Ten Things to Remember on Tuesday Night

Hillary Clinton will win Pennsylvania.

Arguments over the meaning or meaninglessness of her win will dominate MSM and stretch bandwidth to its breaking point. Bloggers and pundits will dust off their favorite boxing metaphors: "Hillary's off the ropes!" "Obama can't land the knockout!" Hillbots will rejoice, Obamabots will panic, and McCainbots will watch Murder She Wrote and go to bed at six-thirty. I'll probably write a scathing post attempting to prove that Hillary is the devil incarnate. We'll all lose our minds.

In hope of preventing some of this hysteria (especially my own), I thought it'd be helpful to keep a few things in mind during Tuesday night's results -- from Hillary's "victory" speech to the blizzard of spin that's sure to follow:

1. Remember that there's no way Hillary can become the nominee without a superdelegate coup -- which would alienate a generation of young Democrats and dangerously fracture the party.

2. Remember that her campaign leaked internals showing an eleven point lead (as a means of firing up her supporters and getting out the vote). Therefore, any win smaller than eleven points should be considered a disappointment by her own assessment.

3. Remember that every time Hillary begins a sentence with "you know," or "my opponent," the next thing out of her mouth is a lie.

4. Remember that when Clinton surrogates say "this proves Obama can't win the big states," they're ignoring the fact that he actually won more delegates in Texas -- not to mention twice as many states as she has.

5. Remember that when the pundits argue that Obama can't win in white rural areas because they broke for Hillary, they're ignoring the fact that he won (in alphabetical order): Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

6. Remember that when Hillary talks about who will be "better against John McCain in the fall," she's talking about the fall of 2012.

7. Remember that Hillary's campaign is $10M in debt, while Obama's has more than $40M in cash on hand.

8. Remember that Hillary's lead in Pennsylvania was as a high as 26 points only a month ago.

9. Remember that Hillary's late Pennsylvania rebound was forged in the fires of negativity and fear-mongering.

10. Remember that the only manufacturing job Hillary ever brought to Pennsylvania was the manufactured notion that she was a middle-class, whisky-swilling duck killer, and not an anti-union multi-millionaire.

Comments

[fisharefreinds]

Again, our elections are decided.

[nton]

thanks for the pre-emptive strike

[florixie]

This is a Democrat race. A 50/50 spilt for your two candidates can not possibly win the general. A house divided...­. There is no possibility for a decisive winner. One of these two will win the battle. The party has lost the war.

[fcsakes]

Oh, let her have her little win. Obama is the next president of the United States.

[kaygee]

I agree. Let her have her win. Though I'm not sure it will be so little.

I disagree about Obama being the next president. Were he running against the incumbent who got us into Iraq, he might have won. But he's running against a Republican who's closer to the center and who'll take a big portion of the voters who turned out for Clinton today. McCain will win and as with the losing candidates before him, Obama will indirectly mire us in Iraq for another 4 years by allowing McCain to win.

[kardwell]

Please stop spreading this horrible myth that McCain is close to the center. McCain is a hardcore fundie, a conservative RIGHTWINGER to the core, and his records prove it.

[leftbehind2000]

When you say McCain is "closer to the center," I'm assuming you mean the Senior Recreation Center.

[RedWilma]

Very funny. It's been more than just a little disturbing to see Hillary start to sound like Foghorn-Leghorn with a gun and a shot. Will she turn herself into Bush if that's what it take to get elected? The longer this primary drags on, the more difficult it will be for me to even think about voting for Hillary. Obama is so superior in every way.

[NicoleAnonymous]

I think Obama and Clinton aren't that different. I think I prefer Obama after reading more about him and I feel as though he would be an excellent president. But his supporters are being fooled if they think he is a "people" person because in reality many people have said he can be aloof and he really needs to learn how to handle difficult questions from people instead of adulation.

But Clinton is a brilliant woman and I do think some criticism of her hasn't been fair, although not all of it.

[preatorius]

If she stops lying, people will stop criticizing!

[Pharos]

How about if Obama stops stretching the truth, so will Clinton.

[websmith]

Whether the kid or the liar wins in PA and which ever serious presidential candidate that has been selected for us by the MSM special interest groups wins office, we are still going to have:

1. Inflation
2. A failing economy
3. Growing unemployment
4. A central bank creating bubbles for the rich to feed on
5. A foreign policy that make everyone hate us
6. Unabated illegal immigration
7. Loss of civil liberties through legislation or executive order
8. A Congress with almost $200 million invested in the military industrial complex
9. War
10. Really bad trade agreements

and that's the short list so, try not to get too worked up about this Pennsylvania thingy. Your life is going to get worse regardless of the outcome.

[NicoleAnonymous]

I think Obama and Clinton aren't that different. I think I prefer Obama after reading more about him and I feel as though he would be an excellent president. But his supporters are being fooled if they think he is a "people" person because in reality many people have said he can be aloof and he really needs to learn how to handle difficult questions from people instead of adulation.

But Clinton is a brilliant woman and I do think some criticism of her hasn't been fair, although not all of it.

