A friend just showed me a clay-motion rendition of the 5 stages of Grief they found hilarious (from robot chicken on adult swim). Watching this i thought back to behavioural sciences classes, and found an amazing amount of similarity between this and the feelings that the Die Hard Hillary supporters (and indeed Hillary herself) have been demonstrating.
Take note that these phases are seen in all types of grieving, from loss of a loved one, to not getting accepted for that job you've been after etc..., they may occur in any order, and some phases may (and do) repeat themselves
Here are just a few of the observations i have noticed throughout the course of the campaign and even in some of my friends who have threatened to defect to McCain
1. Denial - During the last months of the campaign, the numbers said the race was over, most newspapers had declared Obama the presumptive nominee, and women everywhere were ignoring the numbers. When all along it was clear how extremely unlikely it was for Hillary to won the nomination, none of them were prepared for her loss.
2. Anger - Immediately after Hillary announced her endorsement of Obama there was an uproar from all her supporters. In fact as the great ship Hillary was in one of her many repeated bargaining phases Harriet Christian was very angry. Indeed the threats to Vote republican can be placed neatly in this category...
Don't forget that being a politician it is absolutely forbidden to project anger at the podium for anything less than a terrorist attack, so I doubt we will have a video of this phase for Hillary anywhere on you tube.
3. Bargaining - remember Michigan and Florida? she was pleading with the democratic committee to change the rules for her. Right now most die hard Hillary supporters are in this phase, betting on Hill's for the VP position.
I can see this being the most prolonged phase for Hill's, the Clintons being fantastically business minded I suppose it must be second (possible first) nature for them to strike deals when times get difficult.
4. Depression - As i see it we should be entering depression soon after Obama announces the obvious, (that not only will Hillary not be the VP... but she will also not be allowed within 50 feet of the Whitehouse)...
Although i some how suspect that between each phase transition with the hillary supporters, many revert back to anger before progressing one more step towards acceptance...
Warning, watch out for some transiently angry white working class voters in the coming months!
5. Acceptence - Bliss, People can continue with their lives. Hillary supporters voted for Obama (who is now president), There is world peace (I know... denial), Hillary is home making cookie's, whilst Bill is out appreciating the free life he still has, and I can finally stop reading real newspapers and go back to The Onion.
These examples I've produced are not exhaustive. I am certain that there is much more of this we can demonstrate throughout the campaign on both sides... if you have any examples attach them to the thread and lets see if we cant delve a little deeper into what she was going through.
