I was wrong! I really thought Obama would finish within 5-6% of Clinton in Pennsylvania. But with 95% of the vote in, it looks like Clinton will finish there with a 10-point lead. That means she will continue to attack and damage the leader -- Obama. This is not a good situation.
But even though she scored a 10% win in Pennsylvania, she really didn't pick up nearly enough delegates. According to CNN, the delegate count now stands at 1694 for Obama and 1556 for Clinton. It is still next to impossible for Clinton to catch up. She would have to win every remaining state by large margins, and that just ain't going to happen.
Her only hope is that she can damage Obama enough that the superdelegates will overrule the majority that Obama will have. Personally, I think that would split the party and give the election to the Republicans, and that is unthinkable. This should be a huge year for Democrats.
Clinton cannot win the nomination or the presidency, but she can create a lot of enemies in the party, and drive a lot of voters out of the party. Thanks to tonight's result in Pennsylvania, she will continue her "slash and burn" campaign.
I'm starting to get a sick feeling about November. I hope I'm wrong.
The Pennsylvania loss has to hurt the Obama campaign. Of course there spin is "she had a much bigger lead earlier!". Hillary has won the big states and has more of the popular vote. Let's see how Indiana turns out. All the way to Denver for the win!
ReplyDeleteWe shall see. Obama will still win the nomination. It's just a question of how much Clinton damages him for the general election.
ReplyDeleteI really think she is also hurting her own chances for any future nomination now.
Obama can't close. He can't win the big states. If he gets the nomination, he will need the help of Clinton to campaign for him.
ReplyDeleteSo you might not want to kick too many people in the nuts while making whine of your loss.
Sorry your nuts are hurting, John. But I really believe Clinton is seriously damaging the party.
ReplyDeleteThe nomination has been Obama's for the taking the entire primary season, but he can not close the deal! If he can't do it now, there is no way he can in November. The Democrats must win the big states in November and Hillary is the candidate to do it. North Dakota and Maine (2 of Obama's wins) won't mean much. The voters are keeping Hillary in the race for a reason. Hopefully the superdelegates will see her as the most electable, and she will be the nominee. If it turns out to be Obama is the nominee and he loses in November, it will not be Hillary's fault, and he should accept the blame himself. Every state he has lost he has blamed on someone or something else other than his own effort or personal baggage.
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