Saying “buh-bye” to Hillary, the woman who just won’t go away
Hillary is like a burr on the body politic of the Democrats and the MSM—they can’t shake her off, try though they may.
Yesterday’s primary results—an expectedly large margin of victory for Obama in North Carolina and a surprisingly small one for Hillary in Indiana—really changes nothing essential about the race. But today there’s another flurry of attempts to say “buh-bye” to Hillary.
For example, here are the top five stories right now at Real Clear Politics:
An End in Sight, at Last—Gerard Baker, Times of London
Has Obama Finally Clinched It?—John Dickerson, Slate
Clinton Hangs On—Barely—Vaughn Ververs, CBS News
Hillary the Cat Runs Out of Lives—John Kass, Chicago Tribune
Ugly Truth Why Clinton Won’t Quit—Thomas DeFrank, NY Daily News
As Gerard Baker points out, Hillary certainly could have used a bigger win in Indiana. And although the math (which always favored Obama) is now favoring him even more, Obama still has not solved the problem of appealing to non-latte-drinking (i.e. less affluent, less educated) white voters. And these still are the people he will have to win over to become President.
North Carolina, where Obama racked up a 14-point lead, is a state with an odd Democratic demography. About a third of its Democrats are African American, and nearly all of these voted for Obama. But the whites in that state went 60% for Hillary, and the same was true of Indiana. Returns from the heavily black areas of Indiana that border on Chicago made the vote close.
Some interpret white support of Hillary to white racism. That was the subtext of Michelle Obama’s recent speeches that suggest anyone who doesn’t vote for Obama the Magnificent is being discriminatory. And this Thomas M Defrank piece appearing in today’s Daily News, entitled, “The Ugly Truth Why Hillary Won’t Quit,” seconds the motion, but offers no proof of it except quotes from two people who think Obama’s a Muslim.
Hillary and the press have never had anything resembling a love affair. That status has been reserved for Obama, and I don’t think the Wright flap has changed the situation very much. Now that Hillary has lost North Carolina by a large margin and failed to win Indiana in a convincing-enough manner, the press would like nothing better than to see her and her pantsuits and her schoolmarmy ways simply disappear, leaving their preferred candidate—Obama—unsullied by any more attacks, and their Party able to unite behind him in order to win in November.
The dilemma remains for the superdelegates: how to ensure the best candidate to win this fall? Even if they think it’s Hillary in the general, they cannot afford to alienate one of their most important bases, African-American voters, by choosing Hillary over Obama. They can hope, however, that the backlash against Republicans this year is strong enough to propel either possible Democratic nominee into the White House.
[ADDENDUM: Dr. Sanity has a few choice comments about the Defrank piece and its assertions of white racism.]
One hears about campaign fatigue among the voters, but last night I identified the source of my fatigue. It is the oily spin doctors that have been standing between the people and the candidates and who pose as analysts on TV. I am absolutely sick of the superficiality of the whole d….d bunch.
I think Hillary may be playing a longer game than Obama is. Obama may have the candidacy nailed, but not the presidency. It remains to be seen what the man can do on the national level against in an all out campaign. After Wright, and the condescending speech about the working class, he’s going to have a hard time drawing in the white blue collar vote. I think Hillary figures McCain will beat him. And if her supporters are given a rough enough time at a convention fracas, you just might see a lot of them voting for McCain, whom I think she has tagged as a one term president.
And people were tired when Huckabee would not drop out!
Unfortunately,We will see Hillary again in 2012.
Seems to me that if you’re a professional Democrat (i.e., a superdelegate), preserving the system that gives *you*, personally, access to power and wealth (or the potential thereof) is more important than winning elections.
Obama as nominee preserves the status quo of a Democratic party built on the pillars of black voters, civil service unions, trial lawyers, Hollywood, and MoveOn.org.
That hasn’t proven to be a coalition that can win elections, but it has been pretty lucrative for Professional Democrats. Hillary would upset the apple cart as nominee, and likely wouldn’t be much more likely to win the presidency. Party hacks don’t want their gravy train disrupted, even if disrupting it might be best for their party’s long-term electoral health.
And I suspect they (or at least the ones who haven’t already drunk the Cult of Obama Kool-Aid) realize 2008’s a loser year for the presidency either way, so it’s safer to go with Obama.
I really dont know why Hillary wont hang it up after this latest round. Im not sure what she thinks is going to happen in the 5 remaining contests. Is it ego?
Help me out here.
David C.
I think your analysis may be correct. The party hacks are thinking about what’s best for them not the party.
