Look, it’s very simple

This silliness with the MI and Florida primaries tells me all I need to know about Howard Dean. Actually, I kinda knew this about Howard in 2004, which is why I wasn’t a Deaniac. He is an “Idea Rat”. He’s not into implementation. That’s why things are so incredibly FUBAR’d. Todd Beeton has some of the gory details at MyDD:

“We’re glad to hear that the Governors of Michigan and Florida are willing to lend their weight to help resolve this issue. As we’ve said all along, we strongly encourage the Michigan and Florida state parties to follow the rules, so today’s public overtures are good news. The rules, which were agreed to by the full DNC including representatives from Florida and Michigan over 18 months ago, allow for two options. First, either state can choose to resubmit a plan and run a party process to select delegates to the convention; second, they can wait until this summer and appeal to the Convention Credentials Committee, which determines and resolves any outstanding questions about the seating of delegates. We look forward to receiving their proposals should they decide to submit new delegate selection plans and will review those plans at that time. The Democratic Nominee will be determined in accordance with party rules, and out of respect for the presidential campaigns and the states that did not violate party rules, we are not going to change the rules in the middle of the game.

Howard is spewing the Obamaphile line. “It’s the RUUUULZ!”. Uh-huh, tell that to Mr. and Mrs. Friedman of St. Pete, Florida. They’re in their 80’s and can’t drive like they used to.

Look, it’s very simple. Here are the options:
1) Ask both candidates to accept the votes for Florida. If one of them objects, *he* has to pay for a new primary.
2) Have a mail-in primary in Michigan only. There is no reason to hold a primary in Florida. The vote isn’t going to change.
3) If there absolutely MUST be a primary in Florida because The Precious must have his way, it should also be by mail.
4) Fire Howard Dean. He and Donna Brazile have their thumbs on the scales for The Precious. There is absolutely no reason that I can think of why this foolish consistency is hobgobbling anyone’s minds. If those were the RULZ, they need to be applied consistently or not at all. What is done to Florida and Michigan should be done to Iowa, NH and South Carolina.

Did I mention firing Howard Dean? Yeah, I did. But that one can’t be emphasized too strongly. He’s costing Florida, where over 1 million people voted, a lot of money and headaches and very hard feelings. Oh, and were there any caucuses in my options? No, there were not. To suggest a caucus is blatantly and cynically showing a bias for Obama.

‘git.

Battle of Wits: Clinton goes first

From the NYTimes:

In another televised interview, Mrs. Clinton said her close race with Mr. Obama might result in a shared ticket. Speaking on CBS’s Early Show, she said, “Well, that may be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who is on the top of the ticket.” She said her victory in Ohio indicated that the choice should be her.

Oooo, this is fiendishly clever. Here’s what this little blurb was about:

1. The party is divided and she shows leadership by offering a very reasonable solution.
2. She is starting to condition the voters to believe that Obama will work under her. That’s also very reasonable. She wins the experience argument and she’s nailed down the states with the big electoral college votes. Her husband’s administration comes with the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. She’s a known commodity. She’s been more efficient in her strategy even if Obama has managed to wrack up a lot of delegates through states we don’t have a prayer of getting in November. Plus, recent polls suggest that 2/3 of all Democratic voters did not want her to drop out if she hadn’t won Texas, suggesting we *want* a Clinton/Obama ticket (well, *I* don’t but I’ll take what I can get)
3. With this idea floating in the voters’ minds, they can more comfortably vote for her knowing they won’t have to sacrifice one for the other and they can tie this up quickly. She should pull in higher margins in the remaining states.
4. It puts Obama on the defensive. It’s hard to argue with the logic of the solution. All that’s left to decide is who is on top. She beats him on #2 so many voters will find his hesitation to accept such an offer stubborn, petulant and divisive. Clinton can hammer that home by saying that voters want to wrap this up already and concentrate on going after McCain. She boxes him into a corner.
5. It makes it harder for Obama to go negative on her. If there is a public expectation that he will share her ticket, they will want a show of cooperation and comity from both candidates. On the other hand, she can always say, “I tried to unite the party but he wanted none of it.”

Your turn, Barry.

Barry’s first attempt, from the Politico.

On a joint ticket:
“We are just focused on winning the nomination. That is my focus. I respect Sen. Clinton. She has been a tenacious opponent. It is premature to talk about a joint ticket.”

and

“I hope people start asking is what exactly is this foreign experience she is claiming,” he said. “Was she handling crises during this period of time? I haven’t seen any evidence that she is more equipped to handle a crisis.