[tdpubs]

There is a difference. One will stop at nothing to win. One will take on all the aspects of the Republican ethics to get the nomination. Failing that goal, become a spoiler to realize a self fulfilling prophesy. The other wants to run as a Democrat even though that's a difficult thing to do in this day and age. Don't forget the saying "Given the choice between a Democrat running as a Republican and a real Republican, the people will choose the Republican every time." Don't be fooled. One candidate wants to energize the people to get up off their asses and rebuild the country together and the other one wants fight for us. You choose.

[Rosey]

I am sooooooooo tired of all of this....I can barely watch the news. The debate was a joke....bu­t mostly the fault of the amazingly idiotic commentators. (And that truly surprised me. I guess they did not hear me shouting "Ask a question of substance you fools." Hillary should drop out. Angry white men will not vote for her and we will have 8 more years of hell from McCain. I am voting for Obama because he mentions change!!!

[lenners]

you forget to remember that Obama won more delegates in Texas because more people came back to caucus on a terribly inconvenient Tuesday night. More people voted for Hillary Clinton in Texas. SHE WON THE POPULAR VOTE. Hands down. You're discussions of semantics are pretty shallow. Trust me I was there. The only reason I was able to make it is because I am student with no job.

[Pharos]

I had to work during the Caucus. How is that fair?

[c1ee]

Couldn't you take time off? There was plenty of time to prepare.

[tdpubs]

More Republicans voted for HRC in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania in hopes of keeping the primaries going. Operation Chaos is still going strong. Thank you, Rush Limpdong.

[c1ee]

She won hands down? It was a 3.5 point victory, aided by operation chaos by Rush Limbaugh.

[rhubardpi]

I may not be a young Democrat at age 61, but if Obama wins the popular vote & delegates and then the superdelegates give the nomination to Hillary I will vote for a Republican president for the first time in my life. I'll run to McCain with my head down, dodging sniper fire all the way.

[sunshineejc]

Seth Grahame-Smith-Good take on Hillary. We all need to be delivered from Hillary's "you know"! Can anyone imagine listening to that day in and day out if God forbid she gets elected to the presidency? Why does a well educated intelligent person who speaks for a living continually use that phrase? If someone was in school studying English or Composition used that phrase-they would be marked down for it!!!

I wonder if Bill will fork in some of his $100 million plus to make up for any money shortfall she has in her campaign. If Hillary wins by less than 5% points-he would have to finance the campaign if she wants to go on-her donations would dry up.

Hopefully ,please, the "you knows" will fade away!!!!

[Amminadab]

I believe that Hillary is capable and tenacious. I blow off the petty stuff that HuffPo highlights. I don't think Hillary's "lies" are any worse than Obama's "lies"....­. and I realize that most Obama supporters won't recognize that Obama lies just as easily and frequently as any other politician.

Lies and smears about the Clintons have been circulating for 15 years, and repeating them now doesn't suddenly make them true.

I believe that there is much value in understanding the "process" of government, the "fine print" and little "details". This is how policy is made, and legislation is passed. Not understanding the "nuances" is what stifled Jimmy Carter, and I expect the same for Obama. Experience does matter, and Hillary has demonstrated that she understands and has a good handle on these.

Basically, all the trashing of the Clintons on HuffPo and elsewhere doesn't affect me. I know they aren't stealing from their charity, because I have studied up on the good works they continue to do in the world and in the country. I don't believe that they are totally self-interested, and merely hungry for power, because the evidence clearly shows differently. I don't believe that Hillary is riding Bill's "coattails" because the people that know them generally agree that the opposite is true..... that Bill would not be where he is today if not for Hillary.

[ddempesy]

What LIES has Obama told. Maybe you didn't like his answers to some of the issues but he NEVER lied...tha­t spot is reserved for Hillary in this democratic race.

[Pharos]

Look it up on Google, do some research.

A random pick - The story he told about reading an article in Life Magazine. Life said there is no such article in their archives.

Not a big deal to me but if you want to call Clinton a liar, so is Obama.

Is it really useful to start cataloging all the "lies" of each candidate to see who has the longest list?

[Amminadab]

Furthermore, I don't believe that her "experience" either begins or ends with her role as first lady. I know a little something about the Children's Defense Fund, the United States Legal Services Corporation, and the Child Car Action Committee (among others).

I guess I'm just not cynical enough to believe that someone who has done and continues to do great things for poor in America, for minorities in America, and for America itself, is as evil, mean, and self-centered as their political opponents would have me believe. No two people have ever had their finances and their lives investigated to the extent that the Clintons have.... and the worst that was found was that someone got a blowjob and tried to lie about it, without realizing that someone would save, and someone else would subpoena a garment with biological evidence (yuk).

They say that Clinton has thrown the "kitchen sink" in an attempt to "knee-cap" Obama. I haven't seen any evidence of that..... though the opposite appears to be true. Nobody has been smeared more than Clinton in this campaign. Sorry, it's true.

I also want the Democratic Party to win in November, and the Clinton's have won 8 straight elections against Republicans. I think they demonstrate that they can take them on and win.

[preatorius]

Except for the fact that it was Bill who won against the Republicans, and it is Hilary who is running now; or do you know something we don't know?

[Amminadab]

In 2 of the 8 Clinton wins, Hillary was the candidate.

[GunneraGirl]

Whew! That felt good!