I think Gary Varvel sums it up.
This is sheer lunacy by Obama: Clinton only needs to persuade 150 or so superdelegates to switch and she gets the nomination.
Leaving aside for the moment how little this suggests you think of Clinton, I have a hard time believing that there are 150 superdelegates dumb enough to think that the party’s electoral chances would survive throwing the race to Clinton at this late date. That would be utter chaos, and would paint the Democratic Party as a bunch of ineffectual, squabbling children all the way up to the election. I think the superdelegates realize this.
It would be the funnest Dem Con EVAH!!, tho’.
Hillary would end it with a robotic droning speech pledging to lead the 9 remaining Democrats on a historical march straight down the toilet.
I would proudly cast my ballot for Daryl Strawberry, in the name of dignity.
All of which sturm und drang totally overlooks the fact that a metric boatload of superdelegates publicly announced they were switching their backing to Obama, once the primaries were over.
Ain’t gonna happen, except in some PUMA loser’s semi-wet dream.
First, it’s important to realize that the Obama people couldn’t really stop it. Delegates can stand up and nominate pretty much anyone – that’s why it’s a convention. I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if there were a dozen different people nominated. I think this was done as a gesture of unity and to avoid some potentially ugly public scenes.
Though I will say that everything Hillary’s done since losing the nomination has made it crystal clear that she’s a fucking crybaby and would have been a terrible choice of president.
It’s a politeness. If enough superdelegates were insane enough to torpedo the election by nominating Clinton, Obama wouldn’t want to serve those morons anyway, and would be well advised to wait for 2012, when he could run for the nomination for the right to face off against President John McCain, at which point the party would acclaim him, crown him King, and possibly recommend him to the Pope for sainthood.
Surely Muslims aren’t eligible for sainthood. :dubious:
Actually, anybody is. They’ve even sainted people whose actual existence is doubtful.
Why would it be up to Obama in the first place? That sounds creepily undemocratic.
Good line.
He’s the nominee. There is no reason that a “democratic” process must be used to determine what happens at the convention.
No, he is not. He’ll be the nominee once the convention votes that way.
Mr. Obama is being gracious towards Hillary, and I hope for the sake of decency it doesn’t come back to bite him, as I think she’d throw him under the bus in a heartbeat to get the nomination.
Gracious? The whole thing seems rather patronizing.
“Fine, children, we will participate in the charade that this nomination is meaningful; but when we’re done, y’all better sit down and let the adults have the stage again.”
I, for one, think that this is absolute GENIUS.
It takes a the political convention - something that has been scripted completely and had only one small opportunity for suspense in the naming of the VP pick - and made it into a cliffhanger. What is she up to? Will she or won’t she? Can she be trusted? The press is already getting hard at the thought of it. It turns something that most Democrats can’t be bothered to tune into and turns it into a “must see” dramatic event.
I’d bet the ratings will be through the roof, and lots of people will tune in to see what Hilary and her rabid fan base is going to do.
i agree, this is deliberately calculated to kindle massive interest. Kudos to whomever in the Obama campaign realized this and pushed it past less cunning minds.
Has Obama won any gold medals in the olympics?
Didn’t think so. How can he honestly expect my vote?
Pretty much it. If the Clintonistas were able to sway the convention and overturn Obama’s nomination, it would pretty much destroy the Democratic Party and guarantee that Hillary would lose the election and utterly destroy her own career.
Then Obama could come back in four years against President (whoever McCain choses as VP, because I honestly don’t believe that McCain is healthy enough to survive four years of the stress of office).
Besides, at the bottom line, IT IS AN ELECTION BY DELEGATES. No votes have actually been cast yet, they’ve just been “pledged”, and that pledge is not legally binding in most cases. Therefore, the delegates have a legal right to be heard and to cast their votes before ANY nomination is official. Anything less is morally improper.
You can’t just say “I have enough pledged votes, therefore we’re not voting and you have to go away and accept that I won.” That’s not the way it works, and I would be deeply suspicious of anyone who tried to work it that way.
If Clinton hadn’t made all those tantrum-ey noises she made about “the people being heard,” “the popular vote is the true indicator of who won,” and “I’d win if you count this but don’t count that, while crossing your eyes and spitting on the floor,* etc.” perhaps it wouldn’t seem patronizing.
There is a history of placing all primary candidates’ names into nomination, doing a roll call, etc. but Hillary’s past behavior is what’s making people wary and making the usual protocol less that simply pro forma and somewhat different than the way adults would normally do it.
- I made that last part up.
But he was on the water polo team.
Vote McCain: He knows how to win medals.