Originally Posted by Sensei

Despite my being in the Barack Obama camp and his streak of 11 blowout victories in February, Hillary Clinton still had my support to compete in the Mini-Tuesday primaries in OH, TX, RI, and VT. Perhaps these voters would show their support for Clinton akin to the 15 and 20 percentage point victories Obama's supporters demonstrated in February. Maybe these voters would spin the race around 180 degrees by emphatically giving the senator from New York huge margins. As the results trickled in yesterday, the aforementioned clearly did not occur. In Rhode Island and Vermont, the size of the states and victory margins means they almost offset each other. Clinton, with the help of longtime ally Governor Strickland, did indeed win Ohio by 10 percentage points. Texas, however, was a split decision as Clinton won the primaries by four percent and Obama took the caucuses by 12 percent. The net result is a Clinton gain of four or fewer delegates out of a possible 228. One doesn't need a calculator to realize that just won't cut it. It's laughable to see headlines about Clinton's "huge" victories in both Texas and Ohio. That's like saying 98 Degrees has a "humongous" fan base (Sorry having now-25 year old women using your CD as a coaster doesn't count as being a fan).


Despite being a political science major, I have never donated to a candidate in my life. That streak came to an end this morning when I logged onto barackobama.com and sent in a contribution. Every major media outlet from the Wall Street Journal to CNN to NBC to Congressional Quarterly claims that it is essentially mathematically impossible for Clinton to make up the pledged delegate deficit. This bitter intra-party fighting has done enough damage to the Democratic cause and needs to end now before Bush's party gets more time to fundraise and campaign for McCain. If Clinton wants to influence a national contest, then she needs to pick up the phone and vote for the next American Idol because the people have chosen their Democratic representative. The Democrats cannot continue to drain their limited resources against each other during the primary rather than in the November election.


(Aside: I don't understand why North Carolina's primary on May 6 is not getting more attention. NC is the 9th most populous state in the nation and its 91 delegates exceed Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Oregon combined.)