The politics junkie thinks of primary day

by Stacie

I will give you conventional wisdom in three bullet points:

• Clinton must win PA
• If Clinton wins PA by +10 points, she remains -- somehow -- credible
• Nearly all polls put her not quite that much ahead

If you still believe in Santa Claus, you are welcome to hold out hope that Obama can sneak a victory in, but don't hold your breath. Unfortunately, this thing isn't likely to end today.

Clinton has done a truly remarkable job of convincing reporters and voters that she still somehow has a shot at the nomination. Neither would have given a lesser candidate such consideration, so the simple fact that she remains is a testament to her argument that she is a fighter. She is indeed.

Perhaps Obama can be criticized for not being able to put this away, all the way, today. I'm unsure whether traipsing through Pennsylvania with a math-based argument would have played with voters, but Clinton's brilliant line of attack, charging that Obama "doesn't want people to vote," short-circuited any try he may have made with that. I'm sure that John Edwards is even now cursing the evil leaders of the race who didn't want people to vote. And Dennis Kucinich. And Bill Richardson. And on and on. (Remember when there were 400 Democrats running for president?)

So what from here? Clinton will get a good drubbing in Indiana and North Carolina on May 6, but the press will (somehow) accept the argument that neither state is important, and she will continue playing the traditional role of veep for John McCain -- the vicious attack dog throwing everything and the kitchen sink at his opponent, hoping beyond hope that superdelegates decide at the end of it that she's the last one standing. It's an ugly, ugly strategy, and I hope beyond hope that it doesn't work.

Comments

[Carol]

I want to believe in santa claus so bad. So, SO bad. Will be working outside the house most of the day, which is a good thing, will force me not to be glued to internet.