"best prepared" to be president argument. HRC's pop vote argument is an extension of "something-big-can-happen"-to-Obama argument. If she believes she's best prepared, that's all she needs to say, all she should say. Saying that she stays in the race bc "something-can-happen" means that she accepts coming in second, if the front-runner has to drop out. At some level, I think, she understands that she's not the best prepared, and that's OK, as long as she gets the nomination.
But she's already been arguing that she's best prepared. She doesn't admit that she's made mistakes. So what does she do now? She shores up her best-prepared claim by calling on the popular vote.
That's where the fun begins:
** She's won more votes than any Democrat ever, well, er, for the nomination.
** She's won more votes in the primaries, if one counts
----- MI, but not a reasonable guesstimmate of the uncommitted votes in MI for Obama.
----- the uncontested FL election in which HRC had name recognition, which gave her an advantage in early voting.
----- Operation Chaos votes as legitimate Dem votes.
The popular vote is really important, if
** one doesn't count the people who took part in the caucuses.,
** one makes it harder for Nevada culinary workers to vote.
** one reduces the influence of MoveOn.org, which "activates the Democratic base," who come out in droves.
**-- WVWV helps register Dems by notifying voters after the voter registration deadline that they can't vote if not registered..
With all those people voting for her, how can she possibly entertain the thought that she is not the best qualified?
Not to mention all those polls showing her beating McCain.