Even if Hillary were to win all of the remaining primaries and caucuses in equally impressive fashion, she still would not make much of a dent in Obama’s lead amongst pledged delegates. This, no matter how the Democratic Party ultimately decides to include disqualified delegates from Florida and Michigan.
[Hillary’s ‘big-state” (superdelegate) endgame, The iPINIONS Journal, March 6, 2008]
Meanwhile, you’ve probably heard talking heads on TV spouting off about the pivotal role “superdelegates” will play at a brokered convention…. Nevertheless, I think the prospect of a bunch of politicians and “distinguished party leaders” deciding this race is grossly exaggerated. In fact, I’m convinced that the person who goes into the convention with the most pledged delegates (i.e., those duly won in the primaries and caucuses) will be the nominee.
[The winner of Super Tuesday Part II…The iPINIONS Journal, March 5, 2008]
The above quotes are from two articles I wrote over two months ago. And, despite all of the talk since then about Barack Obama’s (Rev. Wright) problem and Hillary Clinton’s (resurgent) momentum, nothing has altered Obama’s trajectory towards clinching the nomination.
(A fact the editors of TIME magazine finally figured out this week, and decided to celebrate it by featuring Obama on the cover of their current issue as the presumptive winner of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.)
Besides, even factoring in Tuesday’s split decision – with Hillary winning Indiana 51% to 49% and Obama North Carolina 56% to 42% – Obama actually increased his already insurmountable lead over Hillary amongst the all-important pledged delegates 1,588 to 1,419.
Accordingly, I reiterate today what I’ve maintained for months, namely, that the superdelegates will effectively ratify the number of pledged delegates each candidate has won. For now though, Obama claims 258 superdelegates for a total of 1,846 of the 2,025 delegates needed to officially clinch the nomination; whereas, Hillary claims 266 for a total of 1,685.
Nevertheless, she seems determined to continue her campaign against Obama as if it were a WWF death match. And she shows no scruples about playing the “politics of division and distraction” (i.e., the race card) as she hangs on for dear life – despite all the criticism and indignation hurled at her (and Bill) for doing so.
Indeed, the latest in this respect was her insidious pandering on Wednesday to the racist tendencies of white folks by declaring that, if Democrats want to win the White House in November, they’d better nominate her because poor whites will never vote for Obama.
Alas, there’s no denying that watching this fight between Hillary and Obama is as irresistible as watching a train wreck.
Still, no matter how anticlimactic this race or perverse the political pleasure it provides, let’s keep our eyes on the prize, which, for all intents and purposes, Obama won months ago.
NOTE: If you’re wondering why Hillary is persisting against all odds, I think only her (Clintonian) sense of entitlement to the presidency, which manifests a pathological delusion, explains it.
UPDATE: Myanmar
According to independent reports, including from the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, the death toll from Cyclone Nargiss is likely to exceed 100,000 and millions of survivors are facing death from starvation and disease.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s military leaders are still refusing to facilitate the rapid deployment of foreign aid workers to provide care and distribute food to remote areas of the country. For example, after one relief flight landed yesterday, they turned it away because, in addition to food and supplies, it carried a search-and-rescue team whose members did not have their permission to enter the country before taking off.
This prompted an extraordinary rebuke from the United Nations, which criticized Myanmar’s leaders for unprecedented obstruction of the international humanitarian response this crisis demands. Others, like the French foreign minister, have charged them with crimes against humanity.
Unfortunately, Myanmar’s military leaders seem utterly impervious to the notion that they might be responsible for killing ten times more people in this tragedy than Mother Nature did with her cyclone.
Nevertheless, since I have no doubt that the military junta will eventually give way, please click here to donate to one of the many reputable agencies waiting to participate in the relief effort.
Related Articles:
Last word on Rev. Wright
Clintons playing the race card…
It’s TIME: Run Obama Run!
* Original version of this article was published on Wednesday
Indiana Democratic primary
Noel says
At this point she’s suppose to be trying to unify the party and yet she makes a statement about Sen. Obama not being able to carry “working class, white americans”.
If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat it is a rat.
For the Democratic Party to allow this behavior and allow one of their own to sabotage the General Election shows everyone that they just don’t have the cojones to stand up to the Clintons and their screwed up behavior.