Grasping at Straws
- 05.13.2008 - 10:09 AMIt is not like Hillary Clinton needs any more encouragement to stick around. She and her husband–in a flashback to old times–seem impervious to the growing chorus of Democrats hoping she’ll exit quickly. The latest Washington Post/ABC poll won’t please those trying to sweep her off the stage.
A surprising 64% of voters want her to stay in the race. That includes 42% of Barack Obama’s supporters. Are these Democrats mad? Do they enjoy the spectacle of Clinton possibly beating the surefire nominee today and damaging his electoral chances? Perhaps they are more polite than the pundits and want to give her the courtesy of finishing the primary season. (According to the poll, they actually seem to have bought into the idea that Clinton’s continued presence isn’t damaging the Democrats’ chances in November.)
Other than that, there is not much good news for Clinton, who trails by a healthy 12% to Obama and now lags on questions of electability and leadership. As for John McCain, he trails Obama 51-44% but can extract a few kernels of good news: 26% of Clinton’s supporters say they will vote for him, he leads Obama 71-18% on experience, and he beats Obama 65-24% on foreign affairs.
But wait: if those two issues are his strong suits and he still trails Obama, does this mean those issues aren’t that important? It seems that if McCain could improve in one key area–ability to bring about change, where he trails (29-59%)–it would have the most impact. After all, that’s how Clinton lost her aura of invincibility. So long as the argument is “change vs. status quo,” Obama has the undeniable upper hand. If the argument ever becomes focused on what kind of change is each candidate proposing, then McCain may have a shot.
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May 13th, 2008 at 10:30 AM
You’re overintellectualizing. All Maverick and his surrogates really have to do is start ranting brainlessly about “change” at every opportunity. Pretty soon the MSM imbeciles will think they’re a youth movement, too. Yes we can! Yes we can!
May 13th, 2008 at 10:35 AM
If Rush Limbaugh is now getting his Operation Chaos operatives into Democratic opinion polls that’s a mighty coup.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Face it. Obama gets the nomination.
It’s a Democratic year, and he’s a better candidate than Kerry, Gore, or McGovern. Chances are, he wins. With a Dem Congress, look for at least 2 years of Bolshevism, the likes of which we haven’t seen since LBJ and FDR.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:19 PM
that abc/WaPo poll was of adults. it’s meaningless. not registered voters, not likely voters. adults. no serious poll is ever taken of adults.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:41 PM
I can see why Hillary is staying in the race - even if she thinks the nomination is a lost cause. Isn’t she up something like 99%-1% in West Virginia? And have a healthy lead in Kentucky too? It may behoove her to stick around for those 2 victories, hope that they are resounding, and reap the subsequent political capital - if there is indeed to be some.
Then again, she may be holding onto the hope that pictures surface, kind of Wright style, of Obama in bed with a monkey and an ostrich or something.
McCain - “he leads Obama 71-18% on experience.” Who in God’s name are those 18%? In what manner of calculation can anyone, with even a speck of rationality in them, say that Obama has more experience than McCain? I guess the word “rationality” is the key word in that sentence.