TYT: The Latest Clinton Canard - Democratic Underground

ihavenobias

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Wed Mar-26-08 03:03 PM
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TYT: The Latest Clinton Canard

Edited on Wed Mar-26-08 03:36 PM by ihavenobias

(As usual, I'm only posting an excerpt. Click the link below for the full article *before* you weigh in, and keep in mind this article is easier to read at Huffington Post and it includes hyperlinks that add to it)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/the-latest-clinton-canard_b_93508.html

Also check out the YouTube clip related to this topic: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x110508

The Latest Clinton Canard
By Cenk Uygur

The latest talking point for Hillary Clinton is this race is still early in the process and primaries from previous years were decided much later in the year. She recently told Time, as well almost every other interviewer she's talked to, "I remind a lot of people that my husband didn't formally wrap up the nomination until June."

The point is supposed to be that this race isn't over. They're just getting started. Give her more time. Here's the problem, that isn't really true.

In 1992, the year Bill Clinton won the nomination she's alluding to, the primaries started significantly later than they did in 2008. Iowa was on January 3rd this year and on February 10th in 1992 (remember, this year we'd already had Super Tuesday by Feb. 5th). New Hampshire was on January 8th in 2008 and February 18th in 1992. Super Tuesday was on Feb. 5th this year and was on March 10th in 1992 (we'd already had the so-called second Super Tuesday in Ohio and Texas by this date in 2008).

Secondly, despite the later start Bill Clinton had already locked up the nomination by early April after the New York primary. Hillary Clinton knows this and that's why she inserts a lawyerly word into her statement every time - formally. "My husband didn't formally wrap up the nomination until June."

So, why does she employ this needless piece of sophistry? Because she thinks she needs it. She needs to buy more time (can't you just see Scotty yelling down to Captain Kirk, "I need more time!").

The extra time isn't for more elections, there are only ten left. We've already had more than the lion's share of contests. It is abundantly clear that she can't catch him just based on the remaining elections. No, time buys her something else - the chance for Obama to implode between now and whenever he formally wraps up the nomination.

If it was only a matter of Obama's candidacy self-destructing, that would be one thing. She could sit back and see if anything changes through the next set of elections. You can argue that she's earned that. But it's another thing if she is actively trying to push Obama off the cliff with the extra time she's buying, even though she knows there is a great likelihood that he will be the Democratic nominee.

If you don't care about the Democratic Party or who their nominee is or how they do in the general election, then you have all the right in the world to keep pounding away at your opponent. Who cares how badly you damage him if you're only interested in yourself? Who knows, it might even help your political career later.

But there is one group of people who do care - Democratic voters. They are beginning to understand that this race is over and the cheap shots at this point aren't helping anyone but John McCain.

The problem isn't hitting Obama; the problem is hitting Obama after the bell. This contest is effectively over and Clinton is using her heaviest guns now. Perhaps she should have rolled them out earlier, but unleashing her most ferocious lines of attack after the writing is already on the wall seems like poor sportsmanship, to say the least...(for the rest including hyperlinks, click the link at the top of the page)