Posted on 03/08/2008 6:23:11 AM PST by jdm
Last night, Bill O’Reilly asked Al Sharpton the $64,000 question — what happens if Hillary Clinton gets the nomination even if Barack Obama comes into Denver leading in pledged delegates? After the losses in Texas and Ohio, the new meme has the superdelegates wondering whether Obama can win a general election. If Hillary can make it closer by the time the convention rolls around, say to within 70 or so pledged delegates, the superdelegates will throw their support to the most competitive candidate.
After hesitating a bit, Sharpton makes it clear that he and his supporters won’t accept a brokered outcome:
Superdelegates are not Supermen. The party can’t say it represents the concept of one-man, one-vote democracy and then make backroom deals that ignore the popular vote and the will of the electorate. They will march in the street to protest a Hillary nomination if she comes into Denver trailing Obama.
Strong words indeed.
Duane and I discussed this today, and he thought that putting Obama at the bottom of the ticket will avoid a walkout. I don’t think Obama will be willing to tie his political fortunes to Bill and Hillary Clinton, and I don’t think that his supporters would forgive him easily if he did. The Clintons are everything that his campaign opposed — insider deals, nasty personal attack strategies, and the politics of the Beltway. Accepting that bottom slot would endorse all of that and eliminate the one advantage he gives the Democrats.
Sharpton’s threat gives Obama potent leverage to keep from accepting a convention demotion. If his supporters start talking about third-party movements, the Democrats are finished up and down the ticket — and they know it.
UPDATE: My apologies — Red Lasso seems to have a problem with this episode from O’Reilly. Hopefully it will work again soon; it worked when I loaded this initially.
and if Obama gets the nomination, expect Hillary to hurt Obama by using passive-aggressive methods. It really looks bad for the Dems right now. I can’t believe they are doing this.
Sadly, the blacks will vote exactly how the Democrat LEADERS TELL THEM TO!!!
Obama really won Texas. He will receive more delegates than Hillary. The real question is why is Hillary still in the race. She will be going to the convention with less pledged delegates than Obama and less popular votes [minus MI and FL.]
I can’t wait until Da Revrums Al and Jesse show up at the Dem convention.
Sharpton is extending his palm. He wants something in exchange for keeping his followers on the plantation
I’m predicting that Denver will think twice about ever offering to host a Democrap convention again.
I'm going to stock up on popcorn for Denver. This could get really good.
That’s probably more the case.
Isn’t Obama white?
She is only ahead if you count MI, where she ran unopposed, and FL where neither candidate campaigned. If you remove those two states, Hillary is behind by about 600,000 popular votes.
popcorn......where is my popcorn?
March? Is that the new word for riot?
Walk, big boy.
I think Sharpton wants to avoid major riots. His power revolves around being able to credibly deliver riots, or settle them down when he has what he wants. So he will want to see how close to the edge he can take things without falling over into the abyss
He needs to also take into account that the American middle class is more heavily armed than they were in 1992, after the LA riots, and the sight of the LAPD running away. At that point I, among many others, came to the realization that anybody who does not own several firearms, along with enough ammo to hold off rioters for a few days, is a fool
Being amused at the dems' woes makes McCain easier to stomach.
This is what happens when you have uninformed, naive people who vote strictly based upon emotion. There are millions of young people and African-Americans who want Obama in the White House. They don’t know what he stands for, and they don’t care. They just “feel” that he will magically “heal” all of the nation’s wounds.
I would gloat more if we had somebody better than McCain.
He may want to avoid major riots, but those of us who've been around a while know that these things take on an ugly life of their own. Once a mob is whipped up into a frenzy, it's too late.
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