Posted on 04/23/2008 4:43:30 AM PDT by Renfield
In the days before the Pennsylvania primary, undecided Democrats had a real opportunity to end the suspense and get Hillary Clinton out of the race entirely. Polls appeared to show that Barack Obama had that kind of momentum in the Keystone State, until his debate performance killed it. Instead, late breaking deciders supported Hillary by a 16-point margin and she won as handily as she did in Ohio and New Jersey, taking all but the most urban areas of Pennsylvania and exposing Obama as a poor closer once again:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Pennsylvania presidential primary decisively on Tuesday night, running up a 10-percentage-point victory that bolstered her case for staying in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Sen. Barack Obama played down a defeat that did not substantially reduce his delegate lead, but the outcome only further muddled a race that has stretched on for nearly four months and has sharply divided the party. The two will meet again in primaries in Indiana and North Carolina on May 6.
An estimated 2 million Democrats voted, nearly triple the number who turned out in the past two presidential primaries in the state. Clinton ran up big margins with her core constituencies, winning white voters with incomes under $50,000 by 32 points, voters over age 65 by 26 percent, and Catholic voters by 38 percent more than countering Obamas strong showing among black voters and higher-income whites in Philadelphia and its suburbs. She signaled that despite her dramatic financial disadvantage, she has no intention of getting out before the last votes are cast on June 3.
Obamas campaign tried to spin the results as acceptable, basically arguing that a ten-point loss doesnt amount to a landslide and therefore he kept Hillary from winning a moral victory. That doesnt wash at all. Obama outspent Hillary 3-1 in Pennsylvania and he ended up at about the same place he was at after Ohio. One look at the county map in PA shows the problem. Despite spending tons of money across all of Pennsylvania, he only captured Philadelphia and parts of the suburban counties surrounding it.
Obama has quit resonating with white, working-class families, and small wonder why. After his Crackerquiddick comments and poor debate performance, he has left all but his true believers wondering who he is. Ties to unrepentant terrorists William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn give Obama a radical flavor that negates his earlier assertions of centrism and independent thinking. At the very least, he looks inexperienced and vulnerable despite raising more money than anyone ever has before now.
David Lightman at McClatchy understood the implications as the results began to take shape last night:
Obama, on the other hand, stumbled badly. He outspent Clinton by an estimated 3 to 1. He had six weeks since the last primary to ingratiate himself with people hes had a hard time wooing: blue-collar whites, small-town residents and older women. Instead, he once again lost the white vote handily and couldnt put his opponent away.
The momentum that seemed so strong in February, when Obama won 11 contests in a row and seemed on the verge of knocking Clinton out of the race, was all but gone Tuesday.
Also gone, or at least fading, was the feeling among Democratic voters on both sides that either candidate ultimately would be acceptable.
While Democrats remain angry over the Iraq war, the economy and President Bush, theyve grown less inclined to accept their favorite candidates Democratic opponent as a prospective president.
Democrats have discovered an ugly truth: neither of the two candidates left will unite the party, and for good reason. Theyre both lousy candidates. People like Obama more on a personal level, but both carry significant negatives now, and both candidates have contributed to them. Hillary Clintons Tuzla Dash will guarantee her defeat in November, and if not, Bill Clinton apparently will. Hillary now gets less of the African-American vote than Republicans only 8% in Pennsylvania. Obama cant even buy a victory despite having more money than Croesus, and he has lost every big state the Democrats need to win in November. We have a massive case of buyers remorse, and again we go back to the behavior of the undecideds. A compelling front-runner should have a large majority of late-deciders breaking his way, not away from him. Obamas supposed inevitability should have swept him into victory at this late stage. If he cant swing undecided Democrats, he wont win independents or centrist Republicans in November against John McCain.
And the “Old Guard” of white racist might be even lower if Hussein ( whose first and last name are irrelevant ) is the nominee
There’s no doubt this isn’t February and that Obama has been damaged. But if I had the choice of facing the first woman candidate for President, who’s suffering from large negatives, and the first Black candidate for President who’s been damaged but has the charisma that many unthinking Americans swoon over, I’ll take the former.
We can sit and debate political ramifications all day long. But the general unwashed public will be voting come November. And my faith in their discernment is limited.
