I basically called the campaign for Obama on Super Tuesday (February 5th), which turned out to be correct. I did have the caveat in there that Clinton still had a chance, but short of a total meltdown, the primary was over when Obama won more delegates on Super Tuesday. He went on to win nine primaries in a row before the Rev. Wright and Bitter flaps slowed his progress. By the time Obama won a decisive victory in Wisconsin, it was mathematically over. Now, the fact that Clinton did not drop out when it was clear she couldn’t win at least allowed Obama to weather some attacks that would have been damaging if they came out first in the general election. I don’t dispute that.
At the same time, though, Clinton used really bad logic and reasoning and spin to justify her continuing campaign. And the fallout from that is that she created a lot of fake outrage among her 18 million supporters. She racheted up the outrage among her fans, making it more difficult for the party to reconcile during this convention.
So, while there were clear benefits in the vetting Clinton gave Obama during the spring, there were also clear drawbacks that are being hyped relentlessly by the media as we speak.
I find it tiresome, but I also recognize that this is now the main threat to Obama’s chances. The Clintons need to make good speeches. I expect Hillary to talk about her campaign and to her supporters. I think that is her right. But Bill Clinton needs to get over himself. Bill Clinton needs to talk about the issues facing the nation.
Those are my thoughts leading up to the Clintons’ performance at the convention.
