Dean to second-place candidate: You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here

April 28, 2008

Just 10 days ago, DNC Chairman Howard Dean struck a relatively impatient note about the party’s presidential nominating contest, telling CNN that he wants uncommitted superdelegates to “say who they’re for starting now.” He added, “We cannot give up two or three months of active campaigning and healing time. We’ve got to know who our nominee is.”

This morning, Dean shifted his attention a bit from the superdelegates to the candidates.

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Monday that either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama must drop out of the Democratic presidential race after the June primaries in order to unify the party by the convention and win the election in November.
But Dean didn’t say which candidate should drop out, only that it should happen after primary voters have been to the polls.

“We want the voters to have their say. That’s over on June 3,” Dean said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

There had been some talk of Dean eyeing a July 1 deadline, at which point the primaries/caucuses would be over, and superdelegates will have been given a chance to weigh in. Perhaps concerned that July isn’t good enough, Dean now seems to be suggesting that one of the candidates can and should step aside in June. (He also said after June 3, the “unpledged delegates really have got to make up their mind.”)

“We really can’t have a divided convention. If we do it’s going to be very hard to heal the party afterwards,” Dean said. “So we’ll know who the nominee is and that’ll give us an extra 2 1/2 months to get our party together, heal the wounds of having a very closely divided race and take on Senator McCain.”

What’s more, Dean went on to suggest he wasn’t just speaking for himself on this.

Dean said that “none of the so-called party elders I talked to” think the contest should go until the convention. “I agree with that,” Dean said.

It’s not at all clear who the “party elders” might be, but it seems that the debate over whether a prolonged process is good for the party seems to be largely over, at least as far as Democratic leaders are concerned.

In his morning interviews, Dean was careful to avoid saying which candidate should step aside, instead emphasizing his goal of simply wrapped the contest up, one way or another.

Given the circumstances, though, Greg Sargent is right — Dean’s impatience will likely rub Clinton backers the wrong way.

This is likely to provoke more anger from Hillary’s major supporters, who have expressed fury at Dean for statements like this, which they characterize as meddling in the Dem primary.

Dean’s critics have a point; the chairman is, to an extent meddling. But from Dean’s perspective, he doesn’t have much of a choice. His goal isn’t to help a candidate, it’s to prepare the party for success in November. My sense is, Dean doesn’t much care who the nominee is — he’s far more concerned with the calendar than the candidate.

This is likely to provoke more anger from Hillary’s major supporters, who have expressed fury at Dean for statements like this, which they characterize as meddling in the Dem primary.

Screw em. Their inability to come to terms with their situation is making a McCain presidency more likely. Hillary needs to get out of the way NOW.

  • my sense is that dean cares quite a bit who the nominee is. the clintons have never never been a fan of his, and vice versa. i think he worries about the calendar and he wants to make sure obama has plenty of time to campaign against his real opponent- mccain.

  • Dean and Obama represent the new Democratic party – the 50 state strategy, the ability to compromise from strength, the desire to reach out to new voters. Clinton and McCauliffe represent the old Democratic party – the 50.1% strategy, the 15 states that “matter”, the ability to triangulate, the desire to cling desperately to whatever they can, no matter that it’s slipping away. Dean is trying to save the party and win the election in November. Clinton wants to be the candidate, no matter the cost to the party or the country. I think that’s pretty clear.

  • Anyone else catch Rev. Wright speaking at the press club this am?

    It could be a narrative changer. He spoke eloquently about the history of the black church in the US, addressed how little whites understand or know its tradition, and reiterated that we need to have a dialogue about race. He also said that attacks on Wright have really been an attack on the black church by people who know nothing of the tradition or its history.Regardless of what Wright said, it’s easy to see why Obama was drawn to him.

    I think both Obama and Wright do both have a “truth” problem– we don’t expect or ever hear frankness from our politicians or in our public dialogues. I think one of the reasons the MSM can’t stop talking about Wright is because it’s a bit of a rude awakening.

  • Just a thought but I really wonder how much of a grudge Clinton will hold against the people who supported Obama.

    If it appears that she is going to “PUNISH” the people who supported Obama then the Obama supporters wll do everything they can to get someone else besides Clinton.

    Do you think it is possible that if Clinton does well in the remaining primaries that there will be a groudswell of support for a Gore-Obama ticket?

