Posted on 05/11/2008 1:35:50 PM PDT by The_Republican
Three days after last Tuesday's primaries seemingly tilted the Democratic presidential nomination decisively toward Barack Obama, the surprising fact was that almost half the party's senators had not announced a choice between him and Hillary Clinton. Twenty-one of the 49 Democratic senators were publicly silent as the last six primaries approached.
Those senators, along with most other Democrats, desperately want the race to be over so the winner can start focusing on John McCain. But Dick Durbin understands their reluctance to step forward ahead of the other 200-odd uncommitted superdelegates who have the power to bring this marathon to an end.
As Senate majority whip, charged with rounding up votes on all the major issues, he knows their psychology well. "They want to avoid hard votes," Durbin told me at midweek, referring to his colleagues. "They want to be spared controversy. Most of them are looking for certainty, for inevitability, before they commit."
Durbin, who encouraged his fellow Illinoisan to run, said he thought Tuesday's results -- an Obama landslide in North Carolina and a narrow loss in Indiana -- should be enough to meet the "inevitability" standard.
But the ranks of the uncommitted did not thin significantly in those first 72 hours, lending force to Durbin's analysis.
The question is: What is the cost at this point of delaying Obama's triumph?
The answer you hear from Obama's headquarters is that the time lag from May 6 to June 3, the last day of voting, is not much of a problem, so long as Clinton does not use it mainly to point out his weaknesses. His aides don't want four more weeks of claims from the Clinton camp about gaps in his health plan or his vulnerability with Catholics, women and blue-collar white males.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
They’re all hoping that Obama self-destucts.
Obama’s campaign is now trying to avoid any and all questions...he must be the one.
"They want to avoid hard votes," Durbin told me at midweek, referring to his colleagues. "They want to be spared controversy. Most of them are looking for certainty, for inevitability, before they commit."
Actually, they're angling for the annual Profiles in Courage award. </sarcasm>What was it that Rush used to say -
"Consensus is the absence of leadership?" Yeah, I thought that was it . . .
"Consensus is the absence of leadership."
Google confirms that quote originated with Margaret Thatcher.
I don't know that I've ever read such a whiny, complaining story before. Whats'a matter David, your guy can't hack it?
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