IIRC, the last Dem candidate who spent millions in a primary and ended up losing badly is..what’s his name..oh yeah...Dean..the same guy who’s now in charge of the whole Dem party, and who has to try to solve this mess. Good luck Howie..and talk about the right man for the job (snicker)
There’s no doubt Dean’s hands in the pot have been a major factor in the mess they find themselves in. The Clintons themselves also can’t be left off the hook. They’ve collectively (that fits nicely, doesn’t it) created their own mess, far beyond what Operation Chaos has wrought, although it has proven effective, no doubt.
I wasn’t a member of FR back when Dean became head of the DNC. I didn’t need to be to know that picking him was a Godsend...for Republicans; not for the DIMs. Time has only proven the obvious.
Concur re the Clintons...One of the smartest comments I heard all last night..and I can’t remember who said it..was that she caused this all by herself..because she didn’t have a caucus state strategy..where Obama has won most of his victories..
I don't believe the Clintons felt they needed a caucus state strategy, nor much of any kind of strategy, going into the primary season. They felt entitled to the nomination. Little did they know.
But beyond that, they're part-and-parcel of the ridiculous Democrat election process they're struggling under. Even beyond their lack of preparation, they damaged themselves in their own process.
It would be interesting to see what % of Obama's delegates come from caucus results..because I think the average caucus gets about 4-5% of registered dem voters..
“Theres no doubt this isnt February and that Obama has been damaged. But if I had the choice of facing the first woman candidate for President, whos suffering from large negatives, and the first Black candidate for President whos been damaged but has the charisma that many unthinking Americans swoon over, Ill take the former.
We can sit and debate political ramifications all day long. But the general unwashed public will be voting come November. And my faith in their discernment is limited.”
Thanks for your additional post but we’ll agree to disagree here. Let me pose a question to you. Have you spoken to your female friends or the wives of your buddies about who they support re: unthinking Americans as you call them?
You will see that despite all of Shrillary’s negatives, she has a built in vote, what I call, the ‘support your genitalia’ backers.
When you ask them who they will support and they say Hillary, ask them why and what has she accomplished. You will get blank looks, tirades against Bush, limp platitudes but I assure you nothing that makes any sense.
To many women, their allegiance to the shrill Beast is no different than black voters for Obama.
Remember, the impact of the vote for your genitalia easily trumps the PC call to vote for the black guy.
And I haven’t even cited the impact of the ‘cling’ voters. So there you have it.
Now go on and have at it if you want to discuss further.
Why would Shrillary need a caucus strategy when she had $140 million and the coronation, I mean nomination wrapped up in early February?
Monday morning quarterbacking is so easy. Estrich is a putz for doing that.
1. To try and win the nomination now.
2. If she loses it, then to make sure that Obama is so damaged that she loses to McCain..so that she can run again in 2012..which would be her last chance at it..
I am in the Philly area and am putting forth the proposition that Obama HURT himself with all the TV and radio ads. Sometimes there would be two in a row; six in an hour - - on the same channel! And no matter what channel you switched to, there would be that same stinking scumbag Obama and yet another two or three of his same stinking ads. It was flat-out obnoxious. I suspect some people took out their disgust at the polls.
Ask yourself this...right now..assume Obama wins the nomination..loses to McCain in November..who else do you see as a possible Dem nominee in 2012? No one really jumps out..
One more fact to ponder..we have a census and redistricting in 2010..therefore we may see as many as 10-15 reapportionments of Congressional Districts, and an equal number of Electoral Votes switch from Blue States to Red States...making the electoral college math even harder for Hillary in 2012..
So unless their hatred for each other is so bad that they won't get together. Its very likely that they are running on the same ticket.
You can pretty much put it together here...CNN Election Center. The states that have caucus' are Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nevada, Nebraska, Washington, Maine, Wyoming, & Texas (Texas allowing both caucus' and primaries. The map will allow you to see results from each state.
Overall, the site shows:
Candidate: Obama Clinton
Pledged:.......1487..............1586
Super ..........232...............255
Going state-by-state I tally...
Pledged:........276...............173
in those caucus states. Don't ask me why there's a discrepancy...
A red-blue map of Obama vs Clinton would look exactly like the red-blue map of Gore vs Bush (or Kerry vs Bush).
Obama gets the blue pockmarks in highly urban areas, state capitols and college towns. Hillary gets the rest.
In that sense, Obama's supporters constitute a pure distillation of the liberal essence -- blacks, rich white liberals, government bureaucrats and academics.
Which would be a good thing...
...for the blacks.
...and for the party.
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