  • Zoe from Pittburgh,

    I heard that the CW is that this appearance was disaterous for Obama. They said that Wright may be trying to sabotaging Obama’s campaign. Go to First Read.

  • Dean’s critics have a point; the chairman is, to an extent meddling.

    I disagree. He’s the chairman of the whole party, and it’s his job to make sure the party is in a strong position in the general campaign.

  • I’m not sure I agree with mogwai (post 2) who said, “the clintons have never never been a fan of his, and vice versa.” Being a Vermonter, I remember when Dean was considered a good FOB (Friend of Bill Clinton.)

  • Anyone else catch Rev. Wright speaking at the press club this am?

    Yep. The appearance was solid, but I’m sure the media will soundbite it to death.

  • Anyone else catch Rev. Wright speaking at the press club this am?

    Yes, also last night’s speech at NAACP (with the fiery intro). Good stuff.

    When Rev. Wright mentioned CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, I thought I misheard – I guess that was enough for her to start gushing over the Reverend. Pretty funny.

  • Yep. The appearance was solid, but I’m sure the media will soundbite it to death. -TR

    Yeah, Juan Williams (of NPR and Fox) was clipped on CBS News Radio this morning talking about how disastrous this would be for Obama. Oh noes!

    I think Dean’s on the right track. Dean is a party leader, so he’s, uh, leading. Clinton’s clingers only dislike it because she’s losing.

  • I duly apologize for the poorly written comment.

    I meant to say that the media sees Wright’s appearance is not helping Obama one bit. Some of the reporters are portraying him as a selfish narcissist. I don’t know what to make of this.

  • Micheline, you can cherry pick 10 second clips out of any interview or speech (or sermon, for that matter) and take a very positive comment and make it negative.

    I have heard nothing but good things about Wright’s words.

    I thought there was a bit that was poorly worded, but, it all comes down to a black man saying things for a black community. And America cannot handle that.

    No matter what Wright says, he will be vilified for it. You will see Sean Hannity dissecting every word every minute of every day he is on the radio or television. And he’s not the only one.

    Since I don’t pay attention to the likes of Hannity or his ilk, it matters not one whit.

  • “This is likely to provoke more anger from Hillary’s major supporters, who have expressed fury at Dean for statements like this, which they characterize as meddling in the Dem primary.”

    Well, not fury. I suspect that the only issue possible would be if Senator Clinton locks down enough Super Delegates and pledged delegates to get to about 2000 by June 3rd, but if she got to include Florida would get the lead. Otherwise we are going to know by June 10th what the count is.

    I can understand that Governor Dean wants this over. But the probablity is that they both will be going to the last primary. After that, all the Super Delegates have to do is insist their votes will be bought by the candidate who makes the best case against Senator McCan’t, not against each other.

    Look, the Supers have some concerns, clearly, or they would have endorsed by now. They want to hear their issues from the candidates or they want promises or commitments.

    Or maybe they want to play King (Queen) Maker right at the end. In which case they want to tell Dean to shove it.

    Or maybe, just maybe enough of them want to hold out their votes and force the two campaigns to agree to run on the same ticket. Which would require a purging of both campaigns of irreconcilables and super-irritants (goodbye forever Mark Penn).

  • Lance, I think the Super’s concerns are self-serving. They don’t want to piss off either candidate.

    As for the Veep slot, I do not see a joint ticket. But I will say this; should Obama get the nod, he has to be very careful who he picks as his 2nd because I have great fears of his going the way of JFK. There is too much money on the table for those who have power and money to not continue to be able to buy whatever and whomever they so choose.

  • MsJoanne, I do hope you are wrong, but I fear you will be right. Powerful interests see their actions as necessary and morality simply is not in their playbook. Maybe the best tactic would be to have a VP who would be intolerable to the people who might want to JFK/RFK/MLK Senator Obama.

  • I think a joint ticket will happen. I have a sneaking suspicion that HRC will get the nomination should she win Indiana and lose NC by single digits. She will then pick Obama as her running mate.

  • “This is likely to provoke more anger from Hillary’s major supporters,…”

    There’s a reason for this. When all the primaries are over, Obama will have won the most pledged delegates (as well as the less relevant metrics of having won the most states and the most popular votes [no fuzzy math needed]).

    Now, regardless of who the supers commit to in June, those commitments, as far as the Clinton campaign is concerned, can be reversed before the convention. Therefore, she’s planning on beating Obama over the head, via a willing press, with whatever she can think up over the course of June, July and August. Her plan, carried forward, is to continue making Obama unelectable so that they have no choice but to give her the nod at the convention (regardless of who they committed to) as her best case scenario…or as a worst case, so that he’ll lose in the fall and give her another chance in 2012.

