February 28, 2008Clinton is down but not yet outTwo weeks ago, Kim Foster traipsed from her aunt's house through the bone-chilling cold and high winds to Patrick Henry High School to see Hillary Clinton. Even though weather forced the presidential candidate to cancel, the 18-year-old remains a strident Clinton supporter. When I caught up with the Salem High School senior Wednesday, she said she will not turn her back on Clinton, despite calls for the candidate to concede the race to Barack Obama. Junius Gaither, a lifelong Democrat, applauds the idea that Clinton "is holding the banner for female progress." But the 78-year-old Roanoker said "maybe it would be best for her to drop out, if it's going to bring healing to the Democratic Party." Democrats need "every day of the time between now and November" to come together to beat Republican front-runner John McCain, Gaither said. The young woman and elderly man epitomize a national debate swirling about whether Clinton should drop out of the race -- for the good of the party and for the good of her standing within the party. The suggestion is for her to exit with grace, rather than in humiliation. Obama has won 11 straight primaries and caucuses and leads Clinton in delegates. The Illinois senator has narrowed the races in delegate-rich Ohio and Texas -- make or break states for Clinton, who desperately needs a comeback. Meanwhile, more and more uncommitted party superdelegates are announcing support for Obama. Nevertheless, "she feels -- and I feel -- she can do it," Foster said during her lunch break Wednesday. "I believe she can do it. She doesn't need to drop out. ... I'm not going to be in a fistfight to give up." I suspect Foster, who will be voting this fall in her first presidential election, has predicted right on this one. Clinton isn't going anywhere -- definitely not before Tuesday. Even if Clinton loses next week, she still might not throw in the towel. Knowing Hillary (and Bill) as we've come to know them during this campaign, they're not giving up that easily. Can you say "ego"? How about "sense of entitlement"? Heck, Clinton could become the Mike Huckabee of the Democratic Party, hanging on after her fate has been sealed. She could try to carry the battle to the Democratic convention. I said nearly four months ago that Clinton is nobody's punk. She's running hard, and that's never been more evident than in recent days. Who didn't see Clinton's gracious closing remarks at the end of the Texas debate last week when she said she was an "honored" to run against Obama? Less than 48 hours later, she angrily ripped Obama for negative campaign tactics "straight out of Karl Rove's playbook." Then there's the dust-up over a photograph of Obama wearing a white turban and a wraparound robe, shamelessly exploiting Americans' fear of Muslim terrorists. During Tuesday night's debate in Cleveland, Clinton treated viewers to a non-denial denial over the origins of the photograph, whose mysterious appearance was vaguely attributed to "Clinton staffers." And when NBC's Tim Russert tried to corner Obama about an unsolicited endorsement from controversial Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, Clinton jumped in with how she handled unsolicited support of anti-Semites. Clinton give up gracefully? No way. Foster wants her candidate to fight till the end. "She should stay in there. I want a woman president." |
About this blog In her signature plainspoken style, Michigan native Shanna Flowers peels away the layers and gets to the heart of the issues. No pretense. Just straightforward perspective. Shanna writes about local people whose circumstances reflect decisions made as near as City Hall or as far away as the halls of Congress. Other times, she weighs in on a topic because it is incredibly ridiculous. Or heartening. Or fascinating. Read Shanna's column three days a week, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at roanoke.com
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Comments
[February 28, 2008 9:48 AM]
Chris TaylorHuck's fate is NOT sealed!
Dump McCain
By Adam Graham on Feb 28, 08
John McCain’s condemnation of Bill Cunningham for his vigorous attack on the ability of Barack Obama to be Commander in Chief and for mentioning Obama’s middle name is the latest step in John McCain’s career of appeasing his enemies and attacking his friends.
I received a call from a reporter in rock-rib-Republican Idaho Falls asking me to comment on the discontent with John McCain. Republicans in that area of the state are down. John McCain should still win Idaho, but GOP turnout will most likely be down. The result: many good people will lose legislative races, maybe even Congressional races, thanks to John McCain.
