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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.

Comments

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.

Posted by: capt - Hussein on 05/12/08 at 12:53 PM Respond

She keeps confidently asserting the same message!

How can you argue with that?!

Posted by: Mjameson on 05/12/08 at 1:34 PM Respond

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

Posted by: MarthaA on 05/12/08 at 2:33 PM Respond

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

Posted by: Michael Z. on 05/12/08 at 3:26 PM Respond

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.

Posted by: Kevin Kakareka on 05/12/08 at 5:50 PM Respond

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.

Posted by: Kathy Giannini on 05/13/08 at 2:21 PM Respond

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

Posted by: Michael Z. on 05/13/08 at 8:06 PM Respond

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.

Posted by: Kathy Giannini on 05/14/08 at 3:26 AM Respond

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.

Posted by: Kevin Kakareka on 05/14/08 at 5:17 PM Respond