    She is Zell Lieberman, and the press is loving it!

  • Two issues for the thread of one!

    1) How can the Party Chair be “meddling” by trying to steer the party? I thought that was his job. Hmm. Must have missed something.

    2) Wright at NAACP and Press Club: I would expect many on the left to agree with and find no problem in what he said, put on your purely political hat and think like a low-information voter and part-time follower of politics. He totally fanned the flames and baited a reaction. My wife, a high-information voter, was totally offended when Wright mocked JFK’s “Ask not. . .” speech. His “my words are not divisive, they are descriptive!” was sure to bait a response. It is as if he were enjoying the attention and looking for trouble. The unfortunate part is that while Wright can say whatever he wants – he isn’t a candidate, it shouldn’t matter – Obama will not spend two or three news cycles having to answer for Wright’s comments. Essentially, Wright did Clinton’s work for her in taking Obama off whatever his intended message was for the next three days or so.

  • She will then pick Obama as her running mate. -Micheline

    Despite the fact that I couldn’t disagree more with your far fetched scenario, should it come to fruition, what makes you think Obama would accept an offer from Clinton to be Vice President?

    I’m pretty sure that’s an offer he couldn’t accept, especially after all the horse heads she’s left for him in bed.

  • Dean’s job is to steer the campaign, not the election.

    You keep focusing on the pledged delegates. It has been Obama’s campaign strategy to make it all about them, after all. Neither candidate will have enough pledged delegates by the convention to be nominated. Currently, Clinton is leading in superdelegates. Unless you expect a bunch of Clinton superdelegates to switch to Obama, this will go to the convention balloting. At that point, after the first ballot, all pledges are off and even someone who never ran in any primary can be nominated, if sufficient delegates vote for that person. Technically, even the pledged delegates are not pledged if they decide to vote for someone else at the convention, although neither candidate is going after the other’s pledged delegates.

    Trying to circumvent the normal process only benefits Obama. I can understand that Dean, MoveOn, Obama himself, and the many Obama supporters want this to be decided in Obama’s favor. However, half the voters are supporting Clinton. She is close enough that there would be a major stink if the process were circumvented to steal the nomination from her. People (left and right) keep hinting that there would be riots if Obama were not nominated. There WILL be mass defections from the Democratic Party if Clinton is not given her chance to win the nomination. All of the polls are showing that, with margins greater than 10 points higher than the defections if Obama is disappointed. This hinges on a fair contest and it is not fair to end things early just because Obama supporters are impatient.

  • I’m sure Dean DOES care who the nominee is; in his position, he’d better. If HRC does somehow wrest the nomination away from Obama, with his delegate lead, African-Americans will see that as a betrayal of the most fundamental sort. (See Terence Samuel’s article on this subject on the American Prospect website.) African-Americans are the Dems’ most loyal base, but the party is risking losing them for a generation over this. (They won’t vote for the GOP, they’ll just stay home.) As DNC chair, Dean had better be very concerned about this; the ramifications potentially go far beyond this particular election, to the future of the party as a whole.

  • Why July 1st? Doesn’t Dean see the advantage in drawing out the primary contest into November?? Think of it: with the nomination unsettled, there can be two Democrats on the ballot to draw twice as many votes as McCain!!

  • The remaining uncommitted superdelegates have no business exercising their right to commit to a candidate prior to the convention. If they haven’t already endorsed (and the majority of those who have done so have endorsed Senator Clinton), they should now be prevented from doing so until late August. Floor fights strengthen our democratic system. Failing to have one this year will be blatantly cheating Hillary and making a mockery of representative government.

  • Mary, Dean is not steering the election. He is setting a reasonable deadline for the good of the party for the election to be over. It has to end sometime, after all. His job is to make sure it ends in time to organize a successful “product launch” — a party convention — so that some Democrat can beat McCain in the fall. He made no suggestion of which candidate should drop out, who superdelegates should vote for, etc. I am a Clinton supporter and I see absolutely nothing wrong with what Dean is doing and saying. I surmise that where you and I differ is that you put your support of Clinton over your support of the party generally. I don’t.