The MSM is pathetic. They hold themselves out as objective purveyors of the truth, but are so obviously in the tank for Obama, even my liberal brother sees it. When it’s so easily seen even by partisans, then it is as glaring as a neon sign.
As if the spread between white and black votes PROVES white racism… love the ability to see it in only one direction… classic…
“Peterike” at the Belmont Club has posted a sobering assessment of where we stand. I’m afraid, after the pathetic Indiana showing (Indiana!), that I agree with him.
“Obama is only a weak candidate if you pay some attention to reality, which most voters normally don’t, and which fewer than ever are doing this election cycle. My sense is that Bush and the eight years of non-stop Bush bashing have so damaged the Republican label that nothing will stop Obama from winning.
“After all that’s come out in the past few weeks, he still trounces Hillary in North Carolina and barely loses Indiana. Indiana! The Rev. Wright and all the other cretins in Obama’s orbit simply do not exist for most voters. They see only the fuzzy glow.
“Well, it will be quite interesting to see life with an academic Marxist as President, along with a Socialist congress. How much damage can they manage in four years, I wonder? How much of the store will they give away? What’s going to be left when they’re done?”
Ugh.
Keepin’ it contentious, bay-bee! 😉
Hard times for economy do not favor raising taxes or expansion of government spending or welfare programs. So Dems in power simply will not be able to satisfy their constituency expectations. In case they win in November, this will be one-term presidency, catastrophic for the party future, like this of Jimmy Carter, with consequent kickback.
It seems that the Professional Republicans have severe anemia and are financially, emotionally, philosophically and strategically enfeebled. As is McCain. This all adds up to an Obama presidency, plus large Democratic Congressional majorities. Even one term with Obama will be catastrophic for the nation; the damage, especially over the long term, will be severe and it will be irreversible. A Gramscian victory.
It’s sure hard to call this election! In my gut it’s difficult to imagine a McGovern coalition of the young, the blacks, and the very liberal can work in 2008 any better than it did in 1972, even against a weakened Republican party.
Also, Obama is black and for 20 years he has attended what Neo delicately described as “an arguably racist church,” plus Obama made the wacko pastor a moral confidant and even, until recently, an adviser to Obama’s campaign. How anyone in the Democratic party or the Obama campaign thought this was supposed to work in a campaign for unity is beyond me.
Hillary took ~60% of the white vote in NC and IN. If McCain takes 60% of the white vote in November. Obama would have to take 60% of the Hispanic and Asian vote to stay even, but thus far Hispanics and Asians are voting against Obama 2:1 and 3:1. It’s no secret that as groups, Asians and Hispanics are not fond of blacks.
The sad truth is that Obama’s candidacy is heightening racial divisions in America, and not IMO just because Obama is black.
Tom you are so right about Republicans. Where the hell is leadership?
I’d be willing to be part of a march on Washington or any place else if it would help. Theres just nobody that seems to give a damn that the heartland of this country is outraged and desperate for action!
My theme for today is: Why aren’t they talking about how Obama can’t close the deal? Why didn’t he win in Indiana? If he is the front runner, then he should be able to decisively win enough votes to cinch the nomination. Until he does that, she has no obligation to quit. I am really getting tired of how Obama gets a pass from the press. He is free to trash the gas tax holiday but offers absolutely no plans for how he would deal with the issue. His speeches are platitudes, yet they are reported on as if they contain gems of wisdom. If the man is running for president, he deserves a little scrutiny.
I just had a horrible thought: what if Michelle someday takes it into her head to run for President, the precedent of spouse as qualification having now been set.
I think I’m just going to curl up in a corner and rock and whimper for a while.
I think Hillary is hanging in there because she is hoping for a catastrophe to befall the Obama campaign.
I don’t think it is just a question of a lack of leadership in the Republican party. I think that conservatives have done so much bitching and moaning via the talk radio and pundits in recent years that they have worn themselves and their party out.
There is no need to blame the biased MSM when there are so many on the right, from Noonan to Coulter to Malkin who eat their own.
Terrye, you’re exactly right, as usual. I think Hillary is expecting Obama to blow up on the launch pad. Obama’s inexperience, thin skin, fatigue, Michelle’s big mouth, Wright’s big mouth, or some future draft choice’s big mouth, could sink his campaign permanently tomorrow. And that’s what she’s got to hope for.
Teri Pittman Says:
“how Obama gets a pass from the press. He is free to trash the gas tax holiday but offers absolutely no plans for how he would deal with the issue.”
Heh… trashing that plan was the only thing he’s said recently that made sense.
The Clintons are more like two festering sores on the buttocks of the body politic. You can’t shake them off. They have to be lanced, cleaned out, and allowed to heal over time.