Hillary is burning bridges and losing credibility so Obama should let this thing run its course

[wndycty]

I was thinking about it. Obama really has no incentive to cut a deal with Hillary for her to drop out. Every day she stays in, attacks Obama, makes ridiculous arguments about how she is really winning, goes further into debt, etc. she weakens herself.

If he cuts a deal he has to possibly help pay her debt and/or offer her the VP slot, if he just lets her continue to run he gets credit for allowing her to exercise her right to run and will owe her nothing.

[Lerkfish]

1. well, I knew better than the rumors she would take a win as a way to drop out gracefully

I knew win lose or draw, she would take it as a mandate to take it to the convention. And she will.

to the detriment of the party.


get ready to say "President McCain".

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

15. Hillary doesn't do ANYTHING gracefully.

[cali]

19. She can't. She simply doesn't have the money.

Hill will drop out well before the summer solstice. She's 20 million+ in the hole and she has a defector problem. Once Obama passes the Pelosi club number next week, she'll have an even worse one.

[NJmaverick]

2. I would agree, she will be gone soon enough

and he will be in a much stronger position in roughly 6 days when he clinches the nomination

[bigscott]

4. the truly unfortunate thing

is that many of her supporters are going with her. It seems no matter how much people point out that no Dem will win the GE without the HRC supporters from the primaries, BOH supporters just keep kicking them when they are down (and out).

[NJmaverick]

6. I would guess that 80% of those that leave, will be back

They will eventually come to the realization that when you compare Obama with McCain there is only one choice.

[bigscott]

7. i hope you're right

but the "staying home" option is a powerful one as well

My concern is more for the down-ticket candidates we need to get elected now so they can help shape the future

[NJmaverick]

12. Welcome to the world of the African American voter

that's been their situation for decades. It's why you see such poor turn out from this group. The Dems have taken them for granted for decades. They only had one choice or they could stay home. Many stayed home, although not this year.

[flor de jasmim]

8. Some of her supporters act that they have Obama supporters over a barrel

"be nice or we won't play with you" --

The fact is this...come November, you either vote in your best interest (social, economic) or you don't. If you don't, you get the government you deserve. Smart people will vote for Obama over McCain. If you think the vast majority of Hillary's supporters are that blind to their self interest, and you're wrong, I pity you. And if you're right, I pity them.

[wndycty]

14. Interesting take

:kick:

[NJmaverick]

27. I would agree with that. (nt)

[Lerkfish]

9. no, the unfortunate thing was the hubris of her campaign

and the way she's thrown liberals under the bus all along.

Karma is inevitable.

[Larkspur]

13. As a Dean supporter, I remember when Clintonistas pissed on us and we

still voted for John Kerry and some Dean Supporters worked hard for Kerry's election.

Clintonistas are proving that they, not us anti-Establishment Progressives, are the real sore losers.

Wasn't it Bill Clinton in 2003, who said that we can vote our heart in the primaries but must fall in line in the general election and support the Democratic nominee? I think Bill and Hillary need to follow their own advice to us.

[bigscott]

33. I agree with you

In supported Dean but fell in behind Kerry, I supported Dodd, Kucinich, Edwards and Biden. But i suppose i will support BOH once she gets out of the race. All I am saying is that there are many out there that will stay home if he is the only option.

[PoliticalAmazon]

21. And, as she and her surrogates continue to spin out of control...

they will do more to push Hillary supporters and SDs towards Obama than Obama responding to her absurdities would ever do.

Obama has played it smart: by ignoring her he has put her in the past so he (and we) can move forward in a positive direction. By organizing a mulistate voter registration drive, he has not only shown true leaership qualities, but set himself above McCain and Hillary who are not showing leadership qualities, focused on their own selfish needs instead of looking out for the good of thei Parties and of America.

Most importantly, the SDs are getting a good look at who the real unifier and party builder is, and it ain't Hillary.

So let her continue on in her selfish, me-first, ham-fisted way. By voters away from her, she is doing what she often does: get so obsessed with her own petty vindictiveness to the point that se actually harms herself and aids her opponent.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. she runs a dirty campaign, burns anyone who gets in her way - many will be glad to see that end

Bill should have stayed in retirement - now he has tarnished
the Clinton brand.

I used to think highly of him, but he and Hillary together are
just too nasty to behold.

[DevonRex]

5. K&R. Yep. The longer she goes on the less likely it is Obama

will help her pay off her debt. It's all on her.

[madrchsod]

10. this is why she should leave today but won`t

Hillary Agonistes: Why Doesn't She Concede?

...."Michael Crowley has his own interesting take:

ne gets the overall impression that the Clintons feel Obama shouldn't be here in the first place--that this 'young man's' very claim to power is itself questionable. In this sense, the Clintons may be victims of their own sense of victimhood. The vileness of the Clintons' past enemies seems to have convinced them that their enemies always are, by definition, in the wrong. And that Obama's candidacy is almost like another illegitimate attempt to steal a White House that, in some sense, belongs to them"...


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/13/hillary-agonistes-why-doe_n_101618.html

Politics on The Huffington Post

he`s no longer running against her since last week...but the damage she is doing can not be over looked

[Medusa]

11. Heard this morning that the majority of her Senate colleagues

shunned her yesterday. There's no way she'll ever be elected Senate Majority Leader: they just don't like her. They like her even less after the way she's run this campaign. Good enough for her. Let her pay a very high price indeed for her "winning".

