Wednesday’s campaign round-up

May 7, 2008

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* Former South Dakota Sen. George McGovern, the Dems’ 1972 presidential nominee, this morning became the first prominent Clinton supporter to urge her to drop out of the race. McGovern added that he will switch his endorsement to Obama.

* Estimates vary, but it appears Obama’s net gain among pledged delegates last night was about 15, increasing his already large lead.

* I haven’t heard of any new superdelegate announcements this morning, but yesterday, Jeanette Council, a county commissioner in North Carolina, threw her support to Obama.

* AmericaBlog reported last night that retired Gen. Wesley Clark, another high-profile Clinton backer, “called Hillary tonight to tell her it’s over.” [Update: Clark’s office denies that this call happened.)

* Hoping to find some good news in yesterday’s North Carolina primary, chief Clinton strategist Geoff Garin emphasized this morning Clinton’s success with white people: “Garin argued that the North Carolina contest, which Obama won by 14 points, represented ‘progress’ for Hillary because she did better among white voters there than she did in Virginia. ‘When we began in North Carolina,’ Garin said, ‘our internal polling and in much of the public polling we were running exactly even with white voters.'”

* Did Rush Limbaugh have any real influence on the results in yesterday’s primaries? MSNBC took a closer look and concluded he did not.

* John McCain will obviously be the GOP nominee, but in yesterday’s perfunctory primaries, about a fourth of Republicans still voted for someone else.

* While the voting was still going on yesterday, the Obama campaign indicated that it has reached 1.5 million individual donors.

* Hotline: “John McCain announced [yesterday] the members of his campaign’s Justice Advisory Committee. Translation — The very folks who would help a President McCain select nominees to the SUPCO and federal courts. Heading up the effort are Theodore B. Olson, former Solicitor General of the United States, and KS Senator Sam Brownback.”

* Obama will be in DC tomorrow for a series of meetings with uncommitted superdelegates.

* Clinton spokesperson Howard Wolfson said this morning that there have been “no discussions” about ending the race.

Wes Clark would be a great running mate for Obama.

  • …chief Clinton strategist Geoff Garin emphasized this morning Clinton’s success with white people: “Garin argued that the North Carolina contest, which Obama won by 14 points, represented ‘progress’ for Hillary because she did better among white voters there than she did in Virginia.

    Geoff Garin… swanning it. A true dead-end Clinton troll.

  • Erik in Maine:
    Wes Clark would be a great running mate for Obama.

    Actually, I agree but suspect he’ll choose a woman. She would probably choose a person of color. McCain will probably choose someone who is either or both. Because of Obama, the calculation have changed.

  • I wonder if she also had internals showing how claims of avoiding snipers with Mauser 22s, while chasing ducks and the occasional pause for a shot held up? Seriously this beyond puerile, what is next “hey our intenals show that she really won North Carolina!” Total BS

  • Did Rush Limbaugh have any real influence on the results in yesterday’s primaries? MSNBC took a closer look and concluded he did not.

    This is the kind of silly analysis we have come to expect from MSNBC. However, according to exit polling cited by Sam Stein (HuffPo), 17% of all voters in Indiana said they would vote for McCain in a Clinton/McCain matchup. Of those 41% voted for Clinton yesterday. Since Hillary got 51% of all voters, about 14% of her support came from these Limbaugh dittoheads (17% x41% / .51%).

  • Can anyone give me a reasonable reason for why Clinton should stay in the race?

    The best reason I have heard is that Clinton will win West Virginia and it would look bad for Obama to lose West Virginia to a candidate who already dropped out.

    Does anyone know a better reason?

  • …chief Clinton strategist Geoff Garin emphasized this morning Clinton’s success with white people…

    He then went on to add, that, according to the Constitution, black people only count as 3/5s of a person, and therefore Clinton has won the nomination. Then he asked for another glass of Kool-Aid.

  • Mr. Benen says evolution is a widely accepted scientific theory, but ignores the large number of Intelligent Design practitioners denied degrees and jobs in acedamia.

  • Danp,

    I don’t think it necessarily follows that a voter who prefers Clinton to Obama but McCain to Clinton is ipso facto a part of Operation Chaos. Is it necessarily illegitimate to vote in a primary for one’s second-choice candidate to ensure that the third choice loses the nomination?

  • He then went on to add, that, according to the Constitution, black people only count as 3/5s of a person, and therefore Clinton has won the nomination.

    Bwa ha ha ha ha..that made coffee come through my nose. What’s more, I suspect that Mary will be along shortly to second Garin’s opinion, rendering me helpless with laughter all over again.