It?s this way across America. A friend in Tennessee told me of a Congressman trying hard to get people at a Lincoln Day Dinner psyched up about supporting John McCain, but had little success. The Republican base is set to stay home in droves this year and the only motivator John McCain can provide is fear: fear of Obama, fear of Hillary. That will not be enough. There are enough people on the right for whom politics is a take it or leave it proposition. If you cannot speak to their dreams, hopes, and highest principles they will not show up. And John McCain cannot do that. Alan Keyes said it best, ?There’s not a single constituency of true conservatives that doesn’t have one of John McCain’s knives stickin’ out of our backs.?
It isn?t happening. Yes, the Democratic candidates are frightful, but that?s not enough. Bill Clinton?s liberal record in Arkansas, nor the fact that he protested his own country overseas in a time of war, nor his various unpatriotic acts were enough to stop his campaign.
Let us be objective for a moment. America is fed up with government. It is fed up with its President and gives him approval ratings in the 30s, it is fed up with its Congress and gives them approval ratings in the 20s. In a time of discontent, that empty rhetoric of change can, as it did in 1976 and 1992, overcome the fact that the Democratic Candidate is wholly unfit to be President of the United States.
If I?m wrong and McCain wins, then what do we win? Do you think after four years of John McCain, conservatives will be happier or more discontented? Will the liberal and moderate voters who John McCain is counting on elect a Republican Majority in Congress, or will they more likely vote for liberal Democrats? Whether McCain wins or loses, conservatives lose.
Some choose to sit helpless in this malaise. Some try to make a mockery of our political process by crossing over to the Democrats to cast a sabotage vote for Hillary to stop the Barack Obama train. I say, it?s time to stop the John McCain train.
Those who are finding John McCain unpalatable often conclude there is no alternative. We?re told that Governor Mike Huckabee has been eliminated from this process and that it?s mathematically impossible, and the math is clear. Yet, as Governor Huckabee pointed out recently in Ohio, if the math is so clear, why does every news site have different numbers?
The math is only ?clear? if you count unpledged delegates. Only pledged delegates are required to vote for a candidate on the convention floor. According to the Green Papers, John McCain has 874 delegates, Mike Huckabee has 210, Ron Paul has 5. What remains are many states with primaries ahead, as well as a large slate of delegates that are not pledged to any candidate. There will be several hundred delegates that could be free agents at a convention should John McCain not reach magic 1191.
Voters in states such as Ohio, Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Idaho, South Dakota, and New Mexico could hit back at states that thought their voice and their vote shouldn?t matter by supporting Huckabee and forcing a vote on the convention floor. Maybe, his inability to seal the deal will convince delegates who may be leaning McCain right now to change their mind.
Many people say Huckabee is even worse than McCain. This analysis is incorrect. Huckabee is not a perfect conservative. However, he can be trusted on several issues on which John McCain cannot be.
John McCain supports handing our sovereignty off to the International Criminal Court and the Law of the Sea Treaty; Mike Huckabee doesn?t.
Mike Huckabee has a consistent record of supporting the second Amendment; John McCain doesn?t.
John McCain supports using your tax dollars to destroy human embryos; Mike Huckabee doesn?t.
Those concerned with securing the borders may not believe Huckabee on the issue because of some proposals he made while Governor of Arkansas, however, Governor Huckabee has made ironclad commitments by signing pledges by Numbers USA and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to not have amnesty. I trust Duncan Hunter and Jim Gilchrist on the border, and they trust Huckabee. Meanwhile, John McCain has not pledged to oppose amnesty and he has convinced no major figure on border security that he is serious about protecting our nation?s borders.
Finally, while Huckabee has had his differences with many conservatives, he?s not made his career antagonizing every part of the Conservative base.
At this point in the race, John McCain is taking the tact of Bob Dole. Dole, in the waning days of the 1996 campaign after he won South Carolina, quit debating because he knew that appearing in a debate beside other candidates could only hurt him. It?s a sign of weakness and an inability to defend your ideas. If McCain is afraid to take on Mike Huckabee, what?s Barack Obama going to do to him in the fall?
I?m under no allusions that Huckabee has a great shot of winning. The odds are against him.
