Is the Media's Pursuit of Horserace Coverage the Reason Sen. Clinton is Still Considered a Viable Contender for the Democratic Presidential Nomination?
That's the provocative thesis of this article by Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen in The Politico. And at Slate, Christopher Beam gives a similar answer: "Today's the New York Times A1 piece on Hillary Clinton, 'Clinton Facing Narrower Path to Nomination,' is an exercise in understatement. It nudges the candidate ever closer to the cliff but, maybe because of politeness, or business savvy, or maybe even a perceived need for objectivity, refrains from pushing her over." See also Josh Marshall.
Now, with news of Clinton's campaign debt and an admission by her staffer that she has no more than a 10% chance of securing the nomination, expect these stories to proliferate.
Could it be that the media has kept the story alive? I think that's an overstatement. Of course Clinton can't catch Obama, but it is also true that Obama cannot formally clinch without the superdelegates. So long as Clinton has the hope of an Obama implosion or major gaffe, she has a reason to remain in the race. So don't blame the media; blame the DNC's system for leaving this in the hands of superdelegates---something the DNC surely must reconsider for 2012 and beyond.
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In a word -- yes.
It's all about RULES. The same RULES that all candidates agreed on before the first ballot was cast. The DNC should find a 'fair' way, not a Clinton way, and seat MI and FL. Clinton will stay in this race until she and Bill feel that they have bloodied him up enough so he loses to McCain - WHY? - it's come down to 2012 for Clinton. She's tough all right, but she is not "smart" tough, she is "my way or the highway" tough - all about Hillary. Clinton's focus is to get McCain elected, McCain does not perform and won't be given a 2nd term - in steps Ms. Hillary to the nations rescue! Smiles, and says, "I told you so ;-)" The problem is with her lack of management ethics, she too will fail the first 4 years and only ONE term.
If the DNC doesn't step in soon and take Clinton down and out - they have lost Independents, African/Americans, and the youth vote for a generation
Marykins123 writes:
No, it's still a race because people are still voting for her by the millions.
Not enough though.
I'm still planning on voting for Clinton because I think she would be a better President than Obama.
I'd like to have the chance to do so as my state's primary is a month away.
If she wasn't still running, I'd write her name in.
I do agree that Obama will win the nomination as the party apparatus is behind him and so is the media. But that doesn't change my opinon.
The media is behind Obama?!! Where have you been living? It has been an Obama bashing fest 24/7.
kikiva:
Obama doesn't stand a chance against McCain and his popularity is falling faster than you can count, since his true colors have surfaced.
Didi47, did you know that Obama's true colors are red, white, black, brown and blue? I think it's a beautiful thing.
OBAMA 08
It is over.
The super delegates aren't going to hand it to her, no matter what. They cannot throw away a huge voting block. Why is she even still in?
zreeb - before you predict what the SDs are gonig to do, here are some things to consider.
1. If the party wanted the candidate who won the majority of votes to win the nomination, we wouldn't need delegates.
2. If the party wanted the candidate who won the majority of delegates during the primaries to win the nomination, we wouldn't need SDs.
3. If the party wanted to the candidate who won the majority of states to win, we wouldn't need delegates, nor would we proportionately allocate delegates. The winner of the state would get them all.
4. SDs were created and given about 20% of the total delegate vote for 1 and 1 reason only. That is to decide, in a close race, who has the best chance to win in the general election - period.
This year, that's Hillary.
One last comment. As far as throwing away a huge voting block, how about all the moderates and independents in Michigan and Florida who will be voting for McCain in the fall because the DNC won't allow their delegates to be seated at the convention.
I don't think that the majority of the people of Michigan and Florida (or the rest of the country for that matter) are that stupid to vote for more crap from the repub party. Only the the lock-stepp
VOTE DEMOCRATIC!
Link please. Because as far as I know 800,000 in popular vote, 170 + difference in pledged delegates, and double the states won, is not a close race. The media is making you believe it is a close race, but it isn’t. Other than that the SD are not here to overturn the will of the people when no specific danger to the party occurs if the leading candidate is nominated.
Sorry , try again.
Do you totally ignore the polling that has been done the last year? Poll after poll has shown Obama to be a much tougher competitor against McCain. The thought of the Clinton's being in the news daily is enough to make me get a head ache. People seem to forget the Clinton years were filled with scandal and mis-steps. ARGGGGG.
