To turn Mark Twain’s line on its head, reports of the life of the Hillary Clinton campaign have been greatly exaggerated.
Slate.com has created a Hillary Deathwatch page that calls her campaign “as good as dead” while gauging her chances of winning the Democratic nomination at 12%. Politico.com pegs Clinton’s odds at “virtually no chance of winning” while quoting a Clinton official as saying her chances are 1 in 10.
David Brooks offers the more realistic figure of 5% and asks the salient question: ”Why does she go on like this?” His answer:
Clinton’s long rear-guard action is the logical extension of her relentlessly political life. For nearly 20 years, she has been encased in the apparatus of political celebrity… No wonder the Clinton campaign feels impersonal. It’s like a machine for the production of politics. It plows ahead from event to event following its own iron logic. The only question is whether Clinton herself can step outside the apparatus long enough to turn it off and withdraw voluntarily or whether she will force the rest of her party to intervene and jam the gears. If she does the former, she would surprise everybody with a display of self-sacrifice. Her campaign would cruise along at a lower register until North Carolina, then use that as an occasion to withdraw. If she does not, she would soldier on doggedly, taking down as many allies as necessary.
A look at the most recent Democratic primary Gallup polls shows Obama pulling away from Clinton nationally with a lead of eight percent. Meanwhile, in Gallup’s general election polling, Clinton’s two point lead over McCain has been reversed since the Jeremiah Wright tapes surfaced just over two weeks ago. McCain now leads Clinton by two. More to the point, Obama’s two point lead over McCain has also been reversed, due at least in part to Clinton. McCain now leads Obama by one.
Pressure on Clinton to withdraw from the race is growing and is coming from higher and higher up in the Democratic Party hierarchy.
Newsprism first predicted an Obama victory on February 13 and has been assuming a Clinton defeat since February 25.
With apologies to the Coroner of Munchkinland for stealing his lines, and to the Wicked Witch of the West for the comparison, Mrs. Clinton “isn’t only merely dead, she’s really most sincerely dead.”
March 29, 2008 at 5:02 pm |
And as always….sit back, relax and watch her come back from the dead and turn this around.
March 30, 2008 at 9:07 am |
I still don’t understand why the Rev. Wright thing has become an issue just now. Why didn’t it come out long ago—like when he was running for the Senate??? Can anyone clear this up for me? I’m not naive—I know the timing is not accidental, but why didn’t his opponents in the Senate race jump on this story? Certainly this Rev. Wright guy was well known enough in the area for Obama’s opponents to be aware of him.
March 30, 2008 at 10:13 am |
dax23,
If Obama is Judas, that doesn’t make Hillary Jesus. She may be Lazarus, but the last time I checked, nobody on earth today can raise the dead.
mdavis,
Obama wasn’t running against the Clinton machine back then, and I think the Clinton machine can be accurately compared to a cold, steely, amoral “meat grinder.” (”Nutcracker” also works…)
April 1, 2008 at 1:05 pm |
Part of me wishes she would drop out, but I am wary of a backlash against Obama if her supporters, particularly women, feel that she was pushed out. So I don’t think we have much choice but to let this go on at least for another three weeks. Hopefully Obama can pull off a miracle and win Pennsylvania or at least get close, in which case he might be able to wrap up the nomination.
April 1, 2008 at 1:58 pm |
PurpleStatePundit, thanks for the comments. I like your blog—we’re all about the “purple” here.