American Values Alliance | Practical voice for progressive valuesAmerican Values Alliance | Practical voice for progressive valuesPer Charlie Cook:
The good news for Hillary Rodham Clinton is that she’s winning a lot of battles. The bad news is that the war is pretty much lost [...]
At the end of the day, the popular vote for the Democratic nomination means nothing. I doubt that having won the popular vote in the 2000 general election is of much solace to Al Gore. Many a football team gains more yards than its opponent in a game yet loses on that important technicality called points.
The Clinton folks shouldn’t be faulted for the arguments they are making: In the big states that will determine the final outcome in November, she has done better than Obama, and she holds on to downscale white voters better than her opponent does. Beyond the fact that both assertions are true, I’d make the same arguments if I were in Clinton’s shoes, as would most of Obama’s strategists if they were working for Clinton.
But you can’t change how the game is played once it has begun. The Democrats have decided that the nominee will be determined by the number of delegates won, not by the popular vote, and that primaries held in direct violation of party rules (in this case, Florida’s and Michigan’s) don’t count. End of discussion.
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that those in charge tend to lose focus on what is really important to the US over the long term. Different reasons as to why, but they do. They always do. Maybe it's a hole in the Ivy League educational system? Keeping one's eye on the ball.
If I am following you, though, I agree: there is a whole lot more political mischief afoot than what's going on en La Maison Blanche. Seems the distinction between public policy (what needs to get done) and politics (the tactics used to get things done) gets wider every day.
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Lalita L. Amos, CRC
http://www.totalteamsolutions.com
http://totalteam.blogspot.com
to pick on President Bush and the Rule of Law, if you try to twist it when it isn't going your way either.
I remember my civics classes. When we got to presidential politics, I remember being rather peeved at the thought of people I didn't elect, casting my vote for me. And then I learned about the delegates, super delegates and "The Uber Delegates So Secret They Don't Even Know Who They Are Yet" (wonder if Prince would let them use his symbol...).
Though I don't like the pri-caucu-mary rules--though probably not as much as Florida and Michigan don't: who knew that those states would matter so late in the game--these are the rules we have. Senator Clinton, if she wants to convince people she will uphold the Rule of Law, she can start by playing with the rules of the NDCC.
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Lalita L. Amos, CRC
http://www.totalteamsolutions.com
http://totalteam.blogspot.com
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