prrriiide

Meh...

If he goes full-bore into KY, he risks getting the kitchen sink thrown at him again. Also the risk of being branded a bad winner by not letting up on Clinton. I dont think he should let up, but that's me.

For all intents and purposes, he's the nominee. Let HRC have her day in the Kentucky sun and then let her retire 6/4/08 and not risk anymore vitriol.

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Tax & Spend > Borrow & Spend

I reject your reality and substitute my own.

Every feeling you've ever felt can be found in the works of Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler, and Wagner.

Sebelius for VP, not Hillary

Obama can campaign without tearing up Clinton. Look at the Republican race. McCain, Huckabee and Giuliani were all rivals, but you didn't see them tearing each other down. Huckabee continued to embarass McCain with victories in the South well after he lost the contest in fact.

I'm not saying Obama is wrong here not to contest those election. I'm just questioning his decision not to even try in Kentucky. I also find it very interesting how he doesn't seem to be doing much WRT Puerto Rico (though he did send Michelle down there).

Obama's strategy could be disinteresting voters. By not even bothering to campaign, he can do a few things:

(1) Blame his losses on his lack of campaigning there, thus avoiding the real reason: which is that most of this process was already pre-determined by demographics

(2) Make people who are pro-Hillary not even bother to vote, since they think the contest is over.


I think Obama should try harder in Kentucky and Puerto Rico. I also think Obama should pick Sebelius or Napolitano. The first suggestion, I will concede the Obama team being smarter than I am on. The second suggestion I will not.


WEB

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Forum Rule 3: Discuss the Issue, not your opponent.

Taliesin

I agree with WEB on the election plans (but not the VP nomination).

I understand why Obama wouldn't mind Hillary taking a few states and letting her leave the election without her feathers being ruffled, but a 40 point loss does raise an eyebrow or two. Obama should campaign harder in Kentucky and Puerto Rico (more so Kentucky as PR doesn't vote in the national elections). A 5-10 point Hillary win doesn't hurt him in the slightest, but anything larger than that, while perhaps not all that damaging, is uncomfortable.

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"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
~Plato

The Bare Knuckled Pundit

In a blatantly self-serving jump on the bandwagon, immaculately maned former rival John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama in a surprise appearance in Grand Rapids, Michigan yesterday. Following months of open and behind the scenes lobbying from both the Obama and Clinton camps, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee touted Obama as the new champion of his own crusade to create a unified America as he encouraged party loyalists to unite behind the junior Senator from Illinois.

Opening his remarks prior to his formal endorsement, Edwards engaged in an act of spineless bet-hedging as he effusively praised Obama’s remaining rival, Hillary Clinton. In an effort to salve the slight and avoid the wrath of the Kurgan, Edwards insisted, “We are a stronger party because Hillary Clinton is a Democrat, we are a stronger country because of her years of public service, and we’re going to have a stronger presidential nominee in the fall because of her work.”

On cue, Obama dutifully nodded while waiting to receive the long sought after prize of Edwards’ endorsement.

In the midst of receiving Edwards’ approbation the day after being unmercifully pummeled by Clinton by more that 2-to-1 in West Virginia, the Obama campaign executed a truly master stroke. Stealing Clinton’s thunder, Obama deftly shifted the media’s focus on a dime and regained all-important momentum all in one fell swoop. And this all less than twenty-four hours after the polls had closed in the Mountain State.

Towing the campaign line that the Democrat’s long road to Perdition is nowhere near an end, Clinton campaign Chairman and Master Kool-Aid Mixer Terry McAuliffe responded testily in a written statement, “We respect John Edwards. But as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

One might think after such a seasoned and mature statement that Mr. McAuliffe might be taking his candidate and going home. Much to the Democratic National Committee’s chagrin, that is not the case.

Meanwhile, Clinton campaign staffers have been scouring Ebay for voodoo dolls and locks of the impeccably coifed Edwards’ hair.

Further taking the sting out of Barack’s West Virginia whooping were signs of cracks developing in the levee holding the rising Obama tide at bay. With the announcement today that he had picked up four superdelegates in addition to four of Edwards’ former delegates, as well as receiving the endorsement of the 600,000 member-strong United Steelworkers Union it is clear the Obama campaign has quickly recovered and is back on track.

What is so striking is the agility the campaign displayed in recovering from what in all likelihood would have been a critical, if not mortal wound had it occurred earlier in the primary hunt.

Moreover, one can only imagine where Obama, Clinton and the Democrats would be at this point had Edwards forgone playing coy and made his endorsement soon after bowing out of the race. Having pilloried Hillary in tandem with Barack, there was never any realistic possibility of his endorsing Clinton. To do so would have cost him any semblance of credibility he had left. Had Edwards had some intestinal fortitude and shown the courage of his convictions by endorsing and campaigning for Obama earlier on, the Democrat’s time in political purgatory may well have been long behind them by now.

Kudos on taking a hit for the time, John! Hope you didn’t mess up your hair jumping on the bandwagon as it neared the end of the parade route!

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