Comments

You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name

Your e-mail (optional)

Website (optional)

	My Original Nic Pic-a-Nic Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Foto

Submit your comments on this article

Home Front: Politix

Obama Outsmarted Clinton to Get Nominated

2008-05-30

Unlike Hillary Rodham Clinton, rival Barack Obama planned for the long haul. Clinton hinged her whole campaign on an early knockout blow ~~and ascension to the throne~~ on Super Tuesday, while Obama's staff researched congressional districts in states with primaries that were months away. What they found were opportunities to win delegates, even in states they would eventually lose.

Obama's campaign mastered some of the most arcane rules in politics, and then used them to foil a front-runner who seemed to have every advantage - money, fame and a husband who had essentially run the Democratic Party for eight years as president. Without a doubt, their understanding of the nominating process was one of the keys to their success," said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist not aligned with either candidate. "They understood the nuances of it and approached it at a strategic level that the Clinton campaign did not."

Careful planning is one reason why Obama is emerging as the nominee as the Democratic Party prepares for its final three primaries, Puerto Rico on Sunday and Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday. Attributing his success only to soaring speeches and prodigious fundraising ignores a critical part of contest.

Posted by:Bobby

#5 Again, polls are still indic that OBAMA will lose to MCCAIN in November - IMO, both HILLARY + MCCAIN recognize that 2008 may come down to being decided by whom are their VPOTUS running mates, espec wid IRAN + Radical Islam acting up in the ME, Asia, + Africa. HISTORY > MAINSTREAM AMER IN TIME OF WAR = NATIONAL CRISIS, etc. WILL VOTE SAFETY + DISCRETION + CONSERVATISM OVER DIVERSITY, which means that Amer will prefer or select White Males, Older, Conservative or Conservative Leaning, + wid Mil Experience.

IOW, iff OBAMA = JFK as per TED KENNEDY himself, Obama needs to find an "LBJ" wid STRONGER POL CREDENTIALS, PERSONA, + NATIONAL CREDIBILITY than he but one that is willing to accept and tolerate being second fiddle as VPOTUS.

Lest we fergit, 1960 Elex + JFK-LBJ = PRE-CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS, PRE-BERLIN CRISIS, VIENNA, + PRE VIETNAM [Iran-ME]???

It is to HILLARY's advantage to stay in becuz there aren't many White Male Dems that can fit the above and still defeat MCCAIN in November. THE BALL IS IN IRAN'S + RADICAL ISLAM'S COURT VV WEIGHING WHETHER SIX OR MORE MONTHS OF "STATUS QUO" = US ENTRENCHMENT IN THE ME. i.e. RISK WEAKENING THEIR ALREADY WEAK JIHAD STILL FURTHER, IS WORTH INDIR ASSURING AN OBAMA VICTORY IN NOVEMBER.

Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-05-30 21:44

#4 An interesting stacking of the deck.
The delegates, however, are not distributed evenly within a state, like they are in the Republican system.

Under Democratic rules, congressional districts with a history of strong support for Democratic candidates are rewarded with more delegates than districts that are more Republican. Some districts packed with Democratic voters can have as many as eight or nine delegates up for grabs, while more Republican districts in the same state have three or four.

The system is designed to benefit candidates who do well among loyal Democratic constituencies, and none is more loyal than black voters. Obama, who would be the first black candidate nominated by a major political party, has been winning 80 percent to 90 percent of the black vote in most primaries, according to exit polls.

"Black districts always have a large number of delegates because they are the highest performers for the Democratic Party," said Elaine Kamarck, a Harvard University professor who is writing a book about the Democratic nominating process.

"Once you had a black candidate you knew that he would be winning large numbers of delegates because of this phenomenon," said Kamarck, who is also a superdelegate supporting Clinton.

Posted by: ed 2008-05-30 19:02

#3 Axelrod's M.O. How do you think he foisted Deval Patrick on Taxachusetts ? Same way. Some of the exact same lingo Barry spouts today.

Posted by: Woozle Elmeter 2700 2008-05-30 18:12

#2 tortise and hare?
he's bragging before crossing the finish line.

Posted by: 3dc 2008-05-30 18:07

#1 Note that competency, experience or positions for the actual job of President played absolutely no role whatsoever. Nice 8^P

Posted by: AlanC 2008-05-30 14:50

00:00