Is this ever going to end?
Superdelegates who haven't yet declared for Obama or Hillary are waiting it out under the pretense of letting the remaining voters have their say. And then come June or perhaps July--when they feel like it, I guess, or when they're sure Hillary is toast and they can be assured of not alienating her--they'll happily weigh in.
That's all very democratic of them, but aren't they ignoring something? No matter how aggressively Hillary touts herself as a populist, the gal who can single-handedly repair the economy on Day One, the gal who can best terrify Iran, the gal who can best beat McCain in November, she won't have enough delegates to win the nomination. Even if Florida and Michigan by some miracle got to vote. Or she won every single contest here on out. Which is unlikely. The only way she can pass Obama is if the superdelegates throw it to her. As James Carville might say, it's the math, stupid!
This is a point the beleaguered Chuck Todd, NBC News' political director, has been repeatedly trying to make since Hillary scored in Pennsylvania. Setting off a frenzy of hope among her tireless supporters. I don't begrudge them their giddiness. But why are the superdelegates insisting she still has a shot? Are they delusional or am I missing something?
As one told AP: "I'm willing to give Sen. Clinton the opportunity to win the popular vote," said Rep. Jason Altmire, whose western Pennsylvania district favored Clinton by a 2-to-1 margin in Tuesday's balloting. "I think she's earned the right to continue."
Maybe so, but I'm beginning to feel like we're watching an endless loop of Deal or No Deal.
Meanwhile, John McCain is having a field day. While the Democrats battle it out, he gets to play a role that is totally out of character--the nice guy--while the media dutifully plays along. On his impeccably timed poverty tour through the South, McCain apparently discovered that New Orleans had been ravaged by a hurricane. Boy did that make him mad! He even got to take the high road and blame that another compassionate conservative George Bush.
But did the forgetful Republican nominee not know about Katrina? Did he not see the TV footage of people trapped on roofs holding up signs that read "HELP" while floodwaters threatened to drown them? Where was he the last three years while FEMA was shoving the city's poor into poisonous trailers?
And how does he explain fighting a bill that included $28 billion in hurricane relief?
During his so-called "fact-finding" trip McCain had a camera crew shooting footage for commercials and a film that will be shown at the Republican convention. But they skipped some of the worst neighborhoods in the Lower 9th Ward. Maybe McCain was afraid they'd get dirty?
Speaking of dirty, McCain is totally against those racially charged North Carolina TV ads showing Obama's former pastor. He's so upset he asked the state Republican Party to take them off the air. But strangely enough they haven't.
I wonder why.
Posted April 26, 2008 | 03:01 PM (EST)