Hey, uncommitted Super Delegates? Fuck you.

Posted on | May 23, 2008 |

NOTE:  Yes, I know this rambles a bit, it is all written off the cuff and has not been edited.  My apologies, but I wanted to get it out there.

Well, I’ve finally reached the end of the line with Hillary Clinton.  It’s funny, because I thought I had reached it a while ago, but with her today stating one reason for her to stay in the hunt for the nomination the possibility that Barack Obama might be assassinated, she crossed the last line.  This woman has clearly lost her mind. 

To anyone who can do basic math, this race was over in late March after Obama won eleven contests in a row and built what was clearly then, and is clearly now, an insurmountable lead in pledged delegates.  The popular vote is irrelevant, although he is leading that, too.  He is also leading in the number of states won.  And the amount of money raised.  And the number of Super Delegate supporters. And every other metric that can be tangibly assessed. (When Clinton’s people tell you she is leading the popular vote, it is a bald face lie.  They know it, but they have nothing else to go on.)  Now she mentions that she should stay in because, hey Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June of 68 when it looked like he would be the party’s nominee, so, you know, in case that happens again, it’s worth her staying in.  What the fuck?

Clinton also likes to talk about how she is more electable than Obama.  That she has a better chance of beating John McCain in the fall.  You would think, if you were not insane, that if that were true, she would be beating Obama.  We can go back to basic math formulas and say that if  O can beat C in the primary, and C can beat M in the general, then it follows (transitive property maybe?) that O can beat M in the general. Or to shorten that up: if O>C and C>M, then O>M.  She can’t even win the nomination, why would she win the election?  Unless she thinks McCain might be assassinated as well?

The most common attack against Obama (other than the fact that he is a black man) seems to be his lack of experience.  Really?  Let’s examine that.  The Clinton’s have been in politics a long time.  They essentially ARE the Democratic Party.  They had everything in their favor; name recognition, fundraising, etc.  And this young guy from Chicago who apparently has no experience crushed them.  How did he do it?  By luck?  I doubt it.  He organized from the ground up in all 50 states.  His people understood how the nominating system worked unlike Clinton’s genius Mark Penn who thought California was a winner take all.  Didn’t this boy wonder of political strategy go to civics class in high school?  He had a 50 state strategy instead of ignoring caucus states, small states, etc.  She had a Super Tuesday strategy and when that didn’t work, when he had the audacity to still be standing after March 5, she had no plan.  And no money. He understood the power of the internet and used it to raise a previously unheard of amount of money from a previously unheard of number of donors while she relied on the big money system.  He hired a campaign staff that has remained almost completely intact from the beginning whereas Clinton has been rearranging the deck chairs for months.  His message has been the same from day one.  Change.  Change you can not only believe it, but that you can bet your ass on.  And her message?  I don’t have a clue what it is except that she thinks she would be better than him.  No real reasons why.  And the reality is that on paper, they are fairly similar candidates.  But in the flesh, they couldn’t be more opposite.  He’s elite?  Jesus Christ, I hope so.  He’s running to be the President of the United States at a time when it is clearly going to be the most difficult job in the history of mankind.  He better damn well be elite.  Didn’t we already try a non elite president?  Well, Bush actually couldn’t be more elite when you look at his life and family, he just happens to also be an idiot.  So maybe we go with the smart guy this time?  Can we just try that and see how it works out?

And now there is talk of Hillary being the Veep.  The Dream Ticket.  It’s never going to happen, so let’s just put that idea to rest right now.  Why not?  It would unify the party and they would go on to crush McCain in the fall, right?  Maybe.  But the whole idea of Obama’s presidency would be instantly tarnished, and most likely eventually destroyed.  She has thrown everything she can find at Obama in attempt to destroy him and nothing has worked.  Like emptying a clip of bullets into some alien opponent who is completey unfazed by it and yet you still throw the empty gun at it.  She is grasping at straws and now, finally, there is nothing left but the assassination idea.  She went big with the race angle and even that didn’t do much but win her WV and KY.  But the polls there have been relatively unchanged for months so it didn’t really get her anywhere.  And she knew that and did it any way.

The funny thing is, I don’t really even blame Hillary at this point.  I blame the Super Delegates.  Created to protect the party, those who are still undecided have the power to end this and end it quickly.  I hope that they are waiting until the day after the final primaries on June 3^rd to come out en masse for Obama and end this nightmare.  But I am not going to hold my breath.  Perhaps they are all waiting to try to be the one.  The Last Super who puts Obama over the top.  Whatever their reasoning for waiting is, it is follish and if indeed, Obama is unable to win in November, it will be their fault.  And Clinton’s too, of course, for starting down the road she did, but they could have easily made all her yelling and screaming irrelevant.  They still can.

But what is that Hillary wants and how to get her out without causing a catastrophe?  Does she want the Veep?  It can’t happen, and my guess is that no matter who tells Obama to go for it, he won’t do it on principle.  How’s that for a politician?  It’s so rare it seems like a fault when it is in fact, his greatest strength.  The man actually believes in something, not just what is popular.  So now that Bill Clinton is apparently lobbying strongly for Hillary to be the VP choice, and to deny her that risks shattering the Democratic Party, how should Obama deal with it.  I believe there is one answer that solves all of his Clinton problems in a single moment.  Get Al Gore to be his running mate.  Of course Gore doesn’t want it, but that is irrelevant.  Obama can make the case, in a nationally televised speech if necessary, that Gore is the only man suited to the job at this crucial moment in history.  He is experienced in the White House, respected around the world, a global leader on the environmental crisis facing the planet, and let’s face it, the guy is OWED.  With Gore on the ticket these guys would wipe the floor with McCain and whatever fool he happens to convince to run with him.  Obama gives a speech, clearly outlining the many areas of trouble the US faces over the coming years, all of the holes he and his team will be forced to dig the US out of, and says that he needs help.  He needs the best and the brightest of America on his team, and that Al Gore is at the top of the list.  Make the office of the VPOTUS in charge of dealing with our energy and environmental policy.  Make it the opportunity that Gore has been waiting for his entire life, the chance to save the world.  Promise him no going to Mall openings in Topeka or good will trips to god knows where.  Obama needs to make it clear that Gore’s one and only job will be working on the environmental crisis and let him know that he will not take no for an answer.  Is anyone really going to argue that Hillary should be on the ticket if Gore is willing to be?  Ok, anyone except Hillary?

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