Overnight commentary: It’s all over
May 7th, 2008 – 12:23 AM by Dennis J. McGrathThe final results from Indiana weren’t even in before bloggers, pundits and others were writing the obituary for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign.
At the Huffington Post, Miles Mogulescu declared that “the task now is for the Democratic party to unite around its presumptive nominee — Barack Obama — and get ready to take on McSame in the fall.”
Also at the Huffington Post, Sam Stein concluded that the exit polls show that Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” may have been effective in Indiana.
“Thirty-six percent of primary voters said that Clinton does not share their values. And yet, among that total, one out of every five (20 percent) nevertheless voted for her in the Indiana election. Moreover, of the 10 percent of Hoosiers who said “neither candidate” shared their values, 75 percent cast their ballots for Clinton.”
Allahpundit at Hot Air said that whatever the outcome in Indiana, it doesn’t matter now:
“As I write this, she’s been nuked in Carolina and is, er, clinging to a bitter four-point lead in Indiana with 82% in. I said this morning that if she got blown out down south then she’d have to pull off a blowout of her own in the midwest to keep the superdelegates jittery about Obama’s Wright baggage. Hasn’t happened.”
Scott VW at Weblog Worth Writing in Las Vegas saw two very different candidates:
“I watched both candidates’ speeches tonight in the wake of a split decision in Indiana and North Carolina. Hillary seemed tired and resigned. In fact, she seemed to be on the verge of conceding. Obama was energized and spoke about the American Dream, an important theme of his. My wife was skeptical, though, reminding me that Obama might just be telling people what they want to hear. She’s right, of course. I think his campaign has been an honest, principled one so far, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t playing for votes. I hope he can maintain his principles in the face of what will be an onslaught in coming weeks.”
The view from Oklahoma in The McCarville Report was that this was the beginning of the end for Clinton:
“What is clear in the results is that Clinton’s momentum is ended; she needed a solid Indiana win and a close race in North Carolina and she got neither. Obama’s North Carolina win erased Clinton’s early Pennsylvania win and his better-than-expected finish in Indiana makes any argument Clinton makes about electability just so much talk.”
4 Responses to "Overnight commentary: It’s all over"
As a long time Democrat, I believe we need an effective change for the better in the White House. Senator Obama simply doesn’t have the experience, intelligence and ability to lead our country domestically and repair the damage done to America’s reputation on the world stage. Senator Clinton is clearly the only democratic candidate who does have what it takes to lead our country at this crucial time in our history. All Obama has to offer is hubris, and we’ve seen what 8 years of Bush’s hubris has done to our country. Obama is too naive to know that you cannot be an effective leader just by espousing ideals and having a good speech writer. I would rather see our country led by McCain than Obama. I wish all the Barack supporters could see through his glitz and glamour. It’s almost scary; the Manchurian Candidate comes to mind when I think of Obama. Slick. Packaged. A disaster waiting to happen. If Senator Obama gets the nomination from the Democratic party delegates, I’ll volunteer for and vote for McCain. He’ll be a helluva lot better than Obama. Both would be a distant second to a President Clinton. Senator Clinton is the only candidate fully capable to lead our country out of the mess we’re in domestically and internationally.
Al,
Interesting. Can you give me an example of how you think Hillary would help us domestically.
I’d ask about the international reference, but I’m pretty certain you would say, “bring the troops home.”
Al,
I am not trying to start a fight, but isn’t it kinda hypocritical to call yourself a long time Democrat and then speak in favor of a non-democratic way of choosing the next Democratic candidate? Shouldn’t Obama be allowed to run if he plays by the rules he is supposed to and wins the nomination fairly?
For the remainder of this dem race, let there be three small concessions from the media both near and far..
a) do not ever under any circumstances use the words “presumptive nominee” since the person in question is either the nominee or isn’t. No reason to give the over under..
b) similarly, avoid the near continual use of the word “vetted”. That is one word forever married to the arrogant mindset of the Sunday morning political hacks..
finally c) let us no longer play along with the Star’s pretense that they print the same number of hatchet jobs on Obama as on Clinton. One such bloody piece appeared on Saturday and if anyone is so bored, go back all the way to last year and see how Obama avoids such poison. In any event, the Star loves the image of it’s neutrality, so just play along. They don’t need any more lost revenue…