Why It Works During his veep run in 1952, facing illegal campaign donation charges, Nixon said in his “Checkers speech” that he would stay put, silencing calls for him to step aside. With her nomination hopes dimming, Clinton has similarly turned the pressure on her to quit into a display of her willingness to tough it out.
Why It Doesn’t There’s a big moral difference between weathering self-inflicted scandals and fighting back for the chance to win a still-unresolved election. Also, while Nixon did quit over Watergate in 1974—after saying for more than a year that he wouldn’t—Clinton might never walk away. She could just lose.