  • #19 Wright was not mocking JFK’s “Ask not” speech. He was doing an OK version of Kennedy’s accent and pointing out that no one ever told JFK that he didn’t speak properly because of his Massachusetts accent. No one ever told LBJ he didn’t speak properly because of his Texas accent. Yet black children are told they don’t speak properly when they talk in their dialect/accents. Please point that out to your wife. Thanks.

    Where did anyone see Wright’s Press Club speech? TV or internet?

  • Um, Hannah, we’re not totally ignorant. We heard the whole thing, in context. If her reaction was to think he stepped over the line by mocking JFK’s accent and using one of the best political speeches given by a Democrat ever as a foil, she’s entitled to her opinion. Don’t like it? Um, couldn’t care less. I’m happy to point that out to the condescending likes of you. Thanks.

  • Dean’s job is to steer the campaign, not the election. -Mary

    Well, according to you, he’s perfectly within his jurisdiction, then, since the election is in November, and the primary is part of the campaign; a part which the party invites our participation but is not obligated to.

    Continuing to act like you have a ‘right’ in the Democratic party’s selection of a candidate and that Dean doesn’t only makes you look like a fool.

    Parsing the rest of your inanity isn’t worth my/anyone’s time.

  • Currently, Clinton is leading in superdelegates. Unless you expect a bunch of Clinton superdelegates to switch to Obama, this will go to the convention balloting.

    I don’t necessarily expect many committed Clinton supers to switch to Obama, although some certainly will. Politicians with careers to protect want to go with a winner. Even Rahm Emanuel, the last uncommitted superdelegate in Illinois, will go with Obama, or he’d already have declared for Clinton. (That one’s going to smart for her, but for those of us who’ve watched his atrocious behavior over the last few years, there’s going to be a certain poetry in his jumping her sinking ship.)

    What we do expect–and what’s going to happen–is that the uncommitted supers will declare for Obama between now and shortly after June 3.

    I understand it makes you feel better to pretend that this is going down to the convention, but Clinton’s role at the convention is going to be honored guest, not viable contender for the nomination.

  • Mary has already said she will vote for McCain over Obama. That is a thought process I can’t even imagine; 180 degree difference in policies. Which leads to the conclusion that either she is just batshit stupid, a gooper concern troll, or an out and out racist.

    None paint a pretty picture of her.

    I much prefer the Insane Fake Professor’s satire of our gooper troll. At least you now IFP is satire. It’s much harder to satirize oneself; that for which you already are.

  • I think Dean should take a leaf out of McCain’s book: just sit Obama and Clinton down and say, “cut the shit.” That’ll solve aaaaaallllllll the DNC’s problems.

    Taking the nomination process to the convention won’t be a problem if, after the final primary, the presidential hopefuls turn their attentions to McCain instead of each other. It gives both the chance to prove to the supers that they’re “stronger” in an election against McCain without doing further damage to the party. Right now, the Dems primary objective is to get a Dem in the White House (not, necessarily, to have the “best” Dem in the White House). Such a strategy would allow both candidates to improve their image before the November Elections, create a coordinated competition to see which candidate could make McCain look worse, and divide the resources and efforts of the Republican smear machine.

  • NB, I would agree with you except that Clinton has shown a great propensity towards scorching Obama so badly that should he get the nod there wouldn’t be enough time to correct it. If they both went off against McCain, that would be great, but it won’t happen. Obama has already done that while Clinton continues to do nothing but deride Obama. This is not helpful at all to anyone (well maybe to her in the short term).

    And then there is the financing of the whole thing which isn’t going to benefit either candidate.

    I think the attack machine of the goopers would be in a world of hurt not knowing who to smash and bash but other than that, I don’t think it’s such a hot idea.

  • Neither candidate will have enough pledged delegates by the convention to be nominated. Currently, [deleted by this author due to the presence of small children in close proximity to the computer] is leading in superdelegates.

    As has usually been the case, the resident-unworthy-of-naming picks and chooses her facts with extreme prejudice, and conveniently forgets to acknowledge that Obama currently leads in pledged delegates by a much larger number than the Candidate-unworthy-of-naming’s lead in supers.

    Also conveniently forgotten is that all of Obama’s pledged delegates have been thoroughly vetted; they will not desert their candidate in droves, as has been hinted at over the past few months by the Campaign-unworthy-of-naming.

  • Pretty unreasonable for Dean to be “meddling” in the nomination process. It’s like when those pesky coaches meddle in a football game, or when air traffic controllers meddle with air travel.