However, I remember him being in single digits and facing the end of his campaign in August when he finished second in the Iowa strawpoll. I remember us being told the Huckaboom went bust in late December, and then he won the Iowa caucuses. I remember reading his political obituary after the Florida primary and within eleven days, voters in eight states gave him victories. Governor Huckabee has the type of character and determination to beat the odds that I refuse to underestimate him.
However, whether he wins or loses, I will not be on the sidelines moping as the GOP heads for defeat in November. I have given funds, and I?ve made calls into Texas. I will expend every effort I can, and if that fails, I can rest in the knowledge that I didn?t roll over and accept the coronation of a man who will lead the GOP to defeat this Fall.
What about you?
[February 28, 2008 10:04 AM]
Voters for Obama : →http://www.votersforobama.comVoters to superdelegates: SUPPORT OBAMA
The voters are speaking loud and clear.
Primaries or caucuses have already been held in 36 of 50 states. Obama is ahead by nearly a million votes, and has won twice as many contests as Hillary Clinton. He also leads Clinton in pledged delegates.
Obama's appeal among independent voters makes him a strong general election candidate. But if Clinton is nominated, the race will be too close to call against McCain.
Enough is enough. We are a coalition of voters urging the Democratic superdelegates to support Barack Obama.
We can make a difference by letting superdelegates know how many of their constituents want Obama to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
[February 28, 2008 10:51 AM]
Louis in RoanokeWith the Political lead up to a GOP party that has failed the American people, and moreso the staunch Bush Supporters, Economic Conservatives, the Christian far Right, and the Social Conservatives in every issue brought to the table, we know the GOP Candidate will come out with everything they have to try to win back the Presidency and tell the American people that 8 years of the Republicans at the helm has been a big "move on, forget what you see here folks". The truth is that America is ready to hop on board of responsible government lead by responsible people. And no one has brought home the issue more than Sen. Barack Obama. Surely the Hillary supporters can see the bigger picture in this election; it's not about the election, it's about our troops who fight with bravery and valor and about our fight here as Americans competing in a global economy. It's time for a responsible leader to stand up and fight for us taxpayers and patriots, and that person is Sen. Barack Obama.
[February 28, 2008 11:20 AM]
EricI want a woman president too - and I'm a male ... BUT, I also want the most experienced person with the best chance to defeat McCain in November, and that in my view is Hillary Clinton without a doubt!
[February 28, 2008 1:15 PM]
Ed S.They'd never publicly give another reason for Clinton to not drop out now...
Clinton and Obama neck and neck;
Clinton loses primary to Obama;
Clinton trails Obama; Not giving up;
Clinton and Obama vying for support of superdelegates;
Close race for Clinton and Obama;
What is conspicuously absent?? McCain. As long as Clinton hangs in there and there is the least bit of a "close race", Democrats get free media name domination. With McCain all but the GOP nominee, all cameras are on the Democrats. Just more name recognition and more media attention for them.
[February 28, 2008 3:00 PM]
Henry HaleHillary Clinton is just arrogant enough to believe that a two or three point victory in either Texas or Ohio is going to put her in the driver’s seat again. It’s proven that if she doesn’t win at least these two states by 20 percentage points or more, she cannot regain the lead in delegates. That’s not going to happen, especially since it seems Obama has a good chance at winning Texas and is within the margin of error in Ohio. With Texas’ convoluted way of proportioning delegates, Obama might win more delegates without winning the popular vote but will definitely split them. In Ohio, he’ll pull close to half of the delegates there, even by losing, and, in Pennsylvania, he’s within the margin of error, so this ensures he’ll win close to half of the delegates there. What’s Clinton’s angle here? Is she intent on destroying the Democrats’ chances of winning by “stealing” the nomination through super-delegates? That’s her only way of winning the nomination now; that’s what people have to realize at this point. She can bow out now and maintain a strong position within the party and be assured of a leadership role going forward in the Senate. Any other strategy will taint her and drive Obama supporters, not to McCain, to not vote in November. Any independent voters would be lost also.
With Bill Clinton's disastrous behavior in South Carolina, and the supposed more experienced candidate's lack of a discplined campaign, especially one that had no plan whatsoever after Super Tuesday, this blunder sits squarely on Hillary Clinton and her campaign's shoulders.