentators have talked about it. When watching her closing remarks, which I felt were authentic and from the heart, I had a sense that they were valedictory in nature. It was a tell. She was showing her hand.

After the debates, Hillary spoke to a crowd at a nearby hotel. She said she was in the race to win. That Texas was going to make the difference. It was a wonderful whistling in the dark kind of speech.

But, the tell told it all. Interestingly enough, the language in those valedictory remarks were close to verbatim from remarks John Edwards made in a debate in December, as well as a speech Bill Clinton gave in the early 90’s. I don’t think that is plagiarism. Obama didn’t plagiarize either. And, by the way, Hillary deserved the boo’s for the “You can create change with a Xerox,” statement. That was clearly written for her by one of her handlers/speechwriters. It fell flat.

So, what does the tell, tell us. It is clear to me, that there is a struggle among the Clintonistas. On the one hand are those who would have Hillary exit with grace and dignity and a poise that allows her to become a party leader, a Senate leader and live to lead another day in another battle. On the other hand are those who would have her fight all the way to the convention. They would battle over Florida and Michigan delegates and battle over superdelegates. Hillary herself is torn.

The tell showed the hand. As I wrote earlier regarding Kubler-Ross’s five stages of grief, the Clintonistas are working their way through the stages. Hillary’s wistful final remarks in last night’s debate show us she is working through them as well.