I don't think that "the MSM is keeping Clinton's candidacy alive" is an overstatement at all.
As Exhibit One, I offer their treatment of her "Most Excellent Bosnian Adventure" lie, and the accompanying debunking video, as proof positive that they don't want her to quit the race.
If any other candidate has been caught so blatantly in such a huge whopper, they'd be slinking off to the sidelines under a veritable tsunami wave of front page "gotcha" stories about what an effing liar they are.
ChimpmasterDJ;
Obama's whoppers make everyone else's look like child's play.
One of the things that I find so interesting is that the same journalists that write that it's over for Hillary, are the same people who, when are panelists on any number of TV slots, say the exact opposite of what they print. It's obvious that the news directors are pushing this story and advising these talking heads to keep that myth alive. Case in point Mark Hallepirin, who just now on CNN spoke of her still having some sort of chance and yet just yesterday he listed 12 points in a Time piece of why she has no chance. It's either one or the other, it can't be both.
No Rick. The 13,833,671 people who voted for Sen. Clinton this year decided that.
And the 14.5 million who voted for Obama have, in fact, also decided that it's time for Hillary to leave.
MarkieBee:
Had the truth been made public about Obama and his teacher Rev. Wright.. those numbers would have been much much much smaller.. and Hillary would have been the nominee a long time ago. Obama should do the country a favor and step down, because he's done.
Boy!!!
Caucasus don't provide popular votes. If we are to consider popular votes we might as well disfranchise all caucus states that played by the rules. This is a delegate race, not a popular vote race, because not all states provide popular vote only delegates.
Governor Rendell admitted this morning that Clinton would probably end up 500.000 short in popular vote and 5% of delegates. He refused to answer a question about a bloodletting if the predominately white supers took the election away.
Fast forward to CNN and the news crew were telling us about the extremely close race. I've had a strong feeling that the ratings were quite often driving the commentary. Ad money talks and impartiality walks.
I agree it is the media...I just wish there could be less sensationalism and more truth. I am so tired of the misleading headlines that people seem to eat up and spew out verbatim. Where is the honor, the ethics? Even CNN's own Roland Martin called upon journalists to pursue truth: "The point that I have always made as a journalist is that our job is to seek the truth, and not the partial truth."
Why is the media not picking up on Hillary's lies? Makes you wonder if they feel sorry for her. Here is some fact checking on her claims of experience in Bosnia:
http://www
I used to like Hillary and at first I did not know who to support. I now whole-heartedly support Obama. He IS a man of his word. Yes he is a politician, but he is a great man and I think he can help start the healing process we so desperately need in this country. Let's take back our country and make our founding fathers proud! ...and let's call upon the media to report the TRUTH, not sensationalism at the expense of truth and honor!
Roland Martin calling upon journalists to pursue truth!!!! LOL I sure didn't hear him repeat any truths about Hillary. He spun and skewed and ditzed her any way he could; he accused Bill of race baiting for months on end.... he hung Ferraro out to dry as a racist...
And then when Obama got caught with his pants down... so to speak... with his 20 years of being guided by the raving Rev. Wright who admires Farrakhan and damns the US.. what does that supposed 'truth seeker Rolland do? He spends his every waking moment on every CNN slot .... trying to tell people that what they saw and heard Rev. Wright say... was not really what they saw and heard... and that Obama was right in not leaving that hate filled church.. and then continued with more non-stop justification of the bigotry - and divisiveness of Americans! Roland Martin is a blathering idiot who thinks he's smarter than the viewer... you know those 'ignorant typical whites' ....
Yes let's call on the media to report the TRUTH - it would be an incredible CHANGE!
YES! it's over!
http://ca.
Obama lies!!!
http://ca.
Here, let me debunk that for you:
http://med
The Media is the Fourth Horseman- Of course they are claiming the Inc's Candidate still alive. hell they'll tellUS she Won ( by hook or Crooks). A vote for Hillary is the same as a Vote for Mac- the inc's win either way (along with their Foreign Sponsors)
With out spilling the beans like Dick - her attitude for the last 6 yrs in the Senate and the Armed SErvices has been 'SO'
If they Steal the Nomination (which they are intending to do - as they have before) Obama should Run as an Independent - let's level these two Corrput 'Parties' Inc
PurpleGirl:
Keep it up. Obama and his camp are leaving more and more people - with very bad tastes in their mouths with every passing minute.
