March 03, 2008
It's Only A Day Away
Tomorrow. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton face off in OH, TX, RI and VT, and, much like children in the back seat of the family wagon en route to some faraway vacation, the question we're all asking is: Are we there yet?
Wait, that’s not quite the question. The proper inquiry is: Will the Dem contest end tomorrow night, and should it?
The Clinton folks have argued that, with his money and mo’, anything short of an Obama sweep should be viewed as a poor outing by the Illinois senator – and should signal a buyer’s remorse, of sorts, among voters. In turn, Obama's team has said that the Clinton campaign has, over the last several days, practiced the art of political distraction, from the 3 a.m. ad to the relentless talk of Tony Rezko and Austan Goolsbee, and that they’ve played on voters’ fears instead of promising change.
Obama's team also stressed today during a call with reporters that HRC's crew set their own standards for victory tomorrow. Stumping over the last couple weeks, Bill Clinton said to TX voters that, "It's all on you." The former president said his wife needs wins in OH and TX to stay viable. Meanwhile, Clinton campaign spokesmen have promised their candidate would be within 25 delegates of Obama after the March 4 contests.
“They keep moving the goal post, but at some point you run out of field,” David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, said on today’s call. “… If they don’t make big delegate gains tomorrow they need to demonstrate how they are going to, state-by-state, reduce the delegate lead.”
Plouffe suggested there’s “no appetite out there in the party leadership for” the continued courtship of superdelegates to make up the difference.
But HRC spokesman Howard Wolfson lobbied that “there are a lot of states yet to weigh in” and, not that we would expect otherwise, he gave most every indication that Clinton plans to trudge on. Numerical triumph, however, for HRC in the longterm, should this race continue, could hinge on FL and MI, and the party, and the Obama camp, appear unwilling to bend on the matter of seating those states' delegates.
“I believe it will be very clear Wednesday morning which campaign has had the better of the day and which campaign has had the worst of it,” said the ever-dogged Wolfson. “There will be no question that we will be the successful campaign on Tuesday.”
But this hope can only get Team Clinton so far. By most varied estimates of the current delegate count, the former first lady trails Obama by at least 100. So even if she wins OH and TX by slim popular vote margins, if she doesn’t dig out of her delegate deficit, she’s in trouble.
And there was at least one sign today that March 4 could mark the future – and a change in this race.
“If Barack Obama happens to be the nominee of this party, there’s going to be enthusiastic support of his candidacy from this campaign,” Wolfson said.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Posted at 09:31 PM
Comments
A key comment, that last one.
Min Yee | 03.03.08 11:20 PM
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I'd like to remind Min Yee that a similar commitment has never been made by the Obama campaign.
While it's nice of Hotline On Call to help the Obama campaign with its "Why Doesn't Hillary Just Drop Out Now" meme, it should be asking this question:
So why hasn't Obama been able to finish the job?
If he's outspending her a gazillion-to-1, why hasn't he wrapped it up by now? He should be much farther ahead in the polls for Texas & Ohio than he is. Obama is as much in the hot seat as Clinton. Can he seal the deal? If he can't, then what does that say for his chances in a general election against St. John of Arizona?
Maybe you can ask Plouffe the next time you're on one of those conference calls.
corinne | 03.04.08 08:22 AM
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Even if Obama votes for her, I never, ever will. The day she gets the nomination, I change my registrationto Nonpartisan and write John Mccain a check for $2300.
oh well | 03.04.08 09:55 AM
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This rush to end the campaign before it's actually, you know, over, is usually the sign of a team that feels its lead is hazy at best. Clinton wins in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island would bring a change to this race. The delegate count situation is murky at best, and there's a real possibility that Florida and Michigan might come up with a new scheme to let people vote again -- and have those votes actually count this time.
Those calling for HRC to drop out are obviously either Obama hardcore supporters or just don't know politics very well. Momentum is a terribly ephemeral thing, as both Obama (NH) and Clinton (WI) should know. If tonight does provide an OH-TX-RI Clinton triple, this race goes on folks. Sorry.
John | 03.04.08 11:55 AM
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