[frylock]

34. she keeps this crap up and she just may find herself out of a job..

I hope the good people from the state of New York are paying attention.

[Rene]

16. Just the opposit....watch obama's star fall. Hillary's quality and quantity. obama's an emptyi

suit, with little substance and nearly no resume. I can't stand the preachery condescending rhetoric and cadence from obama....sonds very similar to the w scheme in his campaign....wrought 7 year disaster.

Clinton's the one to clean up the w mess.....not weak kneed, indecisive(120 present votes) waffler.

[jakem]

18. HIllary cant even clean up her campaign

[City Lights]

20. Clintons don't clean up after Bushes. They cover up. nt

[cali]

23. LOL! Love the Baghdad Bob act.

She's done. SDs continue to endorse Obama. He's received three today. They want nothing to do with the trainwreck Hillypoo has become. Obama is up 20 pts over her in Oregon. She's run an epically bad campaign. She's 20 million in the hole. Her supporters are defecting from her. Clinton bent over for bush repeatedly so expecting her to clean up his mess is laughable. She's done. Stick a fork in her. Poor thing.

[stillcool]

28. The Clinton's sweep the dirt under the rug....

which is why we have Bush II. What are you hoping the catastrophic event will be? That is the only way Clinton gets the nomination, right?

Clinton campaign on ropes
BY JOHN GUERRIERO
Published: May 08. 2008 6:00AM
Murray, who has supported Bill and Hillary Clinton since 1991, said these are tough times for people like him who are in the Clinton camp but want to unify the party.
"The sense is, absent some catastrophic event that would take place in this campaign, it's going to be very difficult to see a path to victory for Hillary given what happened" Tuesday, Murray said.
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080508/NEWS02/805080437

updated 12:43 a.m. EDT, Sun May 11, 2008
Analysis: Could Clinton land the VP nomination?
By Carl Bernstein
CNN Contributor
Several Clinton associates say there is still a ray of hope among some in her campaign: that a "catastrophic" revelation about Obama might make it possible for her to win the presidential nomination. But barring that, Hillary and Bill Clinton recognize that her candidacy is being abandoned and rejected by superdelegates whom she once expected to win over and that, even if she were to win the popular vote in combined primary states, she will almost certainly be denied the nomination.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/10/bernstein.clinton/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Clinton's Path To Victory Slipping Away
CBSNews.com Reports: N.Y. Senator Now Faces Nearly Impossible Odds To Capturing Democratic Nomination
May 7, 2008
There is one scenario which does work for Clinton and that’s a massive movement of superdelegates leaving Obama and supporting her. The party leaders could do that, but it would take some unforeseen development in the race between now and the convention for them to do so. Obama, in some way, would have to be rendered so unelectable that the party rejects him at the convention. That’s not much to hang a hat on but it’s starting to look like her best option.

And even that might not be a viable option, said Joe Trippi. “Even if the catastrophic thing existed or happened, if she were perceived to have caused it, I think it would end her campaign too,” Trippi said. I don’t think there’s any way now for her to gain the nomination. She’s at the point now where if she tries
to make a case against Obama, it will actually speed up superdelegates joining his cause just to shut the campaign down.”

But Trippi notes that the Obama campaign and Democratic leaders are still likely to give Clinton the room she needs to go forward on her own terms, provided that she does so in a positive manner. “I think there’s lots of tolerance for her going on, running the table into the convention and having a presence there,” he said. “But if she actually tries to compete in the trenches for the nomination in a way that looks like it’s damaging the nominee … I don’t think there will be any tolerance for that at all.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/07/politics/main4078586.shtml

[ProSense]

17. Three more weeks. n/t

[City Lights]

22. I must say, her flame-out has been a spectacular sight thus far.

Almost painful.

[paulk]

30. winning by over 40 points in the most recent primary

is a "flame out"?

[msallied]

31. Yeah, that was so unexpected. Obama campaigned his heart out in that state.

:sarcasm:

[paulk]

32. he outspent her 2-1

he had more campaign offices and more staff instate.

"I was going to lose anyway, so I didn't bother to campaign"

That's a great message for the GE. We've got a real fighter in Obama.

[frylock]

35. at first it was painful, then comical..

now it's just fucking annoying.

[Avalux]

24. I agree. Besides, listening to McAuliffe every day is quite entertaining.

It doesn't matter at this point whether she stays in or gets out. She will have no argument left once all states and PR have voted and uncommitted SDs choose and will have no choice but to stop. It will not go to the convention.

[Az_lefty]

25. she's doing so much damage to herself that rejecting her as VP will be easy...

It's gut wrenching to watch this play out but the outcome may be worth it.

[Lugnut]

26. I hope she permanently cooks her goose.

And before some Clinton supporter calls me some childish Obamabot name - for the record - I'm not thrilled with Obama either. I'm disgusted with the rhetoric and behavior of both Clintons.

[harun]

29. Yes, if she wants to keep digging the hole she has made for herself

then Obama should throw her all the shovels she needs.

Nobody made her lend the campaign all that money. It was fiscally irresponsible.

[XemaSab]

36. I'm torn between thinking she should drop out

and thinking she should be given more rope.

The longer this goes on the worse she looks, and the worse she looks, the easier it will be to rally around Obama in the fall.