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A Gray Cloud for Ever Sliver Lining
KOS in Newsweek, expanding on a point that others have made, argues that the extended, some say intermidable democratic primary campaign is a boon to the party. KOS and others maintain, rightly, that with the Dem candidates campaigning in all 50 states, visibility and party organization are boosted in red states that normally would have seen barely hide or hair of the Democrats this entire cycle.
It is a good point but for every silver lining there is a dark cloud for, according to this article at Politico, the independent democratic campaign against John McCain has all but collapsed due to lack of funds.
That giant sucking sound? The Clinton and Obama campaigns which, on balance, in my view at least, have outlived their usefulness to the party.
There's an opportunity cost to Mrs. Clinton's stubborness which cannot be denied nor lightly dismissed.
Comments (4)
I think people right now are hesitant to give money to noncandidate-specific entities because they don't want their cash having the potential to benefit the 'opposition' if their dem candidate doesn't get the nomination. It's short-sighted, a bit of cutting the nose to spite the face, but it'll largely be remedied once the GE begins in ernest. If nothing else, I think this mess of a primary season has proven to many (myself included) that we can often afford to donate to worthy causes if we only take the effort to do so.
April 7, 2008 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey John, Whenever I read a Politico article, I find myself in disagreement with their slant. I, for one, feel that the 50 (er, 48) state primary is not a bad thing.
1) Obama's people are spreading a grass-roots network unlike anything we have ever seen. The prolonged primary has maintained a level of enthusiasm here in PA that otherwise would be in a lull now if the nomination was wrapped up.
2) The Obama campaign has all summer and fall to take on McCain (I prefer "War McMonger"). There will be plenty of time to address all of his gafffes, misstatements and policy positions.
3) The extended primary season holds back the flood of negative 527s. For now, the GOP doesn't know who their target is, so we are all spared the onslaught of slime for at least another 4-6 weeks.
4) When the time comes, Obama can put out a call to his one million-plus donors (including me) for a $10 doantion, and he can pick up $10,000,000 on any given day to put out whatever ads he wants. Again, the longer the primary, the longer his campaign has to bring that individual donor list up to the 2 million mark. This is going to be an amazing thing to watch come summer!
5) Day after day, Obama is demonstrating his management skills with his campaign. He has given Clinton little, if nothing, to attack, and has maintained his positive message. His campaign has been a model of efficiency and of staying on topic. McCain just doesn't have a message or platform that can compete, and his low numbers (especially fundraising) are a bold indicator of this.
The primary is going to play itself out soon enough, and the general will be upon us sooner than you think.
April 7, 2008 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
All good points. Still, McCain made a major foreign policy speech just today, a speech which offered, not surprisingly, an aggressively delusional position on Iraq. The Democrats are left talking about what?
Nothing WE can do about it. As long as the Clintons' donors continue to shovel good money after bad, Democrats will have to make the best of a bad situation
April 7, 2008 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
At this point, I think a 5 year old with a crayon and some Elmer's glue could run an effective campaign against John McCain and the Republican party.
April 7, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
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