Stick A Fork In Her, Because She Is Done
Hillary…well, at least she’s got Bill, and Chelsea, and…Huuuuuuuuma!
Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen at Politico say she’s got “virtually no chance of winning…”
One big fact has largely been lost in the recent coverage of the Democratic presidential race: Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning.
Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party’s most reliable constituency.
Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote — which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle — and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.
People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet.
As it happens, many people inside Clinton’s campaign live right here on Earth. One important Clinton adviser estimated to Politico privately that she has no more than a 10 percent chance of winning her race against Barack Obama, an appraisal that was echoed by other operatives.
In other words: The notion of the Democratic contest being a dramatic cliffhanger is a game of make-believe.
The real question is why so many people are playing. The answer has more to do with media psychology than with practical politics.
Journalists have become partners with the Clinton campaign in pretending that the contest is closer than it really is. Most coverage breathlessly portrays the race as a down-to-the-wire sprint between two well-matched candidates, one only slightly better situated than the other to win in August at the national convention in Denver.
One reason is fear of embarrassment. In its zeal to avoid predictive reporting of the sort that embarrassed journalists in New Hampshire, the media — including Politico — have tended to avoid zeroing in on the tough math Clinton faces.
Avoiding predictions based on polls even before voters cast their ballots is wise policy. But that’s not the same as drawing sober and well-grounded conclusions about the current state of a race after millions of voters have registered their preferences.
The antidote to last winter’s flawed predictions is not to promote a misleading narrative based on the desired but unlikely story line of one candidate.
There are other forces also working to preserve the notion of a contest that is still up for grabs.
One important, if subliminal, reason is self-interest. Reporters and editors love a close race — it’s more fun and it’s good for business.
The media are also enamored of the almost mystical ability of the Clintons to work their way out of tight jams, as they have done for 16 years at the national level. That explains why some reporters are inclined to believe the Clinton campaign when it talks about how she’s going to win on the third ballot at the Democratic National Convention in August.
That’s certainly possible — and, to be clear, we’d love to see the race last that long — but it’s folly to write about this as if it is likely.
Full article here.
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Hang in there, Hillary.
Not bloody enough … yet.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:31 pmShe is in because the political nuke is due to hit just before the convention and if she concedes now it will just screw up any chance she still has to get the superdelegates.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:56 pmshe is only 100 or so delegates behind why is that math so hard to overcome (especially with recent poll results and the fate of votes in michigan and florida so undeclared)? Black people will always vote democratic no matter what why would that be the main factor in who the superdelegates choose?
sorry for living on a different planet for thinking this race is still close, but I would say you would have to live on a different planet to even be considering voting for hillary or obama.
This article is weak.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:00 pm“Rush The Vote” WILL succeed in Pa., and possibly in the others due to vote primary on 4-22 (my fucking b-day) …
March 21st, 2008 at 4:24 pm“the almost mystical ability of the Clintons to work their way out of tight jams, as they have done for 16 years at the national level”
It’s called fraud and expect to die a little when they disclose the CIA files on McCain’s POW experience. Stop the bitch now!
March 21st, 2008 at 4:44 pm