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Some Thoughts on Last Night
Commentary Magazine ^ | May 7, 2008 | Peter Wehner

Posted on 05/07/2008 1:07:59 PM PDT by Jbny

1. Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President. That was clear before yesterday; absent a complete and unforeseen disaster, it’s a certainty now. Democratic superdelegates will soon begin to break in large numbers for Obama. They have been wanting to do so for some time now; what they needed was a plausible trigger to justify publicly supporting Obama. Last night they got it. Yesterday in the voting booths of North Carolina, the last dog died.

The Clintons have done a lot of damage to our politics over the years, something which Obama tapped into with great skill. They have destroyed a lot of folks who they viewed as obstacles to their power, and so it’s good, very good, that they will not be returning to the White House.

2. Whether Hillary Clinton withdraws or not is a far less important question than it was 48 hours ago. She may formally continue in the race, but as last night’s speeches made clear, the rhetorical swords will be sheathed. And there will be a lot of energy spent in the next several days negotiating a graceful exit for Hillary and Bill Clinton. That may not be easy. Many adjectives apply to the Clintons. Graceful is not one of them.

3. Democrats will begin to rally around Obama and, once Hillarydrops out of the race, he will take a large, perhaps even a commanding, lead over John McCain. In the last month there has been some talk among Republicans that Obama will be an exceptionally weak candidate, on the order of a Dukakis (loser of 40 states), Mondale (loser of 49 states), and McGovern (loser of 49 states). That won’t be the case. Obama is far more talented and appealing than Dukakis, Mondale, or McGovern ever were.

(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: democrats; hillary; in2008; nc2008; obama; operationchaos; president
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1 posted on 05/07/2008 1:07:59 PM PDT by Jbny
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To: Jbny

It’s a shame. If we have to have a Dem as President, I would’ve rather it had been Hillary.

Obama’s a nightmare.


2 posted on 05/07/2008 1:10:12 PM PDT by Slapshot68
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To: Jbny

Is he kidding? With Obama’s baggage? He’s hurting. Badly.


3 posted on 05/07/2008 1:10:55 PM PDT by Braak (The US Military, the real arms inspectors!)
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To: Jbny

IMO Hillary is going to do enough to make sure that Obama doesn’t win the first vote of the convention. After that anything goes.


4 posted on 05/07/2008 1:11:36 PM PDT by agere_contra
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To: Jbny
Obama’s speech, then, was an effort to pivot to the general election and reposition himself as a post-partisan, post-ideological, mainstream, and unifying figure.

Highly partisan
Highly ideological
Not mainstream
Not unifying

Any decent Republican would make mince-meat out of him. But we have McCain, so we'll have to wait and see.

5 posted on 05/07/2008 1:13:18 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Et si omnes ego non)
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To: Jbny

Very perceptive.

The problem is, yes Obama is deepy flawed and trancendently socialist - but our own agenda driven press will do everything to keep voters from realizing this.


6 posted on 05/07/2008 1:14:54 PM PDT by I still care ("Remember... for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
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To: Jbny
Some Thoughts on Last Night

I thought you'd never call.

7 posted on 05/07/2008 1:15:12 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (The road to hell is paved with the stones of pragmatism.)
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To: Jbny
Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President. . . . absent a complete and unforeseen disaster, it’s a certainty now.

In a sane world, the widespread public airing of Jeremiah Wright's various rantings would have constituted just such a "complete and unforeseen disaster".

8 posted on 05/07/2008 1:16:31 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: Jbny

I can tell you one thing. Once the Dem nominee is decided, here are the catchwords the Lamestream Media will parrot until you will want to puke:

battle hardened
proven
consensus builder
able to overcome adversity
winner with grace
blah
blah
blah

I don’t care if Denver is still smouldering and the victor is still dripping with his own and the blood of the vanquished. The media will rally like they have never rallied before.

And it is going to feel like they’re p!ssing in that popcorn that we have all be enjoying for so long.


9 posted on 05/07/2008 1:16:55 PM PDT by freedomlover (Make sure you're in love - before you move in the heavy stuff)
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To: agere_contra

I don’t know if she can do that. I expect Obama will get the nomination, and then an angry Hillary will knock herself out until Election Day working to prevent him from beating McCain.


10 posted on 05/07/2008 1:19:10 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: agere_contra

Actually, Hillary knows Obaam will be the Democratic candidate. Knowing he will be the candidate, Hillary is hoping to make sure Obama DOES NOT win in November.

