The growing syllabus of arguments against Senator Clinton's seemingly endless candidacy has yet to successfully convince the remaining superdelegates to end this primary nominating process. But this newest quote from the Senator today ought to be the inciting incident -- the scream that stirs the avalanche.
"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it."
To translate from Desperate Clinton into English: Senator Obama could be assassinated at any moment, and such an event would represent another -- goddamn, this is awful -- another path to the nomination for her. It's all about her path to the nomination. A possible assassination of Senator Obama. Yep. This is what it's come down to.
Coupled with the well-known, ridiculous and dangerous rumors about Senator Obama, invoking an assassination attempt against him represents a new and ghoulish low for already bottom-feeding campaign.
To date, the Clinton campaign has exploited every despicable tactic and mongered every fear. How much more embarrassment and desperation can she heap upon herself and her party?
Senator Clinton didn't believe the rumors about Senator Obama... as far as she knew. Senator Clinton didn't shy away from using the politics of fear with her 3AM commercials and warning Americans about a terrorist attack should her opponent win. Senator Clinton has endorsed Senator McCain's qualifications over those of Senator Obama. Senator Clinton has accused Senator Obama of everything from plagiarism (her "change you can Xerox" line was written for her by the chairman of the DLC, by the way) to the disenfranchisement of voters in Florida and Michigan. Senator Clinton has invoked Bin Laden; painted her black opponent as an elitist despite her $100 million fortune; glad-handed with Richard Mellon-Scaife; and borrowed ("Xeroxed," if you will) an electoral map created by Karl Rove.
And then there are the numerous paths to the nomination. From Michigan and Florida to racist white people won't vote for Senator Obama (and what's his problem anyway?), her campaign has tried every excuse short of "we thought these primaries would be graded on a curve!"
And now...what if her opponent is killed? What about that? Don't be so hasty, superdelegates. Senator Obama might be killed! And what then, hmm?
The only tactic worse than this would be if she were to hire a band of goons to take Senator Obama hostage -- holding him for ransom. Gimme the nomination or my goons start pulling out "my opponent's" fingernails, see!?
If nothing else, the superdelegates ought to receive this as a blaring, siren-light warning. A giant red flag. Senator Clinton is embarrassing herself and the Democratic Party. She has ceased to be a viable, respectable candidate and has, instead, become a ghoulish, desperate shell of her formerly strong and admirable self.
UPDATE: To further clarify, I'm not suggesting that she's literally hoping that something happens to Senator Obama. I'm suggesting that Senator Clinton is using the potential of such an event as an argument for staying in the race -- a "what if" scenario. And if she was merely referencing June as an historical benchmark, well then, she's being intellectually dishonest. The primary election calendars in 1992 and 1968 were longer and extended well beyond this year's end date. Either way, it's a terrible and desperate argument.
UPDATE THE SECOND: In reality, President Clinton essentially secured the nomination after the Illinois primary. The date was March 17, 1992. And if she wants to use 1968 as an example, she ought to mention that only 13 states held primaries that year. No Michigan primary in 1968 either.