CNN commentator sees "bloodbath on May 31" and no "graceful bow out" for Clinton

[Politics_Guy25]

The commentary is by Roland Martin, a CNN contributor.

The article is entitled: No graceful bow-out for Clinton.

The link is here:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/27/roland.martin/index.html

Key "money quote":

Lest anyone think the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination is going to end peacefully in June, forget about it.

Sen. Hillary Clinton will do anything and everything to win, and the idea that Sen. Barack Obama should give in to her demands to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates is ludicrous. When you're ahead, you don't concede any ground. If the roles were reversed, she would do the same.

This race, regardless of what anyone says, is still airtight. Obama has the lead among superdelegates and has garnered a majority of pledged delegates, but they always can change their allegiance, per Democratic Party rules, and don't think for a second that the Clinton camp doesn't understand that.


Good god. Our nightmare has only just begun.

[tridim]

1. Bow out gracefully, or be forced out and shunned by the entire party

It's your choice Hillary.

[AZ Criminal JD]

8. Do you think you represent "the entire party"? LOL

[tridim]

11. No, but as a Democrat I'll be talking with my Representative

I've heard the mublings from Congress already, our party is not happy with her at all.

[AZ Criminal JD]

You are so full of yourself.

You are a bunch of anonymous electrons on the internet. Nothing more.

[roguevalley]

49. and you must be one of those tools that gets paid for disrupting

on forums by the hillary campaign.

[Change has come]

60. (poorly)

:hi:

[krawhitham]

21. Yep, I think he does

[LakeSamish706]

2. I seriously never had any doubt that she would try and push this thing all...

the way to the convention floor. At this point, it really doesn't matter if all the remaining SD's do go for Obama, she still will not drop out IMO.

[Politics_Guy25]

4. I agree

No bowout until Senator Obama wins the vote on the convention floor.

[Yael]

10. Yup

Just like the Sith Lord.

[MrModerate]

3. "Will do anything to win . . ."

I see that tossed around here and elsewhere all the time. There's no factual basis for the claim and anyone who makes it as an unqualified truth is talking out of their ass.

Clinton desperately wants to win and has perhaps crossed the line (wherever that's drawn for each individual assessor) a few times, a lot of times, whatever.

But "anything to win?" Booshwah.

[Jazzgirl]

15. I hope you're right.

But I haven't seen anything that says different yet.

[lojasmo]

20. I used to defend Clinton from such hyperbole...

But she has proven it to be not unwarranted.

[ShortnFiery]

32. "ANYTHING to win." I honestly believe HRC and Bill would do ANYTHING.

:nuke:

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. Well I hope he's wrong.

It wouldn't exactly be the first time that a pundit didn't get it right. I'm done guessing. I'm waiting to see. It won't be long before we all will know.

[Politics_Guy25]

6. Same here

I hope he's wrong and that this is over with the party on the way to uniting in less than 2 weeks as well.

[IsItJustMe]

9. I think it is getting to the point, with all of the ill will that the Clintons have created, that it

does not even matter any more. Obama is going to have to win this in spite of the Clintons.

I believe he can.

[TexasObserver]

7. Hillary will do anything to try to gain some advantage.

She's a sad bag of bones.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. I Agree

She's mentally ill, I think - I can't imagine her changing tactics.

She won't go unless she's forcefully ejected.

[Ichingcarpenter]

13. June 3rd... not May 31st and the blood bath will be a avalanche of superdelegates

I'm not worried about May 31st.

[scarletwoman]

19. It won't be a bloodbath, it will simply be "case closed".

If she kicks up any more fuss after that, she will only become an embarrassment to herself. I'm hoping she has at least enough self-awareness to recognize that.

sw

[Ichingcarpenter]

25. I agree no bloodbath

[Swamp Rat]

29. We'll get past this.

The GOP is in much deeper trouble. :)

[scarletwoman]

36. Birdbath, not bloodbath.

:D
Peace,
sw

[Swamp Rat]

40. Can I join?

I'll bring some Brie if Polly brings the crackers. :9 :D

[scarletwoman]

41. Mmmm... Brie..... Of course you may join!

I will bring the grapes! Kurovski will bring the peacock feather fans and loincloths!

:D :*
sw

[Swamp Rat]

43. Where is Kurovski?!?

I have not seen him lately? I am one of his super-secret Superdelegates, and I'm ready to cast my vote! :D

[scarletwoman]

47. Busy. He's in a bunker at an undisclosed location preparing to take over the world.

I, for one, cannot wait to greet our new Polish Overlord!

:D
sw

[NJSecularist]

14. "CNN commentator" Roland Martin?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

You mean Obama shill Roland Martin?

The guy has parroted Camp Obama talking points all primary season. He is the furthest thing from a neutral source there is. In fact, he may work for the Obama campaign.

[ellacott]

23. He doesn't

But you have nothing to say about Paul Begalia(sp).

Typical

[democracy1st]

58. Hillary has all of Fox news doing her dirty work

so :wtf: is your point

[Yael]

16. ...and the party be damned

That about sums it up.

