Thanks for the info, Connie. You're sort of the resident Obama "muckraker" around here. ;-)

I'm sure you know the theory of HRC working on undermining Obama for the GE has been out there for a long while now. Surprising to hear Clyburn saying it's news to him, but it's not news to the rest of us.

"Hillary Hell Bound."

I don't think anyones' disputing that part.

Thanks for the post.

The Times has a very interesting article on the same subject. It's a bit more in depth than the Reuters piece.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/black-congressman-denounces-b-clintons-remarks/index.html?hp

All the best,

Laura

This does give us an indication of what the supers are talking about between themselves.

Like others who have promoted the Obama candidacy, Representative Clyburne is getting his excuse lined up in case Obama gets the nomination and loses to McCain.

By destroying him she destroys herself & the dems lose the election. Doesn't it desroy her career as well?

Like Mr. Clyburn states "African Americans who have reached the decision that the Clintons know that she can’t win this" and she stil wins through foul means, they are prepared to do one of two things: sit the general election out or vote for McCain. This African Americans happen to be my relatives in Ohio, the state the Democrats consider an important state.

Furthermore, I was reading The Root and was shocked to read that some black people are prepared to sit this one out or vote for McCain

There is a school of thought which makes the Hillary Dems throwing the election a strategic goal and not a personality defect for Hillary and the DLC Democrats.

It will of course seem absurd and paranoid.

The late Walter Karp of Harper's said the world of politics is divided into two and only two types of people, hacks and reformers.

Both parties are made up of a coalition of hacks and reformers. The reformers have almost been driven out of the Republican leadership but still.

Dem reformers are of course Carter Wellstone Bill Bradley Kucinich and Edwards, et al. Hacks include the Clintons Schumer Kennedy. Lieberman is a hack's hack.

Karp says further that if the reformers nominate a candidate the hacks will throw the election. And that the hacks of both partys will collude to give the election to the hack. Remember that Kennedy ran against a sitting president for the nomination of his own party and cut Carter up enough that Reagan could beat him.

Edwards was the reform candidate this election and he was mariginalized and ignored enough to be eliminated. But remember how it was three plus the media against Edwards from the start.

I don't see Obama as a reformer but most of the reform energy in this election is behind him. Karp would have predicted that the Democratic Party hacks would throw the election, and he would have seen it months ago.

This will be a tough election for the Dems to lose but throwing an election from the inside is fairly easy. Few mistatements here, scheduling problems...

Six paragraphs is not enough to make a case for Karp's world view but "Indispensible Enemies" is the missing puzzle piece of American politics.

Good question Sean. Obama talks about reform but only in vague terms. He is very similar to 1988 Bill Clinton. Both are attractive and effective speakers but do not come out fighting for reform politics.

Bill actually rode Carter's coatails to victory as gov of Ark first term as a reformer. Then Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart and Stephens Financial got him clobbered running for his second term.

Then evidently someone took him up on the mountain and said "We don't care who is govenor but whoever it is will do things (thangs) our way. You wanna be govenor fine." Stayed bought too.

Similarly Obama does not have a visible history of fighting the Daley machine to a standstill. Where was Obama when the Chicago cops were beating confessions out of young black men and putting them on death row?

Obama is not behind single payer. Obama is hoping to negotiate with the neocons. What a recipe for losing at every step that is.

Smart charming, and well spoken, has a breadth of cultural experience tough to match. But I don't see Obama losing sleep over my well-being.

As a Gedankenexpiriment on the idea of thrown elections, who would the Hillary Dems support if through some Putney Swope primary warp Kucinich got the nomination? McCain or Kucinich? Think about it. How hard would Bill and Hil and Nancy campaign for Kucinich? Or would they work the phones to dry up campaign contributions?

Please--somebody tell her the presidency is not a consolation prize.

Clyburn is doing this because he doesn't want to come out and actually say that he is trying to help Hillary win the nomination. Clever.