  • I believe that this primary is going to go to the Superdelegates one way or another. I also agree with “Mary’s” comments on numerous issues about Hillary. Dean should not be worrying so much about having the superdelegates make a quick decision. “Their” decision will come in time without being forced!!!!! Dean has a much bigger problem, that is figuring out what he is going to do about Florida and Michigan. There are millions and millions of democrates that are extremely irrate about their votes not counting and in the presidential race, is going to hurt the democrates something awful…. with a very good possibility of losing the white house all together. In this case, Dean will be the only one to blame for that!!!!

  • gracie, in that!!!! eventuality!!!! there will be plenty of blame to go around. Michigan’s and Florida’s Democraticic parties, for a start (and nevermind the canard that it was against their will in Florida; watch the video of the vote to see how bogus that claim is). And of course the Clinton campaign for not removing her name in Michigan, and then for running Clinton suppoters for the “uncommitted” delegates, just to make sure the fix was really in — and thereby further muddying the waters, since the 30% who voted *against* Hillary would be represented by pro-Hillary delegates.

    It’s a fiasco one way or the other, and once again proves that Democrats can be every bit as venal and self destructive as Republicans. But it’s not at all fair to lay all of the blame at Dean’s feet.

  • The only way we will ever have true primaries is when all states vote on the same day. This spread out for months bullshit is, well, just that; bullshit!

    I wanted to vote for Edwards but he was gone before IL had a chance. (That said, he was pissing me off with some of what he said just prior to the primary but at that point he may still have had my vote. Obama was my second choice.)

    Hillary may or may not have done better in a full states voting primary, too. I don’t know but it would be nice for all to choose and not simply based upon what a couple of other states did prior. Sorry, I don’t want IA and NH being the deciders for moving forward.

  • Howard Dean is in Obama’s pocket – or his big Oil and Pharma company backers. Dean’s desperation is astonishing. In the 34 years I’ve been voting I’ve never seen such a flagrant attack on the democratic process.

    Time is Obama’s killer. That is why at every juncture – every major primary, Obama and his backers launch a relentless assault to get Clinton out of the race. Time will show how lacking in substance Obama really is. It will show that he doesn’t have a grasp on the issues, he doesn’t have a plan, and he doesn’t know what to do. Time reveals who really backs him. More time means more debates, which Obama is desperate to avoid because he falls apart in these debates. Under any scrutiny at all, Obama falls apart. Having him in the White House will mean having another puppet for big controlling interests.

    Dean should step down. He is a disgrace to democracy and is transparently corrupt.

    Hillary has the big corporations and the corrupt politicians running scared. Oh if only she would just disappear! Right, fellas?

  • Hillary has the big corporations and the corrupt politicians running scared.

    Are you fucking high? Or perhaps just stupid.

    Do your homework, toots.

  • I was just listening to Thom Hartman a little while ago and he said it almost seems like the MSM is doing to Obama what they did to Dean in 2004. They took the “Dean Scream” and played it over and over until his candidacy seemed like a joke. He’s not denying that Wright is an issue at all, but the MSM news channels can’t seem to talk about anything else. They talk about the worldwide food shortage for 30 seconds and then spend the next 20 minutes repeating, ad nauseum, how Wright is “destroying Obama’s chances.” They’re not reporting the news, they’re shaping the narrative as it happens.

    Meanwhile, as we’re getting a thorough preview of everything that would be thrown at Obama in the GE, we have no idea what the GOP has up their sleeve to throw at Hillary– she might have been vetted in the late 90s but what about the past 8 years? And don’t think for a moment that everything Bill has ever done will be thrown at her, especially since she has defined herself as a member of his administration.

    Thus far all we’ve heard from the GOP/right-wing about Hillary is PRAISE about how great and strong she is– from none other than the likes of Pat Buchanan. They’re not even attempting to hide how much they want to run against her, after all, it has been their assumption and their game plan ever since she ran for senate.

    As this drags on I’m less concerned about the GE and more concerned that we are witnessing America’s dying gasp. What is truly sad is how such an amazing, historical moment has turned into something so ugly and divisive. What worries me is this– are we showing our true colors?

    (deep sigh)

  • Rick said: “Gore-Obama ticket? Sign me up!”

    You and my California moon-bat bro. No really, I don’t see Senator Obama giving up the top of the ticket to a non-candidate from a border state.