:grr:

[Life Long Dem]

17. As if it's about her. n/t

[scarletwoman]

18. I honestly don't think the rest of the Dem party is going to let her take this past June.

It would be insane to do so. I don't think the rest of the party is as insane as she is.

If I were the Clintons, I'd be preparing for a triumphant exit: Hillary Clinton, the trailblazer! Hero role model for generations of girls! The FIRST woman presidential candidate who's made it all the way to the end! Woo Hoo!

Then Hillary gets handed a nice Cabinet post, and Bill gets a nice Ambassadorship, and everybody loves them again. Are they not creative enough to go with that scenario? Are they too ambitious? It HAS to be all or nothing, is that it? Are they just too vindictive and shameless?

I don't want to see them publicly shamed, but I think they will be if they keep this up past June. There are too many Americans -- not to mention the rest of the world -- watching this sorry spectacle in drop-jawed amazement. Too many people can smell the desperation, the blood is in the water, the raw ambition has become too flagrant.

Polite society will, of course, never outright point to the source of a fart at a cocktail party, but they will subtly move away. You don't want to be the last one in the room; therefore you will also leave that room, and walk away arm and arm with the rest and everyone can happily pretend that no fart ever happened.

I am more and more confident that between the super delegates and the weight of public opprobrium, this WILL end by June 5th.

sw

[Carolina]

31. I take exception with one point

I'll never love them again. I don't want that bitch in an Obama cabinet and Bill no longer deserves an ambassadorship. Fuck 'em both.

[scarletwoman]

35. Well, I was being slightly tongue in cheek. But I think we need to understand the reality of DC

politics. The Clintons can't simply be tossed out on their ears by their fellow Party bigwigs; it's not going to happen, that's not how it works. And it's very poor strategy to leave a resentful enemy behind to plot unobserved.

No, you want to hold your enemies close: "Keep them in the tent pissing out, instead of outside the tent pissing in." (LBJ quote)

The Ruling Class knows how to do this, and it will be better all the way around if we just accept that something like this pretty much HAS to happen.

I don't see why we shouldn't trust that the Obama team is smart enough to figure out a good way to do this that will allow the Clintons to save face -- I'm sure he's well aware that he will have to if the Party is not going split apart. And the Clintons have to accept it for the same reason.

sw

[Carolina]

38. my rational side knows you're right

and I love that LBJ line that Doris Kearns Goodwin quotes.

At the moment, though, my loathing of the Clintons is reaching Bush proportions. Friends who knew me in the 1990s can't believe I have gone from an ardent supporter to where I am now, but I simply point to the tactics of this campaign and confess that I was played then and my eyes are wide open now!

[scarletwoman]

42. Well, I started begging people in 2002 not to push a Hillary Clinton candidacy.

Literally begged and pleaded. Oh well.

We'll get through this, we have to. The whole damn world is falling apart and we've got to get smart and rational real quick, and figure out how to mitigate as much catastrophe as possible.

Peace,
sw

[Stephanie]

65. That's me too.

I remember sending a supportive email to Bill on the night of impeachment. I was beside myself at the injustice. I canvassed for Hillary in 2000. But I was severely disappointed by her Senate career, most of all her IWR vote. Now I am completely disgusted by them both.

[blogslut]

22. I disagree, Roland

The race is not airtight and the pledged delegates aren't going to be changing their minds unless it is to switch to Obama from Clinton.

[Shakespeare]

24. Rachel Maddow agrees with him.

I hope they're both wrong, but I'm beginning to wonder. x(

[scarletwoman]

27. It's nonsense. They just want to keep the drama going so they can sell soap.

It will be over. The media and the Clinton camp want to keep us in fear, we can simply reject taking on that fear.

We have more important things to do with our energy, we have a major battle to win.

sw

[Shakespeare]

45. I haven't seen the CNN guy myself, but Rachel Maddow does NOT want that.

She's angry and mortified by the way things are dragging on. So, no, you're not right about that.

[scarletwoman]

48. Who is Rachel Maddow? Why should I care if Rachel Maddow is angry?

Fear is the mind killer. Don't get sucked into it.

sw

[Shakespeare]

51. wtf are you talking about? n/t

[scarletwoman]

54. I'm talking about the fact that both these media people are talking out of their asses.

They don't know anything more than we do, they've just got a megaphone.

I'm talking about the fact that the media has a vested interest in keeping the drama going, therefore they want you to believe that the drama is going to keep on going.

It's not. The last three primaries will be voted in, the super delegates will weigh in beyond any doubt, and it will be over. Obama will be the Dem nominee.

Does no good to fret and worry.

sw

[Shakespeare]

55. You really believe that? That people like Maddow are no more qualified than you?

Well, then, I bow to your greatness.

[scarletwoman]

56. I said "we" not "me". And yes, I think the collective wisdom on DU has as much, if not more, going

for it than any media person. I say this as someone who has been here over 7 years. Keen observation of politics is a skill that many people here have mastered.

