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Prominent Clinton Backers Slowly Backing Off
Despite Terry McAuliffe's insistence that the race is not over and may not even be over when Obama gets to the (new) magic number of 2,118 delegates, the Clinton campaign is facing a serious challenge from within. Key surrogates are weakening in their support.
Here's former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack:
"It does appear to be pretty clear that Senator Obama is going to be the nominee. After Tuesday's contests, she needs to acknowledge that he's going to be the nominee and quickly get behind him."
Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz:
"It would be most beneficial if we resolved this nomination sooner rather than later... The more time we have to get through a general-election period and the more time we have to prepare in advance of the convention, the better."
Former national party chairman Donald Fowler, on whether to appeal the Michigan/Florida decision:
"Unless something happens that I don't expect to happen in the next, say, by the end of June, my answer to that is not only no but, hell no... What good does it do? What good does it do anybody?"
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, on the same:
"I think it's outrageous they took four delegates away from her... But I think with 170 delegates separating them, it's not worth making the case."
Harold Ickes, who emerged as the Clinton campaign's primary voice in the fight over Michigan and Florida, contradicted Terry McAuliffe when he said, "It'll be over when one candidate secures the number for the nomination." Ickes admitted that the race could be over this week, signaling a resignation (or acceptance) that probably exists across Hillaryland.
If I had to gamble, I'd say Clinton leaves the race one day after Obama gets to 2,118. I'd also bet that when Obama gets to 2,117, his campaign receives a rush of endorsements from superdels who want to be the deciding vote.
I don't think Hillary Clinton will be able to stanch the bleeding if the Democratic Party chooses the candidate that they have been artificially propping up for the last couple months. The obscene amount of money that Obama put out in ALL of the primaries in the last two months was unable to "buy" the vote in my home state of Pennsylvania, unable to blitz voters out of their convictions in Ohio, in Indiana, in West Virginia, in Kentucky. The Reverend Wright has PERMANENTLY repelled many voters who opted for Obama here in Europe and superdelegates can hold his hand as much as they want. He will not get those voters back. But the super delegates have obviously forgotten WHY they were created: to keep the party from picking one more loser. But this time, they may be starting the disintegration of their own party.
We've had an inexperienced man in the White House for the last eight years. We don't need another one.
The Daily Show really honed in on the vapid speeches of Obama recently. The blah blah blah.
They are no doubt looking forward to a wealth of material in the next few months.
The Washington Post points out that in the hubbub of the McClellan book, another scathing memoir has come out exposing the truth behind Iraq.
Getting lost in the media furor over McClellan's memoir is the new autobiography of retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the onetime commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, who is scathing in his assessment that the Bush administration "led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions."
Among the anecdotes in "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story" is an arresting portrait of Bush after four contractors were killed in Fallujah in 2004, triggering a fierce U.S. response that was reportedly egged on by the president.
During a videoconference with his national security team and generals, Sanchez writes, Bush launched into what he described as a "confused" pep talk:
"Kick ass!" he quotes the president as saying. "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! We must be tougher than hell! This Vietnam stuff, this is not even close. It is a mind-set. We can't send that message. It's an excuse to prepare us for withdrawal."
"There is a series of moments and this is one of them. Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!"
A White House spokesman had no comment.
giannini:
If Obama can run the White House as well as he has run his campaign, he will do well as president.
Hasn't Hillary spent 1/4th BILLION DOLLARS -- $250 MILLION -- on her campaign? If so, that is a ridiculous amount of money for a campaign to spend, even loaning herself 40 million; and is still behind in delegates hoping the chosen SUPER-delegates will ignore her shortcomings and give her the nomination instead of Obama.
I think not.
Obama will easily defeat McCain.
There aren't nearly as many bigots as there used to be; even though the CONSERVATIVE RIGHT WING media will play the race card as hard as they can.