Actually I never towed the inevitability line. As for the proper metrics to consider, it seems to me that electability is as good as any if you don't have a clear winner - policy positions being equal.

Posted at April 29, 2008 6:53 PM in response to Who are the Clinton supporters on TPM?

You might be right. But some disagree. If electability becomes an issue the SD's can potentially point to the actual popular vote count to give a moral rationale to give the nomination to Hillary.

If I was an Obama supporter, I would give up on the inevitability train of the thought. Instead I would try to win the upcoming states.

Posted at April 29, 2008 6:30 PM in response to Who are the Clinton supporters on TPM?

Here is some math for you to look at. It may not be as clear cut as you might think.
Math.

Posted at April 29, 2008 6:13 PM in response to Who are the Clinton supporters on TPM?

I am a Hillary supporter. TPM is still predominately an Obama fan club but yes, Hillary support seems to be on the rise. It seems to come and go.

Posted at April 29, 2008 5:57 PM in response to Who are the Clinton supporters on TPM?

Barbara Reynolds is a journalist/minister who first invited Wright to the National Press Club in 2004. She has supported Clinton's candidacy in a personal blog but has also been critical of Clinton's handling of Ferraro. From Ben Smith:

I don't mean to suggest some kind of plot. Her agenda here seems to have been the same as Wright's: To protect the minister's reputation from, among others, Obama.

"[I]t is a sad testimony that to protect his credentials as a unifier above the fray the Senator is fueling the media characterization that Rev. Dr. Wright is some retiring old uncle in the church basement instead of respecting Wright for the towering astute father of progressive social and global causes that he is," Reynolds wrote in March.

Posted at April 29, 2008 12:01 PM in response to Clinton Supporter Organized Wright's Presser

I think the fact that he claims a faith only accentuates his arrogance. As if he is above "clinging" to religion. Somehow his faith is more sincere than the faith of the white working class.

I want to repeat that I don't know how Obama really feels. I can't read his mind. But I do understand the things that he says.

Posted at April 25, 2008 11:45 PM in response to Obama's Uniwtting Condescension Toward Swing Voters and What To Do About It

That would be your criteria for electability. And some SDs might agree. But that is not what Dean is talking about - in face value. The SDs were originally put there to protect the party from nominating unelectable candidates.

Posted at April 25, 2008 11:11 PM in response to Dean on electability

I agree with some part of your post. Politicians need to do more than just look the part in order to identify with a demographic. But I don't think that going to bowling alleys and putting down shots in PA are necessarily condescending to the voter. Voters, no matter what their level of education, I think understand the role of these functions. Sometimes it is just polite to do what the Romans do when you are in Rome. And making that gesture is not condescending. To refuse to participate can be seen as arrogant.

Your "non-condescending method" for Obama is a little difficult to follow, but I swear, he is doing exactly what you are asking him to do. And it is condescending. He (you) are trying to manipulate the voter to dislike Hillary, by using empathy. I think your method is despicable!

Whatever Obama's honest opinions are, his bittergate comments were condescending. He may have meant something else but what he said was condescending. The following are 2 seperate quotes about the same subject from Obama and Bill Clinton:

Obama (2008) But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Bill Clinton (1991) You know, he [Bush] wants to divide us over race. I'm from the South. I understand this. This quota deal they're gonna pull in the next election is the same old scam they've been pulling on us for decade after decade after decade. When their economic policies fail, when the country's coming apart rather than coming together, what do they do? They find the most economically insecure white men and scare the living daylights out of them. They know if they can keep us looking at each other across a racial divide, if I can look at Bobby Rush and think, Bobby wants my job, my promotion, then neither of us can look at George Bush and say, 'What happened to everybody's job? What happened to everybody's income? What ... have ... you ... done ... to ... our ... country?'

Obama insults Clinton with false accusations and then blames the voter by suggesting that they are pathologically clinging to guns, religion, and immgration issues to explain away their anger towards, I guess Bill Clinton. This is insulting on so many levels. Not only does it suggest that the voter's values are insincere but it is also misleading the voter about facts.

Bill Clinton's comments is straight forward. It blames the Republicans for tactically dividing Democratic voters. It does not blame the voter.

Posted at April 25, 2008 10:54 PM in response to Obama's Uniwtting Condescension Toward Swing Voters and What To Do About It

But I'm glad that Dean has finally stated this in public.

Posted at April 25, 2008 9:17 PM in response to Dean on electability

Now I just hope the SD's really do consider the electability question when they make their decision.

Posted at April 25, 2008 9:13 PM in response to Dean on electability