The Clintons and the Dallas Cowboys

While most of the universe has already reached the conclusion that Barack Obama will ultimately receive this year’s Democratic nomination for president, there are a few voices reminding us that it ain’t over until it’s over.

Among them is Dan Schnur, a Republican consultant originally from Wisconsin, who presents his argument in terms all fans of the Green Bay Packers can relate to. He compares the Clintons to the dreaded Dallas Cowboys who could never be counted out while there was still time left on the clock.

I also recall inspired come-from-behind victories by the Cowboys though mostly from an earlier era. Back in the ‘70s, I was often amazed by the Cowboys of Tom Landry and Roger Staubach who routinely scored two or three touchdowns in the closing minutes of key games. More recently, the Jimmy Johnson-Troy Aikman teams committed similar atrocities at the expense of the “green and gold.”

Schnur draws a parallel between Dallas’s mojo and the times that the Clinton clan came back from certain death, during the 1992 New Hampshire primary, following the health care reform debacle (aka Hillarygate), the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 and the Lewinsky scandal of the late 1990s.

For the most part, I don’t buy it. For Hillary Clinton to overcome Obama’s lead in delegates, she would not only have to win the remaining primaries in delegate-rich states of Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania but by extremely large margins. But it certainly is entertaining to imagine some Republicans shuddering at the thought of facing the Clinton machine.

Surely, Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole and George H. W. Bush wish they had a wooden stake they could bury in the heart of this family.

It is true that in politics, as in sports, momentum can shift in a New York minute. So make sure you don’t get a sandwich or take a bathroom break until either Obama or Clinton have nailed down the nomination. You don’t want to miss this finish.