The Problem with Hillary's Plan.

post from The Osterley Times on 08 March 2008 01:34:00 AM. © The Osterley Times

I have never heard any Clinton supporter argue that she will win the Democratic nomination by gaining more pledged delegates than Barack Obama.

Their arguments appear to be centred on two claims. The first is that "Florida and Michigan should count" and the second is that "super delegates have the right to vote any way they want". There is, obviously, a logical inconsistency between both these claims. For the latter, which is actually true - although one would hope that there is some reflection of the wishes of the people within whatever route the super delegates decide to cast their vote - is reliant on the argument that "those are the rules", whilst the former asks that the rules be discarded.

It's the classic dichotomy at the centre of the Clinton's supporters logic. They insist that the rules - and they didn't write them, they are just playing by them - allow super delegates to ignore the wishes of the electorate and elect Hillary "as she is more likely to win". However, they also insist that Florida and Michigan must either be given to Hillary or that there must be a new vote altogether, despite the fact that the rules clearly stated before the contest that, if Florida and Michigan went ahead with early elections, then they would not be seated at the Denver convention.

They appear to be insisting on sticking to a rigid interpretation of the rules when it benefits their candidate and insisting that the rules don't count - or that there are "bad rules" - when it hinders Hillary's progress.

They really are sounding more and more unhinged with each day that passes.

For instance, they seem to accept Hillary's central argument that she has the experience of the White House which Obama lacks, which is a bit like saying Posh Becks knows how to play football from the time she has spent with David. It's an argument that McCain would tear her up on if she ever faced him in a presidential election.

Then there's the Taylor Marsh argument that "Hillary is a fighter":

Eleven wins at Barack's back and he couldn't close it out; couldn't seal the deal.

In the opening stands Hillary Clinton. The first woman who ever had a chance to change the country and the world in one swoop. A woman with the U.S. military Armed Forces standing by her side and backing her up. Strength beyond wisdom, which comes through alliances gotten through years of hard work. A woman with a lifetime of experience applying for The Job.

A fighter, but not just to win. To lead. To change the world. A woman at the helm. It can happen. Believe.

Such hyperbole ignores the fact that this is "a fighter" who is losing both the delegate count and the popular vote. Perhaps we are expected to admire the fact that she is willing "to fight" even when there is no logical way that she can win.

For let's take the Clinton plan to it's logical conclusion. Let's say that we get to Denver and that Obama is leading in the delegate count and in the popular vote and that Hillary manages - it's a long shot, but let's assume it for the sake of this argument - to persuade the super delegates that she has the best chance of beating McCain.

The super delegates vote for Hillary and Obama loses. What then?

What her plan actually asks is that the Democratic Party goes against the democratic majority and rejects the first ever African American politician to have won the chance of running for the presidency. A young inspirational leader who has galvanised young voters across the country should be denied his prize by super delegates, by the party establishment.

Am I the only person who sees a problem with this scenario?

If that played out the way Hillary's supporters no doubt hope it will - for when it comes to the numbers this is the only way she can do it - then African-Americans would, rightly, desert the Democratic party for decades. Possibly for generations.

It would be an unforgivable slight. A betrayal on an epic scale.

And yet, that is Hillary's plan. Anyone who supports that plan is fucking bonkers.

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, US election 2008, Democratic presidential nominee

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US Papers Sat: Pictures of Revolutionaries: PKK

post from IraqSlogger.com on 08 March 2008 01:30:57 AM. © IraqSlogger.com

The Washington Post and The New York Times are the papers of news today, with a big front-pager on the PKK by the Post.

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Señor McCain, A.K.A., “Panama John”
Goes Ballistic On NYT Reporter Who Reminds Him Of His Public Fondness Of John Kerry

post from The Gun Toting Liberal? on 08 March 2008 01:07:00 AM. © The Gun Toting Liberal?

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Department of Book Reports 58: 1858

post from Jesus' General on 08 March 2008 01:07:00 AM. © Jesus' General

It?s back to the non-fiction shelves with a nifty popular history, Bruce Chadwick?s 1858: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and the War They Failed to See (Sourcebooks $24.95). That year was not just any normal year in the nation?s history. It was the year that the smoldering issue of slavery emerged as the dominant issue facing the country.