15 million demorcrats decided that Hillary Clinton is still a viable candidate. And 15.6 million democrats have decided that Obama is a viable candidate. There are still 10 million yet to vote.
Facts not bs will settle this nomination process.
It's the DELEGATES, stupid.
Obama: 1622
Clinton: 1485
http://www
Ah - yeah - sure:Edward's 18 will of course stem the tide for Hillary, if he endorses her. Sure he will. I know: It's "the audacity of math..."
Montanamotor:
It's Rev. Wright stupid.
It's Obama having Wright as a menotr for 20 years. It's Wright's racist anti American rages that voters didn't know about because the media kept it hidden - until now. Obama is done and he should step down immediately!
Hillary all the way!
Not exactly an overwhelming lead is it?
But Obama will win the nomination as the party higher-ups support him. Too bad the best person won't win but it won't be the first time.
What about caucus states? They don’t provide popular vote. Obama won those 4:1. What we should just ignore states that played by the rules and turn the race to popular vote contest.
THIS IS ABOUT DELEGATES. To make it a popular vote contest, you have to turn it to an ALL PRIMARY contest.
One more incident like Obama's Wright- gate..... and it's curtains for Obama. You can tell Axelrod and the rest of Obama's king pins, are nervous and paranoid. I believe they know a second incident is coming, and I suspect they even know what it is. You can tell by the way they have abandoned his "New kind of politics" theme, and are using LBJ's old trick. This is where you deliberately put out false accusations or distorted info about your opponent, so they have to deny it. It's a tawdry and unscrupulous trick. It didn't work very well for LBJ, and it won't work for Obama, either.
http://ca.
MOTHER JONES - Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from that connection. "A lot of evangelicals would see that as just cynical exploitation," says the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue who now ministers to decision makers in Washington. "I don't....t
When Clinton first came to Washington in 1993, one of her first steps was to join a Bible study group. For the next eight years, she regularly met with a Christian "cell" whose members included Susan Baker, wife of Bush consigliere James Baker; Joanne Kemp, wife of conservative icon Jack Kemp; Eileen Bakke, wife of Dennis Bakke, a leader in the anti-union Christian management movement; and Grace Nelson, the wife of Senator Bill Nelson, a conservative Florida Democrat.
Clinton's prayer group was part of the Fellowship (or "the Family"), a network of sex-segregated cells of political, business, and military leaders dedicated to "spiritual war" on behalf of Christ, many of them recruited at the Fellowship's only public event, the annual National Prayer Breakfast. (Aside from the breakfast, the group has "made a fetish of being invisible," former Republican Senator William Armstrong has said.) The Fellowship believes that the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes. Its mission is to help the powerful understand their role in God's plan.
Clinton declined our requests for an interview about her faith,
http://pro
Hillary Clinton Lands Earmarks For Campaign Contributions
It's a real estate developer's sugar-plum dream: a mega-shopping mall complete with 10 Broadway-style theaters, an indoor river, a Tuscan village and a 39-story luxury hotel sheathed in green solar panels shaped like giant blades of grass. Plus as much as $1 billion in government-backed financing, thanks in part to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton...
...Since taking office in 2001, Clinton has delivered $500 million worth of earmarks that have specifically benefited 59 corporations. About 64% of those corporations provided funds to her campaigns through donations made by employees, executives, board members or lobbyists, a review by the Los Angeles Times shows.
http://www
Pastor Got $1.5 Million in Clinton Earmarks Before EndorsementBy Kathy Miller | The Hillary Project
By: Fred Lucas
Let the Market decide.
HC's campaign is in the red.
Obama's campagin is healthy and has historically large coffers. An the money keeps coming in.
Because people believe in him and are willing to send in money--25 dollars at a time.
I did. And after the Wright-Gate hysteria, I sent in another $50. Because this man is special.
I have been calling all our Obama delegates before the next level of our caucus. The 4 precincts I've been calling are all 90% white, yet not a single supporter is upset about Wright.
There is no Wright Gate.
There is Sean Hannity and HC and Fox and Friends making a big deal about it.
