Clinton fails to get needed game-changer
Her aides insist she will press anew for a resolution to the disputed contests in Michigan and Florida, both of which she won, but whose results were voided because the primaries were moved in violation of Democratic Party rules.
Anticipating those efforts, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe sent a memo to superdelegates reminding them of the math. He said Clinton would need to win 68 percent of the remaining delegates to win the nomination — an extremely unlikely scenario, made harder by her poor performance Tuesday.
"With the Clinton path to the nomination getting even narrower, we expect new and wildly creative scenarios to emerge in the coming days. While those scenarios may be entertaining, the are not legitimate and will not be considered legitimate by this campaign or millions of supporters, volunteers and donors."
At least one undecided superdelegate saw Clinton nearing the end of her game as well.
"Senator Clinton did not get out of the night what she needed," said North Carolina Rep. Brad Miller. "To use a basketball analogy, she traded baskets. And she needed to do much better than that this late in the contest with her down 150 or 160 pledged delegates."
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Editor's note: Beth Fouhy covers presidential politics for The Associated Press. Associated Press Writer Nedra Pickler contributed to this story.
(This version CORRECTS SUBS graf 8 to correct 'brokers' sted 'grubbers')
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
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Clinton fails to get needed game-changer
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View All Comments »mruth at 05/08/2008 11:13:38 AM
Comment:
I agree with you 100%.
LA at 05/08/2008 9:30:28 AM
Comment:
My comment is that I feel that Hillary actually helped Obama in some ways:
1) She used a boot camp approach to get him ready for what he would face in the general election by "exposing" any weaknesses he may have had going into the race. This early exposure will now be known as a thing in the past and will not hold water with McCain-it's old news and we heard it all before!
2) Her staying in this race could help her supporters actually transition to Obama and put to rest the speculations that he cannot win. Either way, I do not believe that her supporters would vote McCain and not vote for Obama simply because I am sure that they don't want another 4 years of the same BS. Right now, people are hurt and still wanting to find a reason NOT to vote for Obama and it is due to racial divides. But I think that Hillary can and should reassure her supporters to do the right thing and that really should be her exit strategy.
Although her supporters would feel more decisive about voting for Obama if she was on the ticket as VP, I think that is a marriage that would head for a divorce! I say that only because Hill would push her own agenda, Bill would push his weight and that would almost leave Barack like a stepchild in the White House! So I am not feeling that union at all!
Here's something for thought: how about Obama-Powell? That would be major! Two African-American men--one who is a Dem, the other a Rep! Can't be any more bi-partisan than that, right?
csfoster at 05/07/2008 4:13:52 PM
Comment:
The Fat Lady has sung. The results of last night's elections in North Carolina and Indiana was in effective Senator Clinton's last stanza in her bid for a plausible claim to emerging as the Democratic Nominee. It is not going to happen unless Senator Obama completely implodes as a result of a controversy greater than Reverend Wright. And that is very hard to imagine.
So in effect, Senator Clinton now has two choices.....she can take the high road or the low road.
Contrary to what many may believe, I believe that, with less than a month to go and in honor of her supporters, her high road will be to compete in the last six primaries and do so focusing on critical issues without going no where near negative on Senator Obama. Her purpose will be to help build the democratic party turnout in the remaining primaries and to start letting her supporters know across the board that regardless of who the Democratic Nominee is, at the end of the primary season they will all get behind that nominee to insure that Senator McCain does not win in November.
And very soon after the end of the primary season, Senator Clinton will gracefully recognize Senator Obama as the presumptive Democratic Party Nominee based on the pledged delegate count of the primaries and the fact that the majority of the superdelegates will have publicly made their choice of Senator Obama known. Incidentally, I believe the remaining issue of seating the delegates of Michigan and Florida will be resolved by awarding 50% of the Michigan delegates to both candidates and dividing the Florida delegates on the basis of the votes cast. At that point, the 2,209 delegate threshold will have been crossed by Senator Obama and Senator Clinton will follow through with her pledge to work hard on behalf of Senator Obama and uniting the Democratic Party to ensure that a democrat is elected as our new president in November.
Senator Clinton will respectively decline Senator Obama's invitation to run on his ticket as the VP and perhaps instead accept an invitation to serve as the new administration's Secretary of Health and Human Services for the purpose of implementing Universal Health Care thus adding to her legacy.
She will be taking the low road by doing anything else than the above.
I believe Senator Clinton will take the high road because any other road will ruin her and President Clinton's legacy which at this moment is still held in high regard.
Meanwhile, Senator Obama will also take the high road by continuing to reach out to Reagan Democrats and focusing on Senator McCain in preparation for the November election.
Taking the High Road!
Caryl S. Foster