Obama used party rules to foil Clinton

Associated Press (excerpt) ^ | May 30, 2008 | STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

[HAL9000]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unlike Hillary Rodham Clinton, rival Barack Obama planned for the long haul.

Clinton hinged her whole campaign on an early knockout blow on Super Tuesday, while Obama's staff researched congressional districts in states with primaries that were months away. What they found were opportunities to win delegates, even in states they would eventually lose.

Obama's campaign mastered some of the most arcane rules in politics, and then used them to foil a front-runner who seemed to have every advantage — money, fame and a husband who had essentially run the Democratic Party for eight years as president.

"Without a doubt, their understanding of the nominating process was one of the keys to their success," said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist not aligned with either candidate. "They understood the nuances of it and approached it at a strategic level that the Clinton campaign did not."

Careful planning is one reason why Obama is emerging as the nominee as the Democratic Party prepares for its final three primaries, Puerto Rico on Sunday and Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday. Attributing his success only to soaring speeches and prodigious fundraising ignores a critical part of contest.

Obama used the Democrats' system of awarding delegates to limit his losses in states won by Clinton while maximizing gains in states he carried. Clinton, meanwhile, conserved her resources by essentially conceding states that favored Obama, including many states that held caucuses instead of primaries.

~ snip ~

[Phlap]

Having all the advantages, Hillary always assumed she would win. All the pundits and prognosticators said so. After all who would challenge her? A unknown rookie black Senator with no money? Get off the dope.

But here we are. Who would have thunk it?

[Ann Archy]

Tad Devine is just a tad TOO Devine!! Actually he’s a mean, SNARLING dog!

[bert]

Barack is Princess Nancy’s Bitch

[Ann Archy]

RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

Hillary will NEVER be beaten by a Black Guy because RULES do NOT apply to the Clintons!!

[Dante3]

Exactly. She took it for granted. I hope she and Bill will never set foot in the White House - he sold a pardon to Rich. He also pardoned at least one pedophile and dangerous radicals. This is just the tip of their corruption. Her constant weird smiling and cackling in situations where a normal person would not smile indicates a manic state.