Tying in with Erik's post below, Clinton's march to the sea gets worse and worse.
Florida and Michigan, if you'll recall, lost their right to send delegates to the Democratic National Convention because they moved their primaries up without the consent of the national party organization. It was a greedy, stupid move, born not of any impulse to make the Democratic primaries more reflective of the electorate in general, but out of a simple urge to win influence and that delicious, delicious early-primary publicity. Mmm. Publicity.
Now the Clinton campaign would like to sneak the Florida and Michigan delegates into the convention after all, a move with all the dignified class of sneaking children into an R-rated movie. It's short-sighted, divisive, and incredibly dangerous in the long run. Not, in fact, unlike the way that Clinton's been running her campaign since she lost here in Iowa.
Here's why Clinton's plan is stupid: If those delegates make the difference and hand her the nomination, Obama supporters can quite legitimately claim to have been cheated out of a victory. If you think the Democratic party is divided now, just wait until the Clintonistas pull this one off. It'll look like the 1968 convention, only inside the building. Moreover, it sets an awful precedent for the next state party that gets uppity and decides to do something like this, effectively neutering the national organization. (Which is, of course, just what the Democratic party needs: more disorganization and Balkanism.)
It's the scummy season. Bring your umbrella.
Monday, January 28, 2008
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6 comments:
The Billary campaign platform; win at all costs.
Andrew Sullivan, "The Obama phenomenon rattled them (Clintons), and their strategy is to quash it, by any means and at any cost. They know that they do not need to win so much as they need to make Obama lose.
...The more I witness this campaign, the clearer it is to me that it is not only important that Obama and McCain now win; it is a moral and political imperative that the Clintons lose."
I heard somebody (can't remember who, offhand) refer to Obama/Clinton as being like Mozart/Salieri. Spot on, I thought.
I think Mozart/Streisand would be more apt.
The Magic Flute versus Yentl. Ouch.
We're all so biased. We've been smoking too much hope.
I agree with most of what you said. If they got the delegates back it could be considered voter fraud. Aren't the Democrats against that sort of thing?
I disagree with your harsh judgement of Florida and Michigan especially. As you know, Michigan's economy is in an 8-cylinder toilet. I don't fault them for wanting to bring more dollars into their state. With all the money the candidates dropped in Iowa and NH, I don't blame them for favoring monetary gains over seated delegates. Maybe some states want publicity, but I think Michigan wanted to bring the benjamins more than they wanted publicity or the delegates.
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