Ed Koch: Obama Is A Sure Loser, Clinton Should Fight On

As Democrats coalesce around Sen. Barack Obama, one of Hillary Clinton's must outspoken supporters is not mincing words: the party is walking needlessly and unaware into a general election buzzsaw.

"I believe Obama probably will win [the Democratic nomination], although in politics you never ever can count anybody out," said former New York Mayor Ed Koch. "I think Hillary is doing a magnificent job and is a great candidate and if anybody can pull it out, she can. But my honest opinion is, it probably won't happen. And that he will be the candidate and that he will lose."

Koch's argument, while never voiced in public by Clinton, is thought to reflect the opinion of the senator and her key aides.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Koch warned that despite Obama's lead in every single primary election metric, the Illinois Democrat simply would not be able to best John McCain come November. As such, he urged Clinton to stay in the race even as some in the party call for her drop out now, even before Obama has officially secured the nomination.

Were the majority of states and voters who had gone to Obama - and the superdelegates who could very well affirm their decisions - making a grievous political mistake?

"Mistake is not exactly the word," replied Koch. "It is the wrong judgment. The reason that the superdelegates are there is to select that person who is most likely to prevail. And...even though he does not win on his own merits in terms of racking up sufficient delegates, in all probability the superdelegates will be afraid to exercise their own judgment. And we will simply go along with the count of the delegates that were chosen in the polls."

Koch's argued that Obama showed a complete lack of conviction and leadership in handling the controversy surrounding his former pastor. The theme is a constant feature in the former mayor's syndicated columns, several of which have directly questioned the credibility of Obama's attempts to distance himself from Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

"I am shocked, without knowing the reason that it is happening, that none of the allegations with the respect of Wright, his former pastor, have had any impact on his polling," said Koch. "I'm absolutely surprised because I think that all the things that Wright says -- and nobody believes that Obama supports those statements -- but he didn't have the courage to stand up and object for twenty years. If you are running for president, you can't be like some other poor guy in the pews who is afraid to stand up or even say something privately to the minister. You're the guy who wants to lead the country and you have to have courage to stand up and lead your own pastor. He did not exhibit that. But the fact that the Democratic constituency doesn't seem to care is a shock to me, but I'm certain that the overall constituency voting in November will care and that it will make the difference in the adverse way to his candidacy."

On Tuesday night, Obama won a decisive victory in North Carolina and closely lost his contest against Clinton in Indiana. The strong showing followed a week in which Wright not only reemerged on the political landscape but also suffocated the subsequent news coverage. Koch called Obama's ability to overcome the pastor problem and score well in the two primaries a "serious victory" but one that did not end the game.

Saying he would support Clinton and "hope she ultimately prevails," Koch wasn't worried that Democratic infighting could hurt the party's chances in the fall. It was Obama's candidacy, he repeated, that would be the death knell.

"I believe that when the voting is over that the vast majority, not all, on both sides, will vote for the [Democratic] candidate," said Koch. "But that applies only to the Democrats who have been participating. I believe that the vast majority of voters will look at all of these allegations, which nobody disputes, as related to Wright and his comments, and that they will have an enormous impact on the vote and on those Independents and others who will make a decision in the general election. I just think he is a loser because of that."

Comments

[ewastud]

In my opinion, Ed Koch is joined at the hip with the extremely corrupt pro-Israel/petroleum lobby interests, as is Hillary Clinton. Bill and Hillary (and Ed Koch) would give this country the best gift if they took a long vacation to a foreign country and did not return until after Barack Obama's inauguration, or perhaps better yet, never return. They could all join the Bush crime gang (including the Moonies) at their post-administration hideout in Uruguay

[newshawk14]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone listen to this gomer anymore?

[richcpl]

Ed Koch hasn't mattered since 1985, when his administration started unraveling in scandal. He's always had a problem with diversity, and he came out of the closet in 2004 by endorsing Bush. He's an old, angry, irrelevant yellow dog.