This election cycle is gone for her, she is now fighting for 2012. If Obama wins, she has to wait until 2016 for her next run. It is all about her. She would rather a republican win so she can run again in 4 years...fine with me ;-)


11 posted on 05/07/2008 1:19:59 PM PDT by djmv
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To: ClearCase_guy
This is only the beginning...YOU HAVEN'T SEEN NOTHING YET! Start investing in PUKE buckets! McSTUPID ain't got a chance in hell to win the presidency!! God help us! :(
12 posted on 05/07/2008 1:22:14 PM PDT by RoseofTexas
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To: djmv

2016 is way too late for Hillary. She’d be pushing 70, right about as old as “too old” McCain is now.

It’s now or never for the Hills, and it’s looking like “never” has a big lead...


13 posted on 05/07/2008 1:23:54 PM PDT by Loyolas Mattman
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To: djmv
Spot on. If Obama wins in '08 Hillary knows the chances of her ever becoming President are nil. So she'll drag out this nomination process as long as possible to hurt Obama's chances in the general.
14 posted on 05/07/2008 1:25:39 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: GovernmentShrinker

I don’t think O has a chance even though McCain is a weak candidate. He needs white middle class men and they won’t vote for him. He’s already been “unmessiahed” and he aint so hot without a prepared speech or teleprompter-look at the last debate with Hillary-stutter-stammer-like a deer caught in head lights. Not well versed in economics-foreign matters-to me he is like the kid running for class president and with that albatross Michelle hanging around his neck and months to go and who knows how many more Wrights and Ayers are in his past or present.


15 posted on 05/07/2008 1:27:10 PM PDT by LYSandra
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To: Loyolas Mattman
It’s now or never for the Hills

Nope, it's now or 2012. (We agree that 2016 is beyond her reach). And obviously the only way she can run in 2012 is if McCain wins in '08.

16 posted on 05/07/2008 1:30:23 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: GovernmentShrinker

“...and then an angry Hillary will knock herself out until Election Day working to prevent him from beating McCain.”

OH NO, NO, NO...WE cannot have her “HELPING”. That’s not a good thought LOL. NO MORE CLINTON’s. She and Bill screwed up their own campaign, and as I recall Bill, whom campaigned for many Democrats over the years wasn’t all that a great success for those he campaigned for, as his wife.

We don’t need them to help Republicans the way they helped themselves. We wouldn’t need or want the obligation either. There’s too much Leftist (RINO’s/Mods.) influence in the GOP as it is.


17 posted on 05/07/2008 1:32:46 PM PDT by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists...call 'em what you will...They ALL have fairies livin' in their trees.)
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To: All

Tactically speaking, a staunch conservative would not be the optimal choice to face the far left Obama. A moderate centrist is, because Independent moderates decide elections.

McCain is a moderate centrist with years of the label “independent maverick” on him.

You pick the rightward most candidate who is viable. Pretty much always. FR chose to split among those and favored an unviable, underfunded and outstaffed candidate, and that fracturing of support yielded McCain — who it turns out is tactically optimal against an excellent speaker who is a far left wing liberal. McCain will do better against him than a staunch conservative would do — because of the independent moderates being, as always, decisive.

I think McCain will win. The center will once again decide the election — as it always has.


18 posted on 05/07/2008 1:33:10 PM PDT by Owen
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To: Jbny; All
This post (<-click), while addressing taxes, helps to explain why "constitutional experts" like Senator Obama are actually in contempt of the Constitution that they have sworn to defend, foolishly following in the footsteps of FDR's dirty federal spending politics. In fact, the article referenced below shows that Obama is the #1 federal spending proposer in the Senate for '08; Clinton is #2.

Obama, a big-shot federal spender
The people need to reconnect with the Founder's division of federal and state government powers. The people then need to wise up to the major problem that the federal government is not operating within the restraints of the federal Constitution, particularly where constitutionally unauthorized federal spending is concerned.

The bottom line is that the people need to send big-shot federal spenders like Obama home as opposed to trying to send people like him to the Oval Office. The people need to get in the faces of the feds, demanding a stop to constitutionally unauthorized federal spending while appropriately lowering federal taxes.

19 posted on 05/07/2008 1:34:35 PM PDT by Amendment10
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To: LYSandra
I aagree with what you say, BUT.....

...the MSM will try to keep any news of such problems away from the voters.

20 posted on 05/07/2008 1:36:53 PM PDT by expatpat
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