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Obama supporters: Please Relax
Obama supporters demanding Hillary withdraw from the contest immediately need to relax. At this point it is all but certain Obama will win the nomination. But that does not mean that the Democrats should end the Obama-Clinton contest. On the contrary, the only thing that would achieve is to allow the GOP to start their slime-fest.
In particular we can do without the attacks on Clinton for daring to actually continue to campaign. The folk behind them need to consider the fact that the only way that an Obama-Clinton ticket makes sense is if the party is so divided that this becomes necessary for party unity. Clinton is not going to want the veep slot, Senate leader or SCOTUS member make much more sense for her. The only reason to take veep would be if she was likely to be viable as a successor. I don't think she wants to become President in 8 years time.
As a purely practical matter, Clinton cannot withdraw from the contest on a win, not unless Obama has actually crossed the finish line - which is not going to happen.
There is also the issue of party building and turnout. This is particularly important in Puerto Rico where a closely fought primary campaign may well have implications for the next statehood referendum.
Finally there is the question of finances. In particular the large sum that Clinton has already collected for the general election. The funds cannot be transfered directly but donors can be asked to re-allocate the funds.
There will be a presumptive nominee by June 15th and it will almost certainly be Obama. Pretty much all that could stop that would be a Spitser type situation or Barack falling under a bus. But there may well be advantage to maintaining some degree of uncertainty right up to the convention.
The Republicans were only able to launch their smearboat attack on Kerry in a critical window between the end of the primaries and the start of the fall campaign. They could not have pulled off the same attack later. If they had attempted it before the convention it would have backfired. Any pre-convention smear would have been easily countered by pointing to the fact he was nominated anyway.











Comments (5)
I agree with this sentiment. We are so close to the finish line, no need to stop running now. We have a few more states to add to the 50 State Strategy prep that the primaries have become. Obama fans do indeed need to chill.
May 14, 2008 8:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with most of your views here. I think the prolonged Democratic primary has kept the nation's attention focused on Democratic issues, ideas, themes for months. I remember thinking back on the day of the NH primary that if Obama glides to the nomination so early, he's just going to face 9 months of pummeling from Republicans. Well, that didn't happen. What has happened has its positives and negatives, but at this point there is little need to shut down the show right away. It just gives us more cover from a Republican narrative taking over the media...
May 14, 2008 9:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well said. I agree 100%. Everyone needs to sit back and take a deep breath. Senator Clinton is NOT destroying the Democratic party. She has millions, yes millions of supporters who want her to soldier on so their voice will be heard. What the supporters of Senator Obama have against that is beyond me.
May 14, 2008 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Most Obama supporters, as well as our candidate, have nothing against it.
I think Hillary has run a negative campaign that didn't help elevate the discussion, but overall it will prove a net gain for the general to have the primaries play out.
Any negatives will mostly be with people who would never vote for Obama in the first place. I am OK with that.
May 14, 2008 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary will not quit until he gets the most delegates anyway, so I figure, why bother?
In the meantime, though, Obama needs to adopt a more assertive tone. He needs to start projecting Commander in Chief vibes, without actually acting like he thinks he has it in the bag.
Americans are now going to be looking at him to see if they can imagine him sitting in the Oval Office, and facing off against Putin and North Korea and Congress, and he will need to continue working to establish a level of confidence in him by people who may not know him all that well yet.
He doesn't need to go negative, but he does need to be assertive on positions and it won't hurt to try to capture some headlines on this day to day, especially during the two-week lull after May 20.
May 14, 2008 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
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