[BeSpoke]

Ed,

When the rabbi drones on and on during High Holidays with something that you don't agree with, do you:
A) Put your family on "hold" to go and take him to task following the service,
B) Make a mental note to phone him the day after the holiday to take him to task,
C) Just go home and let the immediate family know that you didn't agree with him--and let it rest.

Answer: C. It doesn't matter that it's sensational or not; most go throught the week to week process of worshipping as a connection to THEIR spirituality and to G-D and to carrying on that tradition in the faces of their children. They don't go to take the sermon to heart because the sermon is a value judgement; going to worship is more than the sermon.

With that in mind, would you be guilty of decades of "admission by silence"?

[CitizenTess]

Ed Koch is irrelevant to anyoone under 40.

[strifeknot]

And to anyone over 40 with an IQ over 40.

[richcpl]

That's not true. He's irrelevant to anyone under 80. He stopped being relevant in 1985, when his administration unraveled in scandal.

[BearsLeft]

Koch is old, white, and rich. Does he ever leave NYC?

Worthless advice.

[zigzag1]

Koch is years ago, Obama is tomorrow. Say goodnight, Ed

[Bobrobert]

Guess he hasn't looked at McCains religious backers.

Ohhhh.

I forgot.

They are all white guys.

[Cay]

old white guy

[reprob8]

Ed Kock = irrelevant

[Marshall Lucky]

Two words for Koch:

"Scoreboard BItch!"

[Gatling]

A guy who supported Bush is against Obama?

YAY!

[rpence]

We've gotten pretty far without any help from this abrasive, whiny Koch. Something tells me we won't need his approval to continue to succeed.

OBAMA 2008

[lobo1939]

Ok Koch has had his 15 minutes of fame. Get him off stage and send him back to the nursing home with Greenspan.

[timinhi]

"send him back to the nursing home"

Wow. Are you a part of Obama's "new" "inclusive" "positive not negative" politics?

It fascinates me that when someone poses an opinion that differs from Obama-mania, the response from Obama's supporters invariably is to viciously attack that person on a shallow personal level. You can't simply disagree, or even civily argue the point--Instead, your gut reaction is to go for the jugular--to eviscerate. And your comment isn't even the worst one in the thread. If this is the "change" you guys keep talking about, it doesn't sound much different from what we had before. And for all your insults and dismissiveness, you might keep in mind that Koch has actually won a few elections and has served as an elected executive official over a city of 8 million people with a several billion-dollar budget (compared to Obama's one year of executive experience as editor of the law review). That means that even if Koch is wrong here, his opinion still matters infinitely more than all of yours (and mine, for that matter) combined. Give credit where credit is due. Even Koch's biggest opponents admit he knows a thing or two about politics. Given the way you've treated the only 2-term Democratic president since FDR, I guess it's too much to expect a little respect for the former mayor.

[EvgenyLibek]

I hope my Senator -- Diane Feinstein, whom I have great respect for -- will privately encourage Senator Clinton to reconsider this strategy, which I consider divisive and harmful.

It serves no purpose to join Ed Koch in this mudfight, though I am certain that I could EASILY demonstrate that his candidate is nowhere near as vetted as has been claimed.

Even anonymously, I have more respect for fellow Democrats than Mr.Koch has.

This election is about bigger issues -- and it is also about the Democrat identity...

For instance, Republicans insist that our children recite the pledge, but they have forgotten the meaning of the words: "one nation... with liberty and justice for all."

The Bush administration only preyed upon liberty, and circumvented justice -- McCain would only be more determined.

The Republican identity has shifted out of balance...

Ronald Reagan wrote, prior to becoming Governor of California, "If we surrender liberty, we owe telling our children, and our children's children, what it was that we found more precious."

The GOP now claims there numerous things are more precious than liberty, including (but not limited to): security, and the need-to-know, and revenge, and entreprenurial welfare.
There would have been no American Revolution, if the sons and daughters of liberty had shared these new Republican values.

Senator Obama can win, and he can do so by promoting our values, and preserving our identity.

Vote to change the lobby-driven empire-dynasty that Washington has become.