January 29, 2008
Hillary risks further party division
Quick background: Florida lost its Democratic delegates after state party officials rescheduled their primary in violation of national party rules. In support of the national party, all of the Democratic candidates pledged not to campaign in Florida (and in Michigan, which did the same). With no delegates at stake, tonight's result in the Florida primary was Hillary, zero; Edwards, zero; Obama, zero.
But Hillary Clinton claimed victory, even though no other candidate campaigned in Florida and despite polls showing that voters who recently made up their minds went for Obama.
Hillary looks silly trumpeting this non-win—one television commentator asked her "what exactly are you celebrating?" But the strategy behind these antics, which she talked about openly on TV and in a statement, is calculated: she's planning for a re-vote at the convention on the rogue-states delegate issue, and she hopes to influence the outcome with her own delegates and unelected super delegates. The goal: more delegates for Hillary from states which had no competitive nominating contest.
This is troubling on several levels.
Even if she wins these delegates through parliamentary maneuvers, she will seriously alienate Democratic supporters of Edwards and Obama. After such blatant deck-stacking, many such Dems will just stay home during the general election. If Hillary alienates enough Democrats this way, she'll be even more likely to lose to the Republican candidate.
But a nearer-term problem for Hillary is that it's becoming clear that she'll do or say anything to win, and this is causing a serious backlash. For example, her husband's race-baiting comments in South Carolina led directly to Senator Kennedy's powerful endorsement of Obama, and other key Democrats are either declaring their support for Obama or asking the Clinton campaign to tone it down.
I loved and supported Bill Clinton during the 90s, but my faith is seriously wobbling given the way the Clintons are running this campaign.
By Will Friedman in Politics | Permalink
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