    MsJoanne said: “Lance, I think the Super’s concerns are self-serving. They don’t want to piss off either candidate. “

    Either they don’t want to piss of the eventual winner, in which case a large block of them will get together at the end a swing all together to the winner, or they are promoting their own interests/policies in which case they will hold out as long as possible to force the candidates to discuss their interests/policies. I actually think it is the later and not the former.

    Angela Dear said: “Howard Dean is in Obama’s pocket – or his big Oil and Pharma company backers. … Hillary has the big corporations and the corrupt politicians running scared. Oh if only she would just disappear! Right, fellas?’

    Snort! I suspect hard-core supporters of either candidate think that of the other. I’m pretty sure there are lots of Obama-ites who think Hillary is in the lobbyists pockets. That’s not really a compelling argument.

    I honestly think that most Super Delegates believe that for them to win in down-ticket races they need to have both candidates on the ticket. So no matter how bitter Obama Supporters and Campaign Staff or Clinton Supporters or Campaign Staff may be (and it’s pretty bitter from reading this blog) I believe that last 150 or so Super Delegates can force a joint ticket.

    And the more you all SCREAM that you won’t vote for the other guy, the more you convince the Supers that they need to force the candidates together. In the end it is YOUR bitterness, not the campaigns, that is poisoning the atmosphere.

  • Lance, any thinking dem would vote for the other, whomever finally gets the nod. Independents are a different story.

    I used to like Hils, but now I will definitely be holding my nose to vote for her. But Hils v McCain or Obama v McCain is a no brainer. EITHER dem would and should kick his ass from CA to ME (to PR and Guam, too). There is nothing sensible about going McCain over any dem. Period.

    That’s why I say that the Mary’s of this blog are goopers in disguise. Independents are one thing…but you can’t say you are a dem and yet say if your candidate doesn’t get the nod you’re going goop. That is simply a dumb ass statement.

  • Brooks, get your head out of your ass. Angela Dear, I agree with you. The bottom line here fellows is that even if obama gets the nomination, he cannot win the presidential election. He will not get enough electoral votes, nor will he be able to win the swing states. HE WILL LOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Also, obama “does” take donations from Lobbiests. It was already listed, 38 Lobbyists to be exact. The names of the corporations and their minimum donation amounts. KICKER, he accepted $50,000.00 from “CHINA”, $50,000.00 from switzerland, and many other contributions from states such as FL, IL, MN, TX, etc. These lobbyist donations were in the amounts of $100,000.000 and $200,000.00. Not to mention, oil companies.

  • Wow, gracie! So compelling! I do wonder how “CHINA” managed to get around our campaign finance laws. Those commies! Oh, and I have a question…is it “Lobbiests,” or “Lobbyists?” You spell it both ways. Also, I think you have some confusion about which words should be capitalized. “Lobbiests,” in your first sentence does not need to be. “KICKER,” should not be in all caps, and “switzerland,” should have a capital “S.”

    I normally wouldn’t nitpick so much, but your comment is so full of win, I just didn’t want you to look like a jackass.

  • Gracie–

    Um, are you a Hilbot or a GOPer or both?

    Regardless, you don’t seem to understand much about basic campaign financing rules if you actually believe anything you just wrote.

  • Mark Pencil — my comment about Dean’s steering the election was that by trying to elbow Clinton out of the race early, as he has clearly been doing, he attempts to determine who will be the nominee. That isn’t his role. It is the job of the delegates to the convention and the nomination process, not the people who are supposed to be ensuring that the process is fair and efficient (Dean’s actual role).

    Steve — I am aware that Obama has about a hundred-delegate lead in pledged delegates. They are not the only delegates that matter, no matter how loudly Obama insists that they should be. This is especially true when so many of Obama’s delegates were won during caucuses that disadvantaged the demographic groups that support Clinton strongly, especially older voters, women and working class people who have family responsibilities in the evenings and cannot hang around for hours after work to participate in a caucus process. The enthusiastic organizations that brought out the hordes of “new” voters advantaged Obama during caucuses, as did cross-overs and independents now returning to McCain, but that advantage disappears during a regular primary, as it will disappear in the Fall. The Obamabot intimidation tactics are less likely to come into play then either. That is no doubt a concern to many of the superdelegates because they recognize that this isn’t strictly a matter of counting up the number of pledged delegates after the last primary.

