Letters to the Editor
BadgerBlue
Published Letters: 190 Editor's Choice: 7
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Snoman, perhaps there might be a an item #9
[Read the article: Obama takes Wyoming]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Many Supers could be confronted by some of the "numbers within the numbers". For starters, it's gonna be very tough for them to ignore how many new voters, and in particular the throngs of 1st time youth voters, Obama has the backing from. History has indicated that if one party or the other can lock up the 1st timers, they stand a good shot at keeping them often for good. How many of those Supers really want to face the prospect of perhaps permanently alienating what has become a very motivated new demographic by handing this thing to Clinton, a candidate who has repeatedly practiced precisely the kind of politics that drove them to not only support but embrace the kind of candidacy Obama has put forth in thier eyes? Another "numbers within" item they would have to consider would be possibly the amount of money Obama will have raised by the time they had to endorse. Not only was his February haul along the lines of $20 million more than Clinton's, but the amount of his fundraising base of supporters topped the 1 million threshold.
It's only speculation at this point, but if Obama sustains or perhaps even widens the fundraising margin if Clinton tries to prolong this until Pennsylvania with nothing other than her usual nasty and divisive tactics, those Supers are going to think pretty hard before saying "Clinton" when the money is clearly saying "Obama". As for Florida and Michigan, I can't see those delegates ever being seated under the phony results currently tallied for those contests and with Florida having de-certified all the Diebold voting machines without having anything to replace them before the summer, there may be no way to hold a vote regardless. With that state's budget already billions of $ in the red, that means the Dems would have to pay for a real vote and Dean already stated he's not paying for one and the Florida Democratic Party doesn't have the money to pay for it either. Eight years after the 2000 debacle and that state still can't get it's act together. I vote it's time to strip Florida of not just Democratic delegates, but all it's 2008 electoral and popular vote totals until they can demonstrate they can hold a real and fair election.
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It's pretty obvious the GOP would rather face Clinton
[Read the article: Who would the GOP rather face?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not that it's by any means a lock that McCain would beat Clinton in November, but that matchup caters to McCain's and the GOP's wishes far more than having to face Obama. Clinton's negative campaigning against Obama has already turned off the new young voters and Independents that he has reeled in since Iowa and that certainly won't change if she insists on prolonging it for another 7 weeks. Obama thus far hasn't pointed to a host of dirty money fundraising scandals connected back to the Clinton machine that took place all through the '90's, but McCain won't hesitate at all to provide a detailed account of Mark Rich and the other unsavory characters that have been somehow forgotten (I suspect only temporarily and deliberately) by most of the media during this primary season.
A previous poster pointed to Clinton's dissaproval rate near 50%. If her campaign tactics continue along the low road she's chosen to take for any prolonged length of time, that number isn't going down and very well could go even higher. The traditional Democratic base by itself won't win the general election and Clinton might not even have that completely intact after the convention in the event she was still in the picture by then. Anybody who's had the chance to drive through the southern states that has had to listen to countless talk radio programs would attest to how nearly all of them seem to promote to it's listeners that another Clinton Presidency equates to the coming Apocalypse. While it's unreal and largely defies any rational bearing, it's unfortunately a reality that won't go away as long as Clinton continues to stick around. Even if she managed to get past McCain, there's a fair chance the resulting hangover would be a reinvigorated Republican Party able to climb back to even strength in voters and fundraising. That prospect alone makes me tempted to go to Obama's website and contribute my entire tax return.