  • Can anyone give me a reasonable reason for why Clinton should stay in the race? -neil wilson

    Reasonable to whom? If, like I do, you believe Hillary’s primary concern is Hillary, than she’ll stay in to try to damage Obama and ensure a McCain victory in the fall. Four more years of Bush style governance, then she gets to run her ‘I told you so, I am your savior,’ campaign in 2012.

    I think it’s naive to think it hasn’t crossed her mind, and, to her, I’m sure it’s perfectly reasonable.

  • So far it seems pretty obvious that the Clintons are and have been running the 2012 campaign for quite some time. (Which means making sure Obama does not win in 2008.)

  • Doubtful: #13

    I think that your reason makes no sense. Hillary would be dead politically if many people thought that she cost Obama the election. She would have a better chance getting out now and running in 2016.

    I am sure that all of the candidates have egos big enough to realize that they are the ONLY person who can be a good president

  • black people only count as 3/5s of a person, and therefore Clinton has won the nomination.

    Excellent! Why didn’t I think of this?!

  • JRD (11): I guess I can buy your argument for those who are registered Dems. And while I hadn’t thought about that, I really don’t know how many of these voters are registered with each party . I would argue, however, that those who do cross over to eliminate a “worst choice” are mischievous. I assume you’re not drawing a distinction by making the argument that some of these may have been following Ann Coulter’s advice or merely acting independently but with the same goal. In the larger picture I think the important thing is that much of Hillary’s support came from non-supporters.

  • I think we have to give Zogby some credit for calling last nights race closer than the other pollers.

    I wonder how much time TMP spends finding just the right photos for their articles. They even found a moment when Hillary, Bill and Chelsea looked sad during her victory speech to illustrate the later collapse of her lead.

    I can’t feel there’s something a little dishonest about using pictures that are unrelated to a story that make the candidate reflect what the writer is saying. Mark Leyner said that the only honest face is the orgasmic face. So perhaps we should only use pictures of candidates in the throes of ecstacy. If McCain ever gets an orgasmic face again it’ll probably be his last photo.

  • This is her only and last chance. There will be no 2012 for her. She’s poisoned that well. Her campaign was a toxic disgrace, and she attempted (maybe still) to damage the Democratic Party to get the nomination for herself. She knows once she drops out, she really has dropped out. She may have to be dragged off the stage, but I say this week she’ll get the hook, one way or another.

    I see Obama going with a Wes Clark for VP. He needs someone with military experience. Clark would fill that bill, but he’s not scarey military. He’s a southern white man, and that would help Obama with the south and working class white vote. Once the Clinton vapors have dissipated, I really think Obama will appeal to women voters on his own. Wesley Clark, Jim Webb (maybe too green?) someone like that will be his runningmate.

  • snarky says: Upon hearing that McGovern thinks she should quit, Hillary holds up an L on her forehead and says, “What presidential race did he ever win?”

  • Danp: the important thing is that much of Hillary’s support came from non-supporters.

    And what she got from them was crucial. Look at the margin of victory in Indiana, and Texas (cough), and you’ll see that the Operation Chaos voters gave her the needed boost to keep her alive (in the media’s mind anyway) when otherwise she would have been officially declared dead meat.

    Hillary would have been history a long time ago without Rush Limbaugh and his band of idiots.

  • I agree with #1 and #19 on Wes Clark. National security and defense will be Obama’s biggest weakness against McCain, and Wes Clark is just the guy to neutralize that disadvantage. He commands respect on all military issues. And he wasn’t fifth from the bottom in his class.

    This would make a good topic for a post, CB. Last night the pundits were back speculating about the dream team, and I think that would be a mistake.

  • Re: #22 – Actually Wes was valedictorian of his class at West Point, and a Rhodes Scholar. I mean, come on, how can McCain stand up to that? Oh. Of course. That makes Wes an elitist.

  • Wes Clark would be a good running mate, but Obama would never choose him, and Clark wouldn’t accept even if he did. I had a lot of respect for Clark but lost some of it when I heard him speak during the Clinton campaign and spout all the same “inexperience” rhetoric that the rest of the Clinton campaign spouted. Clark has been intimate friends with the Clintons for 30 years, and he’s not going to turn on them now. Another guy I had a lot of respect for but lost some of it was Joe Wilson, who said the same kind of stuff that Wes Clark and the rest of the Clinton campaign were saying. With Clinton in office, guys like Clark and Wilson were guaranteed positions of power and influence. With Obama in office, all those bets are off. A lot of the entrenched Washington Democratic support for Clinton was self-interest.

