On to Pennsylvania … and Possibly Denver!!!
So Hillary Clinton did what she had to do.
Her victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island gave her the justification she needed to keep this battle going. She still trails Barack Obama in pledged delegates and it does not appear likely that she can catch him.
But Obama is unlikely to get to the 2025 delegates necessary to claim victory before the August convention in Denver.
Well, just as President Bush remained officially neutral until John McCain won the requisite delegates to secure the nomination (though his father endorsed the Arizona senator weeks ago), the party big shots need to hold their fire, urge the two combatants to fight fair, and let the process play out.
Yes, that means on to Pennsylvania on April 22 (seven weeks away!) and maybe even on to a contested convention. If that’s what it takes, so be it.
What we have here is basically the same as a heavyweight title fight when neither of the two palookas has been able to land the knockout punch. When that happens the outcome is decided by a panel of judges who award points based on their expertise and judgment. That’s where the superdelegates come in.
Folks who complain that letting these party insiders decide the nominee is undemocratic are missing the point. Former Congresswoman, and Vice Presidential nominee in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro said on NPR today that the role of the party leaders returns some fairness to the process since many states (including Wisconsin) allow independents and even Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary, possible interfering with the best interests of the party.
One outstanding issue for the party leaders is what to do about Florida and Michigan. Both were banished from having their delegates seated at the convention because they dared hold their primaries before the party wanted them to. Those were the rules that all the candidates agreed to so the easiest thing would be to stick to that position. But Hillary Clinton won both states so her camp will push to seat both delegations. Holding new primaries or caucuses would be costly and impractical. There are no easy answers to this dilemma.
In the meantime the candidates should continue making their best cases for support and avoid launching unnecessarily negative attacks on each other. Hillary Clinton already has dabbled in this area with her “kitchen sink strategy” and it finally appears to have worked.
Party leaders may need to step in and warn her about low blows then tell them to come out from their corners.
May the most worthy candidate win.
