05/07/2008
Clinton Options Dwindle with Tiny Indiana Victory, Loss in NC
Hillary Clinton put on a strong facade last night as she cheered supporters on in Indiana, but it's the cancelation of all public appearances today (reported by Talking Points Memo) and the anointment of Obama as nominee by Tim Russert, Matt Drudge, and MSNBC's Chuck Todd that have people wondering about the direction the Clinton campaign will take next.
Obama won a 14-point victory in North Carolina, and lost by just 23,000 votes in Indiana.
The Washington Post reports: "Both candidates looked ahead to contests next week in West Virginia and May 20 in Oregon and Kentucky, but Clinton was nearly out of opportunities to change the course of the race. 'We have seen that it's possible to overcome the politics of division and distraction, that it's possible to overcome the same old negative attacks that are always about scoring points and never about solving our problems,' Obama said at a victory rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Illinois senator's 14-point victory in North Carolina was a dramatic comeback from a difficult campaign stretch that began last month with a big loss in Pennsylvania and was prolonged by the controversy over racially charged comments by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright."
The NYT reports: "The results from the two primaries, the largest remaining Democratic ones, assured that Mr. Obama would widen his lead in pledged delegates over Mrs. Clinton, providing him with new ammunition as he seeks to persuade Democratic leaders to coalesce around his campaign. He also increased his lead in the popular vote in winning North Carolina by more than 200,000 votes."
The candidates' speeches, below:
Russert told Keith Olbermann: "We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be, and no one is going to dispute it."
Watch that clip, AFTER THE JUMP...
Additional reading
Reality Has Well-Known Obama Bias [huffington post]
If You Want to Crown Him [shakesville]
An obituary for the Clinton campaign [daily voice]
Posted 7:57 AM EST by Andy Towle in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, Indiana, News, North Carolina | Permalink
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It's spelled "grammar" BTW.
I'm glad to see the Kansas school system has lived upto its reputation. Bill Maher had a new rule about that once.
By the way, one of the definitions of "open" is:
- exposed to general view or knowledge
I would submit that it is the general view of most media outlets and political pundits that Pelosi / Dean backs Obama.
Posted by: John | May 7, 2008 1:09:12 PM
She won the popular vote in Texas.
Caucus or no caucus.
Al Gore won the national popular vote.
Florida or no Florida.
Posted by: John | May 7, 2008 1:12:17 PM
Michigan and Florida must be counted. If the Super delegates think they are going to go over the will of the people without paying the consequences then they have another thing coming. I like many others will never cast a vote for HUSSEIN OBAMA, he is just not viable in important states like Penn, Ohio and Florida.
Posted by: CHURCHILL-Y | May 7, 2008 1:22:39 PM
The presidential election of 2000 is not the Democratic primary of 2008. Hillary agreed with everyone in the beginning of this primary saying that this race is all about who gets the most delegates. Delegates, delegates, delegates. When that wasn't working out for her, it became about the popular vote. Now she's saying it's about electability. Somehow convincing the supers to overturn the majority of the pledged delegate count because she's more electable. Her campaign this morning said North Carolina doesn't REALLY count because she won most of the white vote there and of course he wons the blacks and the liberals. So now it's all about the uneducated white vote? Uneducated white voters are the only ones who count now. She keeps wanting to change the rules in the middle of the game! I hate the electoral college but that's the rules. Rules is the rules. You can't go around saying well, if you counted this way or that way, I'd win. "If you count, as I do..." or "If we were Republicans, I'd have the nomination..." Doesn't work that way. And yea, John, Al Gore was robbed. Duh. He won Florida. Don't talk down to me like I'm stupid.
Posted by: TroyTooner | May 7, 2008 1:27:07 PM
Landis, I look foreowrd to winning the bet. :-)
24- play LOL on the inagural dress thing.
Churchill-Y Don't worry. Like I mentioned earlier, Howard FEIN mentioned last night that Obama is now willing to sit down and discuss sitting both FL and Michigan. The numbers are such that no compromise and a full seating as is in Hillary's favor still leaves Obama in the lead of pledged delegates and popular vote numbers. FL and MICH will be sat.
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | May 7, 2008 1:30:00 PM
CHURCHILL-Y, I think we all know why you won't vote for Obama. You're not fooling anyone.
Posted by: crispy | May 7, 2008 1:37:15 PM
John,
With all due respect, the outcome of the 2000 election was litigated because Gore believed he had actually received more votes in Florida and, therefore, had won the election by winning the electoral vote nationwide.
Unlike some Democratic candidates, Gore accepted the electoral system for what it was and made his arguments to the Supreme Court within that framework. He didn't try to undermine the whole system simply because it wasn't yielding the result he desired.
Posted by: 24play | May 7, 2008 1:56:59 PM
24: You're right that Gore thought he won more votes in FL thus more delegates. What Hillary is saying, however, that the popular vote should count more than the delegates. Does she have a point? Maybe. But it's not the way the game is played. Call it unfair, call it crazy but if you want to change it, you have to wait until the next cycle.
John: How many people said Sen. Obama was not a viable candidate when this thing started. I would not look at polls at this point -- it's still looked at as a 3 person race.
What I believe is going to happen is that she will campaign through the KY/OR primaries in May, after winning WV. Once she has won KY and WV and he's won OR, she'll concede.
This whole "will of the people" thing is a charade. Right now there are more outstanding superdelegates than elected delegates. This means that the party officials will be deciding this thing, NOT the voters.
And, once and for all, the pundit's name is Howard Fineman.
Posted by: David | May 7, 2008 2:59:08 PM
LOL David
Thanks for the correction on his name.
:-)
I never claimed to be perfect.
Posted by: Jimmyboyo | May 7, 2008 4:43:02 PM
for those who wan’t to be informed as to what the future will be like for Gay people with an Obama pesidency you can start with this link:
http://obamameeksrecord.wordpress.com/
courtesy of John Norris
Posted by: churchill-y | May 7, 2008 7:48:54 PM
For those who wan’t to be informed as to what the future will be like for Gay people with an Obama pesidency you can start with this link:
http://www.obamameeksrecord.wordpress.com/
courtesy of John Norris
Posted by: CHURCHILL-Y | May 7, 2008 7:50:54 PM