“She made the experience argument and her ability to handle a crisis, so I think it is important to examine that claim and not just allow her to assert it,” he added. “She has made the argument that she is thoroughly vetted. If the suggestion is somehow that on issue of ethics or disclosure or transparency that she is somehow going to have a better record than I have or could (better) withstand Republican attack, then that should be tested.”

“I believe I am in a much stronger position to run against Republicans,” he said.

Hmmmm, not going to do it, Barry. We just don’t see you beating her on foreign policy especially after she had a hand in getting Madeleine Albright appointed SOS. Then, there’s General Wesley Clark, a Clintonista, remember him?

And as for going after SNL, it’s satire, Barry. They only get involved when the level of absurdity in current events reaches a critical threshold. They are equal opportunity ridiculers. Hillary also gets her share of abuse. But the point of the SNL ribbing in the past few weeks was aimed at the media, not you. Lighten up, already.

Lunchtime Webby Goodness

Here are a few tasty links in case you’re on a diet and need something to hold you over:

• Anglachel sums up the primary elections in all their gory details here and here. The bottom line:
  

  Ohio and Texas, very different demographic states, put the lie to the piddly-ass caucus “victories” of February. Hillary has now won:
  California
  Florida
  Ohio
  Texas
  New York
  New Jersey
  Massachusetts
  Michigan

All of them (except Michigan) under conditions like the general election. She has also won border states that Obama couldn’t touch (Oklahoma, Tennessee & Arkansas). If they were to revote Florida and Michigan, Hillary would wipe the floor with The Precious. I don’t think that’s in the cards now, because that would send The Golden One to the convention with a losing hand.

When it is possible for the core of the party to vote in a secret ballot primary, Hillary wins the majority of the time. She is the stronger general candidate and simply more qualified to be president. She is also poised to lock the Hispanic vote in for Democrats for a generation. The win in Ohio will not be lost on superdelegates. The Dems must win Ohio to win the general. With the energized Latina vote, there is even a chance that we could win Florida, too. And that, my friends, is the White House and a President who knows the system inside and out and is ready to launch the cap to the Social Security foundation – Universal Health Care.

• RenaRF finally gets the grim reality for Obama. Unfortunately, she still thinks he can win PA. Fat chance, Rena! I’ll meet you in Gettysburg and we’ll duke it out. I have more cousins in PA than you have. BTW, if you are going to cling to your belief in a “50 State Strategy”, at least be consistent and insist that your candidate is competitive in all 50 states, especially the big ones that you need to win in November. It’s no good saying all 50 states count but the least densely populated ones with no chance of going blue count more. (oink-oink)
• Here’s the NYTimes map of the primary/caucus state results so far. It’s an Instance of the Fingerpost. Obama’s bubble is bursting and he is going to have tougher going here on out in the remaining states with some exceptions in the south. Now that Hillary’s campaign knows how Obama swept the caucuses, it’s going to be much harder for him to pull that off anymore.

Excuse me, Ms. Brazile?

Who the f%^& appointed her Goddess?

“Despite Obama’s impressive victories in February, Clinton’s comeback is based on sowing political seeds of doubt,” said Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist and one of nearly 800 party leaders known as superdelegates for their ability to determine the nomination. “In order to clinch the nomination, he must anticipate the worst attacks ever.”…

Some superdelegates are bracing themselves to intervene on Obama’s behalf if necessary.

“If these attacks are contrasts based on policy differences, there is no need to stop the race or halt the debate,” Brazile said. “But, if this is more division, more diversion from the issues and more of the same politics of personal destruction, chairman Dean and other should be on standby.”

So, superdelegates are just going to award it to Obama, putting aside all strategic advantages and ignoring the will of the biggest electoral college states? I don’t *think* so, Donna. That may be YOUR strategy but overall, it ain’t gonna fly.

Isn’t this the same $%^& we’ve heard from media pundits and Kossacks (aka the New Lefty Freepers)? Hillary is never supposed to go negative and for the most part, she hasn’t. If a person was looking for a transformative political campaign that goes beyond the negativity, you couldn’t get a better example of one than Clinton’s because the moment she tries to even *compare* herself to Obama, we have Brazile type referees throwing flags and blowing whistles.

So, if she wins the nomination, will she have to continue in this mode or will she be allowed to compare herself to John McCain on economic policy or national security. I mean, how much of a handicap does Obama need? He’s gotten every break in the book and now they’re roughly even. But why does Obama need so much help and why is Brazile, a DNC insider, pulling so many strings to award it to him?

Jeez, she’s not even subtle.

