As The Smoke Clears

Reading the email in-tray and absorbing the latest news from Wyoming and looking at the delegate totals and the popular vote, it seems clearer to me that we Obama supporters for the Democratic nomination need to chill a little. Under the rules everyone agreed to in advance, he’s winning the nomination. RCP has his delegates at 1588 to Clinton’s 1465. Counting only pledged delegates, his lead is even bigger. No one disputes this. Whatever the psychological games the Clintons are playing – largely a threat to sabotage the Obama1timsloanafpgetty winner if they don’t get their way – this is the core reality. Even the Clintons’ big recent "wins" – Texas and Ohio – came after the much bigger Clinton leads of a few weeks previously were cut in half or to as little as 3 percent as the public engaged and assessed the two candidates. In the end, Obama won Texas in the delegate count – which is what this primary election depends on. And he gained support as the campaign proceeded, barring a last minute spasm of doubt and fear sown by the Clinton camp in Ohio. Since March 4, he has won more super-delegates than she has. It now seems that he won Texas as well, if you go by delegates. And what else are we supposed to go by?

I see no clear reason why the Michigan and Florida primaries should be re-done. Why should a party switch the rules halfway through a game? If Clinton were ahead by the amount Obama is, no one would give the argument for a re-do any credence. Just because the Clintons do not believe the rules ever apply to them, we don’t have to acquiesce to their self-serving arguments.

Obama has essentially won this thing already. He should use the next few weeks to demonstrate what a tough campaigner he can be; to broaden his appeal as he has done in every major primary as the campaign has gone on. The good news about the kitchen sink is that you can only throw it once. He just won Wyoming after being battered by a barrage of negativism and refusing to throw a much larger kitchen sink back. He should now focus on Mississippi. And on reality.

The Clintons just got into our heads. We need to get them out. Keep going; keep focused; remind people why only Obama can provide change in a way the Clintons never have and never will.

(Photo: Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty)

Quote For The Day

"I get it from both ends of the (political) spectrum. Last Thursday, I was on Air America. The host accused us of being nothing but a Trojan horse, concerned with nothing but trying to beat Hillary. Two hours later, I was on Laura Ingraham’s show, where I was told I wasn’t a real Republican… I told her she was the one who wasn’t a Republican, that she and others like her had given up the core of the party with this cultural/socialism kick they’ve been on; making personal decisions about people’s private lives, from the FCC’s ruling on Howard Stern to Congressional intrusion in the Terri Schiavo case. All she could say at that point was that I must be liberal because I teach at a university. But people like Laura Ingraham have basically paid for their houses and cars by feeding on the fear and division of the American people. Partisanship is not the end-all, be-all of our existence. Obama, at least, seems to recognize that," – Tony Campbell, Republicans for Obama.

Samantha’s Apology

Check out this YouTube. It was an emotional week, as any perusal of this blog will show. But one reason I am drawn to Obama is because he attracts people like Samantha. Maybe a political rookie. But a class act. It is very hard to believe Hillary Clinton herself would ever issue a statement as sincere and honest as Samantha’s – in either content or tone:

A Question For Clinton

Hilzoy:

Some enterprising reporter should ask her whether she would support Barack Obama if he were nominated. If she would, then she should be asked why she would be willing to support someone she does not believe is qualified to be commander in chief.

Call her out. Flush her out. Stop giving her a pass. Karen Tumulty makes the same point here. Shouldn’t a potential veep be "ready on Day One"?

“Frustration At Concurrence”

P.J. O’Rouke’s 2004 article on Limbaugh et al:

…the number and popularity of conservative talk shows have grown apace since the Reagan Administration. The effect, as best I can measure it, is nil. In 1988 George Bush won the presidency with 53.4 percent of the popular vote. In 2000 Bush’s arguably more conservative son won the presidency with a Supreme Court ruling.

A generation ago there wasn’t much conservatism on the airwaves. For the most part it was lonely Bill Buckley moderating Firing Line. But from 1964 to 1980 we went from Barry Goldwater’s defeat with 38.5 percent of the popular vote to Ronald Reagan’s victory with 50.8 percent of the popular vote. Perhaps there was something efficacious in Buckley’s—if he’ll pardon the word—moderation.

I tried watching The O’Reilly Factor. I tried watching Hannity shout about Colmes. I tried listening to conservative talk radio. But my frustration at concurrence would build, mounting from exasperation with like-mindedness to a fury of accord, and I’d hit the OFF button.