It doesn't matter what Rachel Maddow believes, it's just one more opinion.

Peace,
sw

[Shakespeare]

57. Having worked in media (reporter, DJ), I can tell you from experience that you are wrong about that.

You may not like the person or what they have to say, but a full-time political pundit like Maddow or Matthews or Olbermann are very good at what they do, and a good deal more plugged in than even the best of us here on DU.

Back to the original point, you said that the commentators were only saying that because they WANT the race to drag on. THAT is what I'm disputing. If you watch Maddow for 30 seconds when she talks about this, it's crystal clear that she absolutely does NOT want this race to drag on. In fact, she's talked in eloquent detail about how damaging a protracted battle would be.

Maddow isn't quite "just one more opinion."

[scarletwoman]

61. "...she's talked in eloquent detail about how damaging a protracted battle would be."

Yes. And she is doing so because it's dramatic.

What we need now is not more hue and cry & rending of garments and tearing of hair, what we need now is some sensible strategizing about how to heal all the wounds.

As long as we stay in a "warring faction" mindset, we are putting off taking rational, concrete steps toward reconciliation. I just don't see how that's useful.

Peace,
sw

[Shakespeare]

64. OFFS. No, she's NOT doing it to be dramatic.

And it sounds as if you're confusing eloquence with cheap drama--don't make that mistake, please. Maddow has been consistent and very much on the mark with her prognostications, often when others scoffed at her (Olbermann included).

We can talk about a sensible little kumbaya session as soon as Hillary makes a graceful exit. So far, there's ZERO indication that's going to happen. That's not a "warring mindset," just an objective assessment of where things stand right now.

[PoliticalAmazon]

26. I bet Roland had a little woodie when he said it, too. n/t

[andres hunter]

28. Martin is a great African American journalist who supports the African American candidate

I admire him and Eugene Robinson for supporting African American candidates. We need change in America.

[ShortnFiery]

33. Oh how lovely - claiming 100% Identity Politics from respected Journalists? I don't think so.

:(

[Warren DeMontague]

52. And you are a great frozen pizza poster, supporting the frozen pizza community.

See ya in your next incarnation, undoubtedly.

[scarletwoman]

63. Do they come with anchovies? I like anchovies.

:D

[AtomicKitten]

30. It will be over 6-4 when the superdelegates bring an Obama win to fruition.

The Clintons have set the groundwork for their whining and flailing about, all in the "no fair" category, and will probably embarrass themselves some more. But, in the end, Obama will claim what is rightfully his and the party will move on, and we will think of the Clintons no more. All's well that ends well.

[Mme. Defarge]

34. Laurence O'Donnell says

she will bow out no later than June 12th.

[thoughtcrime1984]

37. Why June 12? nt

[Mme. Defarge]

46. He has moved up his prediction to June 12th

because of her "assassination" comments, and because Dem. party leaders are going to expect her to seriously go to work for Obama if she is to have any hope of keeping her senate seat.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lawrence-odonnell/hillary-will-drop-out-by_b_100625.html

[backscatter712]

39. Next, she'll be boiling bunnies...

That's how obsessed Hillary's become with getting the Presidency.

Hide your cutlery...

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

44. Rachel Maddow has been warning that only the SD's can save the day.

If the SD's don't pledge their support before May 31, Clinton will take her case to the convention and the Dems will lose to McCain. If Obama has the SD's waiting in the wings after May 31, there's still a chance. But Rachel has been arguing that waiting until June 4 or 5th is too late. They need to come out en masse to voice their support for Obama.

Bottom line: she seems to assert that Hillary wants to destroy the Democratic party because she feels betrayed by her colleagues, many of whom received support and help from the Clintons throughout the years.

[ShadowLiberal]

50. I would hope Hillary's supporters would pressure her to get out for the good of the party

I would hope that Hillary's biggest supporters would put the party above the candidate and pressure Hillary to give it up and get out of the race soon after the last states vote. I just can't see a lot of them sitting by idly and watching anyone basically destroy all of the party's chances at winning the White House in a year that it should have been a sure thing for us. If it was Obama losing as badly as Hillary then I would have been calling for him to drop out long ago even though I support him. Once it's impossible to win there's no point in dividing the party farther and causing more bitter feelings among the supporters of each candidate.

[Arugula Latte]

53. Hillary is making a pathetic, sorry-ass FOOL of herself and her followers.

I never would have imagined she'd act this way. It's like she has no grasp of even the most fragile strand of reality. Amazing.

[RNdaSilva]

59. Per Jimmy Carter:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2562414520080525

I firmly believe that Hillary will be "gently" outed prior to June 6th.

C'mon SD's, grow a spine. This is beyond ridiculous.

[scarletwoman]

62. The SDs are playing this exactly right. Let the final primaries be run, & then it will appropriate

for the SDs step up with their endorsements. Let there be no question that these last primary votes were cast in a still-open race, and that the end has been reached.

Peace,
sw