HC has support? Then send her some money to support her efforts.
kettletop:
I bet Obama's healthy campaign coffer is diminishing by the minute and rightfully so. He's only been vetted for the past 10 days and look at what's happening. People who believed in him have been repeatedly betrayed and lied to. Instead of having a news conference about his 20 association with his 'mentor' Rev. Wright, he wrote a speech. And when he did finally speak on radio - his 'Typical White' comment - cemented where he's coming from, big time! He can make a good speech, that's for sure. But - his behavior demonstrates his awesome lack of judgment and maturity.
Go HIllary!
how about an example of false accusations and distorted info? Like the full video of Hillary walking across a tarmac that was ringed by snipers? Was that a distortion? Or how about a direct quote from the guy who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the Northern Ireland peace accord saying that Hillary has almost nothing to do with that issue? Was that a distortion? Back up your crap with some links or examples. Otherwise you come off as even more desperate than normal.
MarkieBee: Here it is from Obama himself
Anchor: The Taoiseach has said it would be very unfair for anyone to deny Hilary Clinton credit for her role in the peace process. Speaking in Washington Mr. Ahern said she had played an important role in the process along with her husband.
Reporter: A busy round of official engagements in Washington today finished at Congress with a lunch hosted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. The three candidates for the presidency weren’t there, but Mr. Ahern did meet Hillary Clinton and speak on the phone to Barack Obama this morning. The Obama campaign has been questioning Senator Clinton’s involvement in the peace process but Mr. Ahern said she had played a significant and important role.
Ahern: “I have to say in my conversation this morning that was totally acknowledged by Senator Obama. So I’m not getting into the politics of this but I think for anyone to try to question the Clinton’s huge support and start trying to nit-pick.” [RTE TV, 3/18/08]
When Hillary wins, I can't wait to hear nonstop commentary about Bill's last 8 years and CIGARS.
You'll not hear anything: Obama will win the nomination.
If he does America is doomed to another 8 year Republican reign. Obama is finished.
Wakeupbill:
Only the twisted, with very low IQ's - who have nothing else to spout will continue to make fools of themselves with those sick remarks.
so...um...
It ain't gonna happen.
Clinton should have dropped out of the race when she lost 12 in a row.
If it had been anyone other than Clinton the voters, the party, and the media would have been demanding that she drop out.
I like, like others, believe that she is now remaining the race to hurt Senator Obama so that her 'friend' McCain can win and then she will run again in 2012.
She is in a tricky situation now though, because she 'has to' stay in the race in order to raise money via her website to recapture the $3,000,000 that she is in the hole plus the $5,000,000 that the campaign has not yet repaid her. I think that there is a possibility that if/when she raises 8 -10 million then she just might drop out. I don't see her dropping out until she raises the money though because otherwise she will have to pay the debts incurred out of her and Bill's pocket.
texas....:
Well thank God she didn't! Had the people found out the 'truth' about Obama when it was too late.. the Repubs would have sailed right back into the White House!
And I wouldn't worry about her campaign funds. People are supporting her in droves - now that Obama is being vetted - and his Rezko, Wright friendships are being made public; as they should have been a year ago. The media cheated the public big time, by NOT releasing the truth before now. They should also be held accountable for deliberately misleading the American people!
Actually Didi yes, the media *has* been "deliberately misleading the people" and they *have* "cheated the people" - out of REALITY.
Here you are, repeating ad nauseum everything you've been spoonfed by Fox news, without ever having stopped to think about it - nevermind actually research it. Blah blah wright 20 yrs of hatred blah blah - when it is really clear that you never listened to more than the sound bite, and never looked into it - ironically spewing all the hatred you accuse others of. Isn't that funny?
http://pol
At this point Hillary isn't going be able to run in 2012. If the Democrats lose in 2008, REGARDLESS of who the candidate is, that albatross will wind up firmly around the necks of Hillary and Bill for the rest of their lives. Their actions will not be forgiven or forgotten; they will be pariahs of the Democratic party; objects of ridicule and revulsion. Hillary will be spurned in the Senate by both sides of the political isle and by 2012 her political carreer will be ruined along with whatever positive attributes remain of Bill's legacy. By 2012 the Clintons will not be able to extract themselves from public life fast enough.
texas4Obama:
Why should she drop out? After all, Obama got his votes under false pretenses! Had the public known where his true feelings lie... Hillary would have won a long time ago. I think re-votes should be held all over the US... and not only in Michigan and Florida!
Go Hillary!
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