  • I agree with saintZak, General Wesley Clark would be a good VP for a number of reasons. Putting Arkansas into play would be nice, and southern whites generally like him. He’s not a liberal. And since he has been “right” on the Iraq war for a long time (even though his opinion at the time was probably pro-AUMF) he also has the Iraq card to play, although not as strongly as Obama does.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark

  • Re: #24, I think Clark’s “Obama is inexperienced” rhetoric would be viewed as such in the general election. Clark can claim to have an epiphany and his “flipflop” just turns into another commercial for the candidate of hope and trancendance.

  • I wouldn’t worry about Clark’s campaign rhetoric. It was a campaign, they could easily get past that. I’m sure you could find plenty of quotes of Edwards dissing Kerry in ’04, and on and on.

    I’ve always liked Clark, and have long thought he’d be a good pick. I don’t think it would be considered “turning on” Clinton to accept, more a reconciliation between the two camps. Like the “Unity Ticket” but somewhat less so, but without the Clinton baggage.

    The main hesitation I have in this prediction is that Obama has clearly stated that he doesn’t plan to pick someone to help shore up any perceived foreign-policy chops. He said that he thinks he’s stronger on that issue than some others, and some people have noted that it could be construed as an admission of weakness.

  • X, Clark actually *is* a liberal… but the four stars give him a sort of immunity to the usual lines of attack. This is one big reason why many of us liked him so much in ’04.

    My preference is still Webb, but I’d be more than satisfied with Clark.

  • the important thing is that much of Hillary’s support came from non-supporters.

    Huh? Doesn’t the fact that Hillary got support from them by definition make them “supporters”…?

  • Let me join the chorus for Obama-Clark. A terrific combo for lots of reasons — national security/military cred, southern appeal, and a clearly identified member of the Clinton camp.

  • I’ve always liked Wes Clark for VP. Keep Jim Webb in the Senate; he’s needed there.

  • […] chief Clinton strategist Geoff Garin emphasized this morning Clinton’s success with white people — CB

    Would be a more compelling argument, if they could point out to having made some inroads in *black* support. Say, something comparable to Obama’s support among the white population. Her success with white people — especially in the South — is along the lines of “dog bites man” as news.

  • Neil,

    Can anyone give me a reasonable reason for why Clinton should stay in the race?

    Money. She has plenty of campaign debt. That reason will only hold up if she a) stays in the race and b) dramatically decreases her big $ expenditures.

  • phoebes,

    I’ve always liked Wes Clark for VP.

    If my memory serves, you liked him for President too. Of course, that could be because I did too. Apologies if my memory is faulty.

    I think he would be a great VP choice, but I also like the idea of going with one female governors: Napalitano (sp?) or Sebilus (sp?). A choice like that could go a long way to assuaging the large number of progressive women who have criticized Obama for tolerating misogyny in his campaign.

  • Jeanette Council is African American. One can only ask what she was waiting for. Her remarks about being pressured by Clinton and her story that the Clinton people were trying to “buy her vote” are clearly coming from someone who is an Obama supporter wishing to hurt Clinton’s campaign.

    I suspect that Obama has lined up superdelegates in advance and coordinates their announcements to suit his campaign purposes.

    It may not be racist for African Americans to support Obama because he is black, but when you consider that African Americans supported Clarence Thomas and O.J. Simpson because they were black, it isn’t much of a compliment either.

    On the topic of nominating a female V.P. — when did tokenism every assuage anything? I won’t vote for Obama with a female V.P., especially given that either of the two women mentioned above is better qualified (e.g., more experienced, have more accomplishments in politics) than Obama is. Many of us are sticking with Clinton because she is the stronger candidate and because it is wrong to support a man over a more qualified woman. This suggestion would compound that error, not fix it.

  • Fuck it, I can’t even try to pretend any more. I HATE BLACK PEOPLE! HATE THEM! I FUCKING HATE THOSE LAZY, UNGRATEFUL, SNEAKY, CONSPIRATORIAL, SHADY NEGROES!

  • Jeanette Council is African American.

    And all the other superdelegates who came over to Obama today are white, Mary. But perhaps you see them as race traitors?

    Her remarks about being pressured by Clinton and her story that the Clinton people were trying to “buy her vote” are clearly coming from someone who is an Obama supporter wishing to hurt Clinton’s campaign.

    Or, if you don’t put this through the Clinton Always Right/Obama Always Wrong filter that lives inside your diseased brain, they could be coming from someone who’s annoyed that she was being pressured by Clinton and that the Clinton people were trying to buy her vote.

    I really think you should continue supporting Senator Clinton like this. Your public remarks here, at Washington Monthly and elsewhere are really, really helping her, I think. Keep it up.

  • I. Can’t. Believe. Mary @ 36. She’s beyond parody; no wonder IFP lost it.

    It’s really scary, to think one’s sharing the Earth with someone as unhinged as Mary; I wouldn’t have thought that such a degree of derangement would be possible outside a padded cell…

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