Clinton doubts

It's a voting rights issue that keeps Clinton running.  Not.  Ben Smith and Steve Benen have a reasonable response to this canard.

This is only a subject a candidate talks about if she's forced to, and it's a second-order argument, one that has nothing to do with why she should win. In Giant's Stadium terms, it's just an argument for staying for the fourth quarter, rather than heading to your car to beat the traffic.

Clinton folks are jumping ship.

Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Kansas City -- a Hillary supporter and superdelegate -- gives a sense of how tenuous Clinton's hold on many black superdelegates is.

"If I had to make a prediction right now, I'd say Barack Obama is going to be the next president," he said just after 18:00. "I will be stunned if he's not the next president of the United States."

Outspoken Clinton "loyalist," James Carville, has done a number on the people of Pennsylvania.  The Clinton campaign has something to live down in the "make-or-break"  Keystone State.

Twenty-two years ago, as a Democratic strategist working on a gubernatorial race, Carville described the state as Paoli (a suburb of Philadelphia) and Penn Hills (a suburb of Pittsburgh) with Alabama in between... 

...The adage that won’t die continues to enjoy heavy rotation as the media – from the Associated Press and Canada’s Globe and Mail to commentators on National Public Radio and MSNBC – return again and again to the description while covering the state’s Democratic presidential primary, irritating political experts who consider it a gross oversimplification of the state’s complex political identity.

“People dreaded hearing it again,” said Stephen Medvic, a government professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. “There ought to be a better way to describe the state.”

Then there are the Republicans, some of whom still think Hillary would more likely win against McCain.  But not all, and not the pollsters.

Republican pollster Glen Bolger said Obama is the stronger of the two Democrats due to his ability to win over the always-crucial independent voters.

Barbara Comstock, a former Romney adviser, echoed Bolger's sentiment. "If she were to win the nomination, she will have done so by winning ugly -- burning the village to save herself," she said. "By demonstrating her knack for divisiveness even within her own party, she will reinforce another existing negative and make it easier to tap into the 'turn the page' Clinton fatigue vein."

So, who's right?

New polling conducted by Gallup reveals that the majority of Democratic and Republican voters believe that Obama is the far stronger candidate against McCain.

Fifty-nine percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said Obama had the better chance of beating McCain in the fall, while just 30 percent picked Clinton.

Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 64 percent said Clinton would be the easier general election nominee to defeat, while 22 percent named Obama.

Comments

[KAREE - Wyoming]

I cannot believe how all the news media are doing everything in thier power to get O-Bama elected, I am glad that the majority of us are smart enough to do the research. Bill Oriley (Fox News - fair & balanced - (what a joke) just had Dick Morris on his show and agreed with everything that clinton hating jerk had to say - He must think he has a crystal ball - He has no idea (along with the rest of us) how MIch & Fla will play out, nor does he know how the next primaries will go. I get so sick of all these polls and the pundits speculating. How would Dick Morris know how much money Hillary owes, as if anyone in her camp would even talk to him & then to lie and say it is millions of dollars and if she loses O-Bama will raise the money to help her pay it off. What a load of crap He must live in a dream world if he thinks Hillary voters would vote for O-bama - the world of party loyalty is over, that is why so many americans are going independant, I am a registered - - democrat but I guarantee you I will never vote for O-bama - I have never in all my years of voting seen so many people fooled by this o-bama and his slick talk (and they called Bill Clinton slick willy - he couldnt hold a candle to this nobody)