Following the Mexican War, the United States now spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With that expansion, the North and South began the argument of whether the ceded territories would be free or slave; and how that would be decided. ?Bleeding Kansas? was smoldering with two different state constitutions being promoted. John Brown fought a guerrilla war against the pro-slavery factions there. In 1857, the Supreme Court, led by Roger Taney, issued the Dred Scott Decision, probably the worst decision ever made by that institution with Plessey v. Fergusson, and Gore v. Bush running a close second and third. 1858 was also an election year. In Illinois, Honest Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, the Little Giant and the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee for 1860, held their series of debates as they ran for the U.S. Senate seat.

Chadwick traces this history with short biographies of the people mentioned in the subtitle, as well as William Tecumseh Sherman, William Seward and John Brown. Their personal relationships are discussed (Seward and Davis were close friends in spite of their conflicting views on slavery), and shows how it reflected the tenor of the times.

At the story?s center is President James Buchanan, a man with an impressive resume. He had served in the Pennsylvania legislature, in both the U.S. House and Senate, as minister to Russia and, later, Great Britain, as well as serving as Secretary of State in the Polk Administration. Yet in his single term as President, he managed to anger everyone and anyone he encountered. Lost in his own small world and mind, Buchanan believed the Dred Scott decision had settled the matter of slavery forever. He feuded with Stephen Douglas, working to stop Douglas? reelection. He attempted to annex Cuba. He nearly came to a fighting war with Paraguay. Paraguay? At a time when Lincoln is giving his ?a house divided? speech, and the country clearly heading towards a major meltdown, this President wants to go to war with a landlocked Latin American country. George W. Bush was not the first president to be completely delusional, believing the righteousness of his positions, and that History would absolve him. This history resonates today. Chadwick is a fine writer, and the book is an absorbing read.

This book was blurbed by yours truly for the April Book Sense picks. It is available at Jackson Street Books and fine Independent Bookstores everywhere!

democommie????®© tells me that he couldn?t put 1858 down and read it in one sitting.

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Links for 2008-03-07 [del.icio.us]

post from uncomfortably numb on 08 March 2008 01:03:59 AM. © uncomfortably numb

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Late Late Nite FDL: Hear The Master Play

post from Firedoglake on 08 March 2008 01:01:06 AM. © Firedoglake

I once played Tony's nearly one hundred year old guitar after a late show in Memphis. If you see the name Tony Furtado scheduled to play in your area, do yourself a favor and take a friend to see one of America's greats.[...]

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Spaghetti Western Saturday

post from Taylor Marsh on 08 March 2008 01:00:42 AM. © Taylor Marsh

Spaghetti Western Saturday Hello Wyoming.They like their guns up there. (We do too, by the way.) Via Politico.com: "Do you support state legislation to ... ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns?" asked one of the three dozen[...]

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Katha Pollitt Takes on the Washington Post

post from Moue Magazine on 08 March 2008 12:58:41 AM. © Moue Magazine

The Washington Post published a letter earlier this week written by Katha Pollitt in response to that Charlotte Allen piece. Ms. Pollitt was back today with a full column expressing what most of the rational world’s reaction was to the Allen[...]

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Democrat in Congress: "FAA needs to clean house
from top to bottom"

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 08 March 2008 12:58:00 AM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

The sooner, the better. The same needs to be done elsewhere because in one department after another, there's much too much concern for what industry wants without any consideration for consumers. Pick any industry and it's always the same. The Republicans have been more than content to have this system in place but thankfully Democrats are finally standing up and taking action. Well done by Congressman James Oberstar who is chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Oberstar also said he believes similar violations may have occurred involving other airlines, but that those who have such evidence are afraid to come forward.

"Complacency has likely set in to the highest levels of FAA management," the Minnesota Democrat said in a Capitol Hill news conference. "I think we have seen the pendulum swing away from vigorous enforcement of compliance toward a carrier-favorable, cozy relationship with the airlines."

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Late Night: Cheney's Got a Gun

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With eyes on Wyoming -- Cheney country -- tomorrow, this seemed appropriate. Especially since "Unqualified support for the 2nd Amendment is the second item" of the Wyoming Democratic party's platform.