Update:   Ladydawn points us to this article in The Hill, Clinton Says, Be Careful What You Wish For, that also cites the significance of the states that Hillary has won in the upcoming general election.  Those states include, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, New Mexico and New Jersey and a few others.  I urge the DNC to not be passive about New Jersey.  They tend to take this state for granted but it would be a big mistake.  We are perfectly capable of voting for a moderate Republican like McCain.  Our Congressional delegation is nearly evenly split and our governors have fluctuated between Republicans and Democrats very easily.  PLUS, there are a lot of people in this state who are going pay higher taxes under a Democratic administration and in this cash strapped state that is $34 Billion in debt, that’s not going to be a happy prospect.  So, if I were Donna Brazile, I would “zip it”.  Zip it good.

So, did anything happen last night?

Oh, yeah. Neener-Neener-Neeeeeeeennnnerrr!

I would personally like to thank all of the Republicans who overcame partisanship and voted FOR Hillary because of who she is and what she stands for.

Now, the delegate math might not have shifted much but the mental math certainly has. I’m going to work my ass off for Hillary in PA and so are my mother, my aunts and my sister. We are going to make history because we have the best candidate.

All the Big Blog Stores and the pundits can spew whatever crap they want. They are not seeing what the rest of the country is seeing. The media has lost credibility and people are paying attention to what the candidates say and their resiliency in the face of adversity. And what can we expect at the convention? Here are some possibilities:

• The superdelegates will have the final word and they’re going to be looking at who won the most Democratic votes, who won the popular vote and most importantly, who won the most crucial states. The electoral college map will become very important. And that leads to…
• Florida and Michigan. Now, the DNC and the Obama campaign want do-overs (hmmm, a common interest?). I’m all for a do-over in Michigan. Hillary’s name was the only one on the ballot and voters felt a little cheated so, fine, have a mail-in primary. She’s got her footing back, she can win MI or at least come close. But Florida? I see no reason to redo Florida. Neither candidate was *supposed* to campaign there, but in fact Obama spent $1.4 M on cable TV ads and who knows what else. Clinton had a couple of fundraisers. In any case, she won a solid victory and that isn’t going to change. The Obamaphiles can scream do-over all they want but the reality is this: making Florida do a primary again is very expensive for a state this size. The money wasted on one would impact other races in congressional districts and would take away funds for the general. The voters have spoken, decisively. They want their votes counted as they stand without having to go through the motions. For the Obamaphiles to insist on a do-over in Florida is something they have not asked of any other state that has run a contested primary. The only reason to ask for it is if there is some expectation that the vote will change, assuming the voters didn’t know what they were doing because they didn’t have the benefit of obnoxious campaigning. I think that will backfire badly on Obama. It would be like saying, “I’m going to make you spend money to vote again. Did you REALLY want Hillary to win?” And insisting upon a pointless primary because “they violated the RULZ!”, looks petty and spiteful, considering that NH, IA and SC broke them too and didn’t suffer. It smacks of voter suppression and when it comes to Florida, you don’t want to go there. Florida adds a critical mass to Clinton’s column and leaving it out diminishes the voters of NY, CA, NJ, MA, AZ, TX, OH. That’s one set of constituents that no one can afford to diss going into the fall campaign. The Florida dilemma is a no win for Obama but it could be worse if Floridians vote to blame him for it. The only outcome I can see from a do-over is that Obama will have proven conclusively that he alone of all primary candidates is capable of losing in Florida- twice. Bite the bullet, Barry. Urge the DNC to seat Florida without any pre-conditions. It’s the only way to keep Floridians from turning their backs on the Democratic party in disgust this fall.

Now, I am not going to make any predictions about who will win the convention in August but Hillary has a much better case for taking it than Obama at this point, delegate math or not. And I think as her campaign further adjusts to its new environment, freeing itself from the past election strategies to take advantage of new technologies and outwitting the opponent in clever ways, she will do better in the remaining states.

It is not inevitable. It never was. But by August, no one will be able to say she didn’t earn it.

One more thing: I found this disturbing yesterday but merely amusing this morning. (Ok, it’s *still* disturbing) I find this line particularly funny:

But if she leaves after winning a couple states, she leaves on a high note, magnanimously ceding the race to the better candidate running the far better campaign.

So.lemme get this straight, if she *wins*, she should concede defeat and gracefully exit because she would have been beaten by the “far better campaign”. My, my, I guess Kos and I have different definitions of the characteristics of a “far better campaign”. Like winning big primary states, for example. Well, that was a good morning chuckle.

I think Kos even predicted that Clinton would lose Ohio or Texas by 15 points. It must have been my imagination though or one of those newfangled editors. They’re so tricksy and everything. Things just disappear from the posts. It’s like magic!