Posted on 02/13/2008 7:00:20 AM PST by jdm
After Barack Obama swept the Potomac Primaries last night, one might have expected Hillary Clinton to say a few words to her supporters to explain the losses. If so, the crowds that turned out for her in Texas had to manage their disappointment. They managed to let her know when they disagreed with her, however:
As news of her triple defeat in the Potomac Primary sank in, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton did what has become a specialty in recent weeks: She headed someplace else.
After flying from Virginia to Texas for a rally on Tuesday night, Clinton did not publicly acknowledge, even in passing, that three significant primaries had taken place that day and her campaign had not issued a statement hours after results were announced. ...
When Clinton mentioned having differences with Obama over health care and the mortgage crisis, she was booed. Her comments continued past 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, as the polls in Maryland closed and the race was called for Obama, but in the giant arena, with a crowd her campaign estimated at 12,000, it seemed as though the defeat had not happened.
She talked about George Bush and Barack Obama being "all hat and no cattle," a rather strange reference for someone who has no executive experience at all. Her only public-policy leadership experience came from a task force that attempted to nationalize health care and lost her party control of Congress. In fact, the debacle was so bad that the Clintons have kept the records from going public for months.
It also might cause a few people to recall Hillary's history with "more cattle". Questions still remain about how she managed to turn $1,000 in cattle futures into a $100,000 profit. What was the wife of the governor of Arkansas doing in partnering with the head of a corporation in a state-regulated industry to turn an almost unheard-of profit from a minimal investment? Talk about all hat, no cattle!
Beyond that, though, Hillary still remains the favorite to win the nomination. She now trails in overall delegates for the first time, and in pledged delegates Obama leads by over a hundred, 1059-956. Without the 796 superdelegates, neither can win the 2,025 delegates necessary to get the nomination, and the primary map will soon start favoring Hillary. I doubt that the gap will get much wider, and it will likely narrow considerably. Unless Obama can keep widening it all the way to the convention, he's sunk.
Here's why. The superdelegates represent the elected and appointed establishment of the party. The Clintons have spent the last sixteen years putting most of them in power. They have campaigned for them, raised cash for them, and gotten them their jobs. Most of them are superdelegates because of the Clintons in one way or another. Barack Obama, on the other hand, just won his first national office three years ago, and has done far less for most of these elected and appointed officials.
When the Clintons come calling, which will most of these people choose to support? The people who put them in the position of casting this vote, or a candidate who hasn't done hardly anything for them? Will they select the candidate that wants to incorporate the establishment into the next administration, or the one that has campaigned on the promise to clean out the establishment?
Obama had better hope he wins everything between now and Denver. If he has less than a two-hundred delegate lead going into the convention, he won't win the nomination.
Just to point out ... that's a pretty self-selecting sample, from which you probably can't make any valid general predictions.
I think just as many conservatives -- i.e., most of us -- will turn out to vote for McCain regardless of whether Obama or Hillary is the nominee.
Because, you see, most conservatives, being thinking beings, realize the alternative to McCain is far, far worse; and we choose not to let our own personal hissy fits get in the way of our reason, or the good of the nation.
Are the ballots secret?
I can’t imagine the Rats would want to go through this anymore than most Republicans do.
Reading the description it wasn’t Hillary that got booed. It was her mentioning of Obama.
El Paso
As a talk show host said....Hillary...”the Tonya Harding of Politics”.....will NEVER let a BLACK GUY beat them!!
As a talk show host said....Hillary...”the Tonya Harding of Politics”.....will NEVER let a BLACK GUY beat them!!
If you are familiar with what happens in the House when the floor managers are pushing a bill through, you will find that the conventions are similar. They will argue, and take sides, sometimes switching to give one candidate more strength, until someone emerges as the clear winner. Then everyone jumps on board the train.
thx for the new tagline. Had to modify it to fit.
Kudos where kudos are due.
It’s public.
I am not making any predictions, but I can say that after being at CPAC for three days, which is attended by really hardcore conservatives, McCain should be very worried about support from us. You can't be the party maverick thumbing your nose at conservatives and then expect them to support you in the general election just because you are attracting 31% of the Rep vote prior to yesterday's primaries.
I think just as many conservatives -- i.e., most of us -- will turn out to vote for McCain regardless of whether Obama or Hillary is the nominee.
I don't know what you are basing that statement on or how much you mean by "most." If only 10% or 15% of Reps refuse to vote for McCain, he will be a dead man walking.
Because, you see, most conservatives, being thinking beings, realize the alternative to McCain is far, far worse; and we choose not to let our own personal hissy fits get in the way of our reason, or the good of the nation.
If you are implying that I am not a thinking being or that I am not voting for McCain because I am having a hissy fit, you are wrong. If John McCain can vote on the basis of principle and conscience, so can I.
My issue is amnesty. I believe if passed, the country is finished. Once done, it can't be undone. I have invested a lot of time and effort fighting the passage of amnesty over several years. John McCain has fought us every step of the way including voting for amnesty in 2006 [S. 2611] and 2007. In the McCain-Kennedy bill, McCain and a small cabal of senators met in secret and drafted a bill, bypassed the normal committee process, tried to block all amendments to the bill, and tried to force and up or down vote in just a matter of days. So much for the democratic process.
How can I vote for someone like that, especially if I believe that his position will destroy the country? Why should I be complicit? I will vote, but not for the office of President. I will vote a straight Rep ticket, as always, but I will not vote for President. I just can't do it as a matter of honor and principle.
Let's just say that I'm not IMPLYING anything, sir. You ARE having a hissy fit, and it is interfering with your reason.
On your signature issue, the alternative to McCain is WORSE, whether it's Obama or Clinton. Your "revenge" on McCain ends up being hurting you more than if you behaved like a responsible citizen.
Hmm.
I wonder how that plays with the ‘Toons.
OTOH, it allows for them to work some kind of intimidation on the delegates.
OTOH, it opens them up to public humiliation and repudiation of historical proportions.
“obama will go down in front of the clinton machine...”
you said it.
I agree.
She talked about George Bush and Barack Obama being "all hat and no cattle,"Happy trails to you, Hillary. Happy trails to you.
And here's hoping that we never, ever meet again.
Man is it good to see her fade into the sunset.
She is “all kankle and no ankle”.
The superdelegates represent the elected and appointed establishment of the party. The Clintons have spent the last sixteen years putting most of them in power. They have campaigned for them, raised cash for them, and gotten them their jobs. Most of them are superdelegates because of the Clintons in one way or another.BFD.
Does anyone really think all those corrupt pols that the Clintons pushed into power have any sense of LOYALTY?
Does anyone think they care about the PAST?
They're all looking to their future, man, the future of what side their bread is buttered on, just like the craven Clintons themselves. And if those pols see a future of incomparable brightness and Obama, that's who they'll vote for baby.
It's asta la vista, Clintons. Your fellow rats don't need you anymore.
Question: do the superdelegates vote in public or by secret ballot?I don't think there are any secret ballots at a party convention.
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