In The Blogs

Clinton Campaign Keeps On Pushing Bogus Rationale

On Fox News Sunday, Howard Wolfson, the communications director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, dismissed talk of Clinton quitting the race and declared, "The voters are going to decide this."

But that's not the true stance of the Clinton campaign. Its plan, as the campaign acknowledged last week, is to persuade the superdelegates that Clinton would be the best candidate in the fall against John McCain. That is, its position is that the superdelegates ought to vote for Clinton no matter what the voters in the Democratic primaries and caucuses decide. And given that it's essentially a mathematical certainty that Obama will end up with more voter-determined delegates, this means that the Clinton camp is actually insisting that superdelegates, not voters, determine the winner.

With Clinton campaigning fiercely in West Virginia, which holds a primary on Tuesday, she has not yet given up. That may happen in the coming weeks or when the primaries end on June 3. But while she remains in the race, she has only one path to the nomination: superdelegates voting against the results of the primaries and caucuses. And her odds are diminishing. Each day, Obama picks up one or more superdelegates, and he now leads among these delegates. So it seems Clinton really has one hope: something happens. (Divine intervention?) All this--staying in the race, targeting superdelegates, waiting for Obama to crash--is within Democratic Party rules. But let's not confuse such a strategy with empowering voters. The Clinton campaign is hoping to draw enough voter support in the final primaries so it can have the opportunity to overturn the will of the voters.

image
image
Get Mother Jones by Email - Free. Like what you're reading? Get the best of MoJo three times a week.
Comments
no profile pic for comment author

If HRC stays in she can still win!

So can Ron Paul and Mike Gravel!

All the votes, delegates, states, caucuses, and superdelegates do not matter one bit - HRC is a winner.

no profile pic for comment author

She keeps confidently asserting the same message!

How can you argue with that?!

no profile pic for comment author

Hillary Clinton has confidence WITHOUT merit, an old REPUBLICAN ploy.

no profile pic for comment author

Go Billary GO! Maybe you can win if you say Obama has an illegitimate...white baby?

no profile pic for comment author

The longer Hillary stays in this race the more people she turns off, so let her go, it is she who hangs herself. The Clinton low road, this is not what we want and she will be shown.

no profile pic for comment author

Obama's acting as if he has won without really having won yet is another Republican ploy used with great effectiveness by George Bush during the period when they were "settling" the Florida votes of 2000. He started picking the members of his cabinet and theatrically lending credence to something which was not yet true.

no profile pic for comment author

Clinton supporters comparing Obama to Republicans is beyond irony, its down right hypocrisy, just give it up already.

no profile pic for comment author

This is not about an "Obama-brand". This is about electing a president.

People can be snowed very easily with marketing. Your reaction to the similitude between the two situations is symptomatic.

no profile pic for comment author

Yes people can be snowed very easily, and thank God the Republican horse and pony show snow job is soon to end. Republican marketing practices will no longer work.

Post a comment
Alternately, you may login to or register an account
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <ul> <ol> <li> <blockquote> <img>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options


Jail.org - Inmate Search
Criminal records, instant public records & people search & current court records. www.jail.org

U.S. Public Records Search
Search County & State Court Records, Criminal records, Vital and Adoption Records www.PublicRecordsInfo.com

Records.com - People Search
Public Records and Background Checks. Instantly Search Criminal Records, Addresses and Court Records www.Records.com

Court Records & County Records
Find Instant Public Records, Criminal Records as Well as County Property Records Search. www.PublicRecordsIndex.com

Mother Jones Podcast
Get in on the conversation! We talk about culture, politics, the environment, the economy and more. Listen now!

TalkBackTees.com
A treasure trove of liberal wit, wisdom and quotations, from ancient to modern, on colorful, cotton tees.

Support Independent Artists
Amazing art, crafts, apparel, paper-goods and more. A carefully curated selection of sundries since 1999.

FREE CONNECTIONS FOR GREEN SINGLES
Meet progressive singles in the environmental, vegetarian & animal rights community who share your values