[nopardons]

I agree with you, but..........

They brilliantly waited, until Kerry had ALL of the delegates he needs to make him the OFFICIAL Dem presidential candidate.The Bush team, unlike some FREEPERS, knew that garnering the full amount of delegates, negates a brokered convention in Boston;which completely does away with Hillary being anointed there. :-)

[tonyinv]

We all know that in the end, Kerry will be seen as a bigtime loser by the party faithful (only slightly less of loser than Gore is considered). And they will blame Karl Rove for somehow picking Kerry as the nominee of the party. They'll piss and moan about how unfair it was for the Bush camp not to show their hand before they got stuck with Kerry.

As for Hillary, dont believe that she couldn't muscle her way into being the nominee if she really thought she could beat President Bush. The dems dont care about well established election law, what makes you think they'll give a crap about the nomination process?

[dpwiener]

They brilliantly waited, until Kerry had ALL of the delegates he needs to make him the OFFICIAL Dem presidential candidate.

The Bush campaign has been faced with the delicate task of not destroying the likely Democratic nominee too soon. Dean would have been the weakest opponent, but he self-destructed (with some help from conservative voices who picked apart his contradictions). Clark would have been another weak opponent, but he self-destructed before he ever really got going (again with help from conservative pundits and talk show hosts). Edwards, even with his lack of experience, was shaping up as a very dangerous opponent for Bush. So the Bush campaign avoided heavy attacks on Kerry until Kerry had locked up the nomination.

It's still a bit of a balancing act. Kerry enjoyed a brief surge in the polls which temporarily put him ahead of Bush. Now the Bush/Cheney counterattacks and the Bush TV advertising is reversing that. Kerry wasn't tested under fire very heavily in the primaries, and he could wilt very fast. He's already shown a tendency to make major blunders.

If Kerry begins to plunge in the polls, the Democrats could get desperate and try to find a replacement candidate. The Democratic Party can still find ways to torpedo Kerry and force him to withdraw if his chances look hopeless (even though he officially has enough committed delegates to win). After all, "electibility" is the be-all and end-all this year.

So the Bush campaign has to hurt Kerry but not totally decapitate Kerry before the August convention. It will be interesting to observe whether that balance is possible.

[Robert_Paulson2]

unless she has him "wellstoned" so to speak...
then all bets are off... unless of course she is number two...

I look for shennanigans... but Bush WAS wise, to wait... till after they were married... Kerry and the Dems that is.

[ohioWfan]

Is there anyone still in doubt that the Bush team knows what it's doing?

If they are, they shouldn't be......

[Bigg Red]

...which completely does away with Hillary being anointed there.

**

They can still put her on as VP, though. So scary!

[Golden Gate]

I'm curious about the current delegate count for Jfk.

#17 = You've got Jfk as the "the OFFICIAL Dem presidential candidate."

My question is, - is it official already? - (Obviously he's close & he's on a flip-flop roll!)
According to FR's CounterCounterCulture, and also the The Green Papers, it requires 2,162 delegates to nominate the Democrat.

The Green Papers has Jfk @ 1,935 delegates. It further sorts them as "Hard" and "Soft":
for Jfk:   Hard: 1,610.5; and Soft: 1,935.   Wed Mar 17 2004

I still think that none of the Dem primary candidates or the popular Dem leaders are suitable to lead the Dems, or lead the country.

Dems need to first change their philosophy and platform, before they worry about trying to win an election. We need a nationwide talent search for a Democrat who is suitable to be the Democrat nominee. I'm still for a brokered convention, - but we haven't found the right person. Some little-known Congressman or state-level Dem (or some competent Dem in business or the military...) who has the willingness to work for conservative reform in the Dem Party would be better than the names we've seen suggested thus far.

If Jfk hasn't yet reached the magic number of delegates, - wouldn't if be wonderful if flip-flop Kerry were to flounder in the remaining primaries!
        (Nomination?! - what nomination...)

FYI - The Green Papers