Thursday, April 24, 2008

Hillary spins victory as most miss what actually took place in Pennsylvania.

One of the most annoying things about following the Democratic race for presidential nominee has been to watch the way that the press constantly mimic the Hillary campaign's line and enter into meaningless discussions about how we should determine a winner. Today is no different with Hillary, yet again, seeking to portray a nine point win in Pennsylvania - a state which she originally led by twenty five points - into a "turning point" where the momentum moved behind her causing the Democrats to rethink what to do next.

In today's Guardian there are two articles entitled Obama's failure to finish gives Democrats pause and Victory gives Clinton fresh momentum which both flout the false press story that this race continues to be neck and neck and that Clinton could still pip Obama at the post. This is simply garbage. Clinton can only pip Obama at the post if the super delegates disenfranchise the voters by deciding that the candidate who was democratically elected is not the man for the job and decide to give the candidacy to Hillary instead. If they do so they would alienate the black vote from the Democratic party for at least a generation and their candidate, Hillary, would never get anywhere near the White House, so this notion should be dismissed as the non starter it actually is. Instead we are asked to consider the latest Clinton camp talking points as if they resemble anything which is actually place on planet Earth.

Barack Obama faced renewed questions yesterday about his ability to deliver a Democratic victory in November after his failure to knock out Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary.
Pennsylvania couldn't have been more like Clinton territory had she chosen the voters herself from central casting and yet Obama managed to reduce her 25 point lead into a 9 point lead.

Before the election Clinton stated:

“A win is a win,” she said. “My opponent is outspending me 3 to 1, maybe 4 to 1. I think a win under these circumstances is a terrific accomplishment."

Moments later, Mrs. Clinton again highlighted Mr. Obama’s financial advantage as she raised questions about why he had not locked up the nomination.

“Why can’t he close the deal?” she said. “Why can’t he win a state like this?”

This is the same point that the Guardian are running with today. It's a shameful reiteration of a camp Clinton talking point. And it's a point for which some of her supporters have already supplied a disgraceful answer:
Gov. Ed Rendell, one of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most visible supporters, said some white Pennsylvanians are likely to vote against her rival Barack Obama because he is black.

“You’ve got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate,” Rendell told the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in remarks that appeared in Tuesday’s paper.
So when I read today that the Hillary camp are saying things like this:

"Obama is unelectable," one of her advisers said yesterday.

I am under no illusion that they are saying that "America is not yet ready to elect a black man." That is the racist undertone that floats just beneath the Clinton message that "Obama is unelectable". It's simply disgraceful.

And the harping on about the fact that Obama outspent Hillary by 3-1 and still didn't beat her entirely misses the point of what actually took place in Pennsylvania. Obama knew that Hillary had to win here or it was all over. He also knew that every time he threw money at Pennsylvania that Hillary would have to respond. So he deliberately threw a lot of money at a state which he could not win in order to bankrupt her campaign. And he has done so.

When Pennsylvania went to the polls Hillary's camp had $9 million in the bank and a debt of $10 million. We are told that overnight she has raised a further $3 million. She still faces an Obama team which has $42 million in the bank. It is for this reason that the Hillary team constantly referred to Obama's spending as "obscene". They knew exactly what he was doing and they were powerless to stop him.

She has almost no money left now as she staggers into the last stage of this race. That was the real story of what happened in Pennsylvania. And it's simply Hillary spin to talk about a 25 point lead disintegrating into a 9 point lead as an indication that she now has the momentum.

She does not have the momentum. And, after Pennsylvania, she now no longer has the cash.

That was Obama's game. And Hillary lost.

4 comments:

theBhc said...

Hey Kel,

some of her supporters have already supplied a disgraceful answer

As disgraceful as the answer is, this doesn't come directly from the Clinton campaign. According to exit polls, some 20% of voters said that "race was a factor" in casting their vote. Which is a polite way of saying, "i ain't votin' for a black dude."

Of course, if 20% were able to say this outright, that certainly implies a higher percentage of voting racists, because you know there are a lot of people who would vote on racist grounds but not admit that to a pollster.

It is shameful. Of course, it is equally shameful that Clinton would then use those admissions of racism as proof that she must be the Democratic candidate. I mean, good grief, Lady! Your campaign just said that racist Democrats ought to dictate who the candidate of your party is and you, you bitch! agree!

I can barely stand watching her and her disgraceful presence on the American political scene.

Come on over and visit shockfront.org, Kel. Take a break and see a different kind of horrible news.

Kel said...

As disgraceful as the answer is, this doesn't come directly from the Clinton campaign. According to exit polls, some 20% of voters said that "race was a factor" in casting their vote. Which is a polite way of saying, "i ain't votin' for a black dude."

Oh, I agree that this is a reality Bhc, but I find it disgraceful that Clinton's team cite this as a reason why Obama shouldn't be the candidate. "He's unelectable" says a member of Clinton's team, as you rightly point out, that's saying that racists should decide who the next Democratic presidential nominee should be.

And I'll be right over to Shockfront.org!

Ingrid said...

after Nov 8th, she and Bill ought to seek citizenship somewhere else. They will be the scourge of most Democrats, whether she would have stolen that nomination or not. If she becomes the nominee, then she'll lose from McCain. People who used to hate her for actual no good reasons in the republican fronts, now have ample reasons to keep hating her. She'll light the fire under an old Republican lady that will want to come out to vote against her but for McCain. Republicans are very loyal for one, but especially if Clinton is in the running, they'll come out of the woodwork in droves like a bunch of rabid ants. If Obama ends up the nominee..then the Republican will have made the most out of Hillary's hate campaign and use or extrapolate on all her attacks. If he loses, then everyone will blame it on her..
Ingrid

Kel said...

Ingrid,

I agree that she has simply helped the Republicans by staying in a race which she cannot win and throwing mud at the presumptive Democratic nominee.

However, I maintain great faith that, put up against McCain, Obama will win!