Wednesday, February 20, 2008

When Will Clinton Concede To Obamamania?

- Politics -

With Hillary Clinton having lost 10-straight primaries, including a 17-point win in Wisconsin and a 52-point win in Hawaii, going from clear favorite to long-shot, will she finally give in and concede the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama?

She is not just facing an extraordinary candidate — she’s facing an absolute movement. How can she deny that is what will guarantee Democratic victory when November rolls around?mac vs. pc

Want a great comparison? The New York Times likened Obama to a Mac and Clinton to a PC. Without a doubt, popularity, style and message have been key in this election, and Obama has now pulled ahead.

Of course, Clinton still has a shot at winning Texas and Ohio on March 4. But a person smarter than I about politics, MSNBC’s Tim Russert, says that Clinton must secure a solid 65-70% of voters in the two biggest states in her forefront in order to get a fair shake at overcoming Obama’s overall 150+ delegate lead.

Obamamania is rolling, and Clinton’s hopes look grim. Obama dipped into the Clinton base, and now women under 50 and white males are voting more for Obamamania.

Tomorrow’s CNN Debate in Austin, Texas may be one of the last shots Clinton has at redeeming herself. The bout is considered to be on the level of “Ali vs. Frazier 2” from a political sense. We know Clinton needs points, so she may come out immediately swinging. The tough part from her point-of-view now is that if she starts throwing negative points at Obama, she could damage the entire Democratic party, and raise her own negatives when it comes to the national campaign.

Even the press caught onto the phenomenon and yes, Clinton can claim press bias at every campaign stop. But at this point, the press has been generous to her, allowing her to continuously come from behind now that she keeps finding herself in the unfamiliar position of long-shot winner. Even at this point if John Edwards were to finally end his neutrality and endorse Clinton (and he won’t), she still wouldn’t see much of a boost.

The Clinton campaign cannot overcome Obamamania — a word soon to be added to dictionaries and, once November hits, the history books.

UPDATE: Obama campaign manager David Plouffe breaks down the delegate math, saying Clinton needs 73% of the remaining delegates just to break even. (thanks to TIME’s Mark Halperin for the sound byte) 

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