from The Hillary 1000:Contrary to what the talking heads would like us to believe.
Despite Obama outspending Clinton anywhere from 3-to-1 to 4-to-1 in the upcoming states, he is having difficulty pulling away from her. Keep in mind that he outspent her 5-to-1 in Wisconsin. The spending blitz he’s on and his subsequent victories has been woefully underreported.
Meanwhile, Clinton supporters, especially the working and family women who love her, have a serious challenge on their hands in the upcoming Texas caucus.
Finally, the MI and FL delegates issue remains unresolved, but the majority of superdelegates agree with Clinton: they should be seated.
8 comments:
She raised $35 million in February, and she's running way ahead in West Virginia -- there's lots of good news, you just have the SEARCH for it!
Obama raised "significantly more money" in February, but the campaign will not say how much.
Hillary is a formidable foe, and that has never been in doubt. Rasmussen Reports has him leading her by 4% points in Ohio and closing the gap to within 4% points in Pennsylvania, assuming the race lasts to that point.
I find it ironic that somehow the presumptive front-runner who even I, the most ardent of Obama supporters, assumed was going to run away with the race until a few months ago is now reduced to playing "rally round the flag" when her back is against the wall.
If next week plays out the way it's been trending this should all be resolved by Tuesday.
BAC: I want to applaud again your passion you've shown for your candidate. I stand in awe of the effort you've put into Clinton win the nomination. She has been very well served by your work here.
Politics are a frustrating thing. Out of sheer definition compromise is a necessity, but what generally draws us to participate in politics is a passion for a personal cause. Nobody wants to compromise on thier own personal pet cause.
In these democratic primaries many of us have had to do quite a bit of compromising already. We've watched as our preferred candidates have dropped out one by one. For me personally the Edwards defeat left me pissed.
But once I was able to calm down and step back I realized that the things I really cared about still had a better chance of coming to fruition under a president Clinton or a presiden Obama. That includes ending the war in Iraq, purging upper/mid-levels of government of GOP hacks, getting us back to a surplus, dealing with the health care crisis and appointing Justices in complete contrast to Thomas, Alito, Scalila or Roberts.
None of that will be possible under a president McCain.
Should Obama win the nomination I just want you to know you won't hear a damn thing out of me. There won't be any crowing. There won't be a whisper of an "I told you so." We have too much imporant stuff to work on to deal with petty crap. I sincerely hope that you're part of that work. I truly believe we can't do it without everybody on board.
I've mentioned before that fifteen years ago I was at the inaguration of William Jefferson Clinton. The sense in the air in the mall at D.C. is that this was a lot bigger than Clinton. No matter what happens the one thing I'm certain of is that this election is bigger than Obama and Clinton put together. We have a chance to start digging ourselves out of the very deep hole the last 8 years have put us in.
I hope you'll be next to us with a shovel.
SueJ - thanks for your comment!
CK - who knew she would have to run against not only the other Democratic challengers, but the MSM as well! Anyone who understans how powerful the media is, will have a greater appreciation for just how well she is doing!
Dean Wormer - I answered this in my quick post earlier. I've just finished a very long day, and am still a bit hyper, which is why I'm here.
Let's just say I will probably need a cooling off period, and if Obama is the nominee I will probably not be as enthusiastic as I would be if Hillary is the nominee ... but I absolutely do not want to see McCain in the White House.
Republican administrations are devastating to "my people" -- read WOMEN and LESBIANS & GAYS.
BAC
Some are standing firm.
Hillary has indeed had to run against so much more than just Obama. Anyone who claims that's just "whining" or whatever is wrong.
I agree with Dean W that a dem win will mean more than we can even imagine. When I think about a dem back in the White House, I get all tingly. Let's just hope that whoever it is, she/he will finally start paying attention to what's really happening in this country, because too many politicians have no fucking clue about reality.
BAC: How could you have not expected Hillary Clinton to have to run against the Republicans and the MSM? You are one of the most perceptive poltical bliggers around. The MSM DESPISES the Clintons because they've made the MSM look like jack-asses at every turn. To a lesser extent, Howard Dean is MSM poison for the same reason.
I saw this coming 3 1-2 years ago. All Obama had to say in that absurd 2004 convention speech was "...we worship a MIGHTY GAWD in the Blue States..." and he was good to go. I just didn't count on a guy whom Bobby Rush beat by 30even being competitive with her, having seen the precision with which she won her first campaign.
He got very lucky in the Illinois Senate race. He won a close primary and would have gotten buried by Jack Ryan in the general election if Ryan hadn't been such a creep even for a politician. Ryan was absolutely destroying the un-named Democrat in the polling.
How was Obama going to LOSE to Alan Keyes? That was a soft win.
I kind of agree with Doug Schoen that she has run her campaign. I haven't seen any mistakes really. She doesn't make many. If there was anything she might have done wrong tactically, it was by not going for the kill after she had completely undressed him in the November 15 Las Vegas debate.
In retrospect, she probably should have brought up Rezko then, gotten rid of Obama and isolated Edwards in Iowa. That's not her campaign style, though. Her style is precision. She had just taken apart that November 15 debate t such an extent that Dennis Kucinich was backing up her points in it. And had a huge lead in the polls. There was no reason for her to depart from the style that's comfortable for her then.
I'll give Obama and his people all the credit in the world for playing this SUPER. I think Sean Wilentz is absolutely right about the race business being a tactic and I'm sure it was one she expected. She probably didn't expect it to work. Why should she? She was leading among African-American voters at the time by 8 points over Edwards with Obama in 3rd.
Everybody has a style. Each has strengths and weaknesses. Clinton is a very careful campaigner and has a broad and deep knowledge of the issues. She's also pretty good at keeping her cool. Obama has the huge oratorical style and is brilliant as sizing up situations and taking advantage of them. He is definitely a more flexible campaigner in that sense, though a more brittle one under fire.
Make no mistake about it, Obama is a very bright guy and has spent a lot of time developing that style. If he needed to be a very scholarly guy on the issues, I don't think it would take him that long to adapt. What he's got plays.
But he is not in this to help anyone but himself. Neither is she. It's a competition. His style's playing well now and he's peaking at the right time. He's going to have a world of problems against McCain that Clinton wouldn't have. Neither McCain nor Obama have issues mastery but Obama's flexibility plays horribly against McCain's steadfastness. He'll be damned if he does, damned if he doesn't against McCain. Without any love from the press.
If it were me as Obama, I wouldn't fall in love with myself, I'd look to bank this victory without losing too many friends and use my formidable intelligence to BECOME an "issues" candidate, while betting that the "hope" routine has marinated enough throughout the electorate that he won't have to depend on it.
I am positive that there isn't one person who agrees with me on any of this. I have written the un-writable. That he's a politician with a definite set of skills. That would be a nice thing to write about most politicians. If you don't write that he's Jesus's younger brother, though, you're a racist and a hater.
Nice country you got.
Kelso - I never thought the public would be so complicit in allowing the MSM to get away with this ... I did underestimate the level of acceptance of sexism within our culture. I guess I was hoping for better ...
BAC
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