Forget ‘Obama Girl.’ Make way for the ‘Comeback Kid.’ I said it before and I’ll say it again. You just can’t stop a Clinton. You can spend more money than one, you can investigate one, you can try to blame one for their spouse’s mistakes, you can even easily and plausibly project your own negative campaign tactics onto one, but you still can’t stop one. If Bill Clinton’s presidency and the ‘Hillary Renaissance Part Deux’ have taught us anything, it’s that the defining Clinton family traits are toughness and heart. In fact, considering the gutsy and impassioned run of Mike Huckabee in the Republican primary, it may be a defining trait of Hope, Arkansas. I mean really, it’s called Hope people! What would you expect to find there? Bitterness and despair?!
I’m not surprised Hillary won Pennsylvania in the slightest. A state bordering New York, highly industrialized, and a traditional northeastern ‘lunch-pail’ state is one she should have won, and considering its 187 pledged delegates, it’s a good thing for her that it can now be called ‘Clinton Country.’
The surprise tonight was that she actually won bigger than anyone expected. To be fair to my fellow pundits, a double digit win, especially after the number of thumpings Hillary took just prior to this election, not to mention the almost-deafening voices of those not just calling for, but coming dangerously close to demanding that she concede, was inconceivable… unless you had faith [irony intended]. Look, everyone realizes, even if they didn’t start admitting it until tonight’s upset, that Dems will ‘come home’ no matter what happens. Many observers had been previously referencing the numerous polls indicating that Hillary’s voters may go to McCain, but I think the timing of these polls is inappropriate while the Democratic primary draws on. In the very near future, you’ll probably be hearing a lot of pundits and the candidates themselves finally admit as much as the Democrats attempt to cobble together just enough reconciliation to pull out a win in November now that it looks like the beat will go on.
Plus, there’s still the matter of seating Michigan and Florida at the DNC. and the matter of the superdelegates which is very much more a wildcard than the Obama camp would have you believe. Remember, the last thing Obama wants is a brokered convention, unless he’s looking for an excuse to renege on his recent remarks and eventually take the VP job (for which he is better suited in my opinion) .
If this thing comes down to superdelegates, they will consider Clinton to have more experience than Obama and will surely vote to nominate her; it will be in the best interests of the party and I don’t see anything wrong with that. It’s sort of like the electoral college; nobody wanted to abolish it until it gave us controversial election results, but yet there’s no controversy here. This isn’t the ‘party elite elevating Queen Hillary;’ it’s officials who are elected by the people being given some well-deserved added weight in the nomination process because we trust their opinions in regards to intra-party politics. If they agree that Clinton can beat McCain, and the voters are nearly deadlocked as they seem to be, then really what is the argument against a brokered convention? The will of the voters will be respected either way, even if one way happens to be a bit more direct.
All parties understood the rules coming into the game, including the voters, did they not? And so the truth is that Obama is using the aforementioned projection of negativity technique against Clinton because he knows full well he will not survive past August as long as the DLC is backing her, so he needs to weaken her as much as possible, being mindful of the general election. A difficult dance indeed. I said it months ago on PurplePaganSarah’s Centrist World, and I’ll say it again here: If the voter consensus is not overwhelmingly clear, the superdelegates will and should nominate Clinton. This may come as hard news to the idealists who are backing Obama, but ideally, would they rather have Clinton or John McCain in the White House? As I’ve said, it’s still too early to get an accurate determination of that, but conduct that poll again when the nomination is final and I think you’ll get a much better idea of where the voters really stand. I for one don’t think they particularly like to take stands on the hypothetical, but time will tell. Just remember who’s been delivering the big-prize states.
In closing, while I missed the speeches tonight, I did catch the end of Larry King and a commercial for Russell Investments that aired. I’d love to link to the video, but I can’t seem to find it online. Ironically, it was a commercial for a brokerage firm and it provided the most profound yet simple truth I’ve heard in quite sometime. Remember these words when you go to vote in November (or sooner if you’re reading this from one of only 9 states remaining to vote in this primary):
There is a right way to do everything.
Doing the right thing doesn’t have anything to do with political correctness or popular trends.
It’s not about numbers; it’s simply this:
You have a deep understanding of what should be done.
And no matter what, you are honest and relentless in doing it.
Sounds like an endorsement for Hill/Bill Volume 2 to me! Speaking of advertising, did I mention Obama outspent Hillary 3-1?! Maybe he should keep that up while Hillary racks up the 10-point victories in the battleground states!
SMS
Today on The Centrist OC: Lightning Strikes Paul Lucas A Second Time
