Letters to the Editor
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Wilentz and Practical Logic
Wilentz is entertaining, but he seems to assume that Team Obama, once it starts playing by the rules that will determine who wins the general election, either can't or won't change its strategy. If the Democratic primaries were winner-take-all, he can't fairly assume that Hillary would have won the big states. Clearly, Team Obama studied the rules and worked out a 50-state strategy when they decided to take a shot at the nomination. Team Clinton didn't. If Team Clinton had diverted resources to compete in all 50 states, that would have meant fewer resources in the big primaries, so the results might have been different in those primaries. When Obama takes on McCain, no doubt his crackerjack team will work out a strategy that can win, one that will distinguish between must-win states, can-win states, and would-like-to-win states. I expect he will win all the big primaries in the general election that Clinton won in the nomination contest, especially if he's smart enough to ask Hillary to be his Vice-President in return for a substantive role in certain areas of policy.