    Like it or not, this election is still tied, with some kinds of strengths favoring Obama slightly and others favoring Clinton slightly. I believe there will be a brokered resolution, but nothing good will come of shoving either candidate out of the race prematurely. Since Dean is not an idiot, I am hoping he knows that. In the meantime, I believe he generates sympathy for Clinton when he does this sort of thing. It should be clear that Clinton isn’t going to leave because of some public statement by him or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid, so it is unclear to me why he is doing it. Maybe he is an idiot after all?

    The attacks on Bill Clinton have the same impact of generating sympathy. I think that tactic is backfiring, although I can see why a desperate Obama feels he must try to neutralize one of Hillary’s strengths. Imagine how people would feel if Clinton started attacking Oprah? It’s the same thing and I think Obama is making a big mistake going after him like that. In a way it reminds people that the attacks on the Clintons in the past have been empty, ceaseless and unfair.

    Obama’s biggest mistake this week has been letting Wright talk in public. It gives people a chance to see that he wasn’t actually misquoted or quoted out of context. If you agree with Wright you may not understand how profoundly insulting many of his ideas are and how bizarre they will sound to most people. Bye bye Obama.

  • When Oprah was president of the United States and Barack Obama was married to her, sharing in his wife’s every policy decision, taking an active role in the administration, racking up credit for her every success and denying joint culpability for her failures, she never came in for the kind of outrageous criticism Bill Clinton is now bearing the brunt of.

    Sure, Oprah may have gotten her salad tossed by one studly young intern, and she may now be embarrassing the hell out of her husband, Senator Cuckold, with her insistence on bringing up three-month-old contretemps that only do their own campaign damage, but she would never be subjected to the disgusting prejudice Bill Clinton is enduring right now. The double standard here totally stinks.

  • I am aware that Obama has about a hundred-delegate lead in pledged delegates.

    Again with the flawed Rovian math, eh? If Obama leads in the overall delegate count by approximately 130, but is behind in supers by roughly 30, then that would equate to an Obama lead in pledged delegates of about 160.

    I would have expected one who professes to practice “the fine art of Pedagogy” to at least have a minimal grasp of elementary mathematics…..

  • Steve, you’re better off getting a math lesson from IFP.

    IFP, now that was priceless! BRAVO!

  • Steve, @50,

    I bet that, every time Mary posts, you congratulate yourself for your decision to home-school your son; I bet your back is quite sore from all the patting 🙂

    Mary has been a revelation to me. I’ve long believed that men — who, when making decisions, allowed their supplementary “lower brain” more say than it deserved — were at a biological disadvantage when thinking logically; that the testosterone literally flooded their grey cells and rendered their upper brains useless. But I have never — not once in my entire 58yrs spent on two continents — “met” a female who suffered from a similar syndrome, before I “met” Mary. I suppose that the greater degree of her derangement has to be credited to the fact that, while “thinking” with with a pair of walnuts is difficult, “thinking” with a hole must be that much harder…

    Dean should step down. He is a disgrace to democracy and is transparently corrupt. — Angela Dear, @39,

    Angela, dear… Plug that hole quick, lest you become another Mary.

    Dean has had a fantastic influence on the party, promoting the extension of its reach. It’s thanks to him and his bold 50-state strategy, that VA had gone purple in ’06 and is now promising to turn blue (at least in part on Obama’s coat-tails, BTW). Had it been up to Hillary’s buddies in DLC and their siege mentality (let’s protect what we hold, even as our holdings get smaller and smaller), we’d still be saddled with Macaca Allen in Virginia and enough of the Repub majority in the Senate for all the Committee Chairmanships to have remained under their control.

    If we extend the majority in both houses in November — and every indication seems to point that way — it will be, *again*, thanks to him and his refusal to give up even on the “snake handlers” (thanks, Tom Cleaver. I’ll never forgive you for your cavalier discounting of us. Sooo DLC, dontcha know) in the South. True, his tactics are the same as Obama’s: leave no stone unturned and no crumb un-picked in trying to extend the party’s reach. But that’s what’s *good* for us, not bad

    The fact that you could even *think* of removing him from his position — something that Hillary’s wing has been trying to do, consistently, ever since he became Chairman (*one* of the bones I have to pick with Hillary and her wing) — proves to me that, either: You’re no Democrat. Or: For you, what’s between the legs counts for more than what’s between the ears and much more than what’s good for the country.

  • libra, BRAVO! I’d give you a standing ovation for that but I’d drop my computer. 😉

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