I hate having to be the person making this case, but I'll say it again:
Hillary Clinton can't quit. Not before Pennsylvania. Not after winning Ohio and the Texas primary. In order for this to end before June 3, Barack Obama has to win this outright.
April 22 in Pennsylvania.
May 6 in Indiana and North Carolina.
To use a tortured sports analogy, this is the ALCS (because the American League is far superior to John McCain's Senior Circuit). Hillary was down 3 games to 0 in Ohio and Texas. She escaped game 4 with a narrow victory. Now she needs a win in Pennsylvania, a home game for game 5, before going back on the road for game 6. At any point, if Barack Obama wins, she is eliminated.
But we're all quite aware why she can't quit yet. Why should we not tell her to quit yet?
Because we need Hillary Clinton supporters. We need a united party.
No. This isn't another diary calling for Hillary Clinton to drop out. Like it or not, folks, we're going to need Clinton's supporters in November, and they need to feel like Barack Obama beat her legitimately. She successfully set the terms of the contest in Ohio and Texas after Super Tuesday. She is now moving the stakes to Pennsylvania.
This is the simple truth: Until she loses, she won't have a reason to drop out.
David Simon writes on the Huffington Post about the final season of "The Wire:"
Because the thing I can't leave alone, the thing that makes me giddy as a schoolgirl is this: Whatever else I am -- a traitorous apostate to newsprint, the angriest hack in television, a kicker of small dogs -- you must acknowledge that I am now, also, the newly crowded King of Meta. That's right. I am your new lord sovereign of buried, latent, subtextual argument. I dragged it past sarcasm, past cynicism, and all the way to balls-out snide. Crown me up and kneel, ya bitches. Here's what happened in season five of The Wire when almost no one -- among the working press, at least -- was looking:
We, the people, of the Democratic Party, have turned out in record numbers in many states that are often written off. We have remained committed to the idea that no Democrat should be left behind simply because they have the misfortune of living in a state that voted for George W. Bush. After all, we all live in a country that voted for Bush.
This is an earth-shaking poll just out from Survey USA. Barack Obama is within the margin of error in Nebraska. Nebraska!
Given the way that Nebraska allocates its electoral votes, that means Barack Obama, by carrying two congressional districts, would earn a 3-2 split in electoral votes in Nebraska.
It was only a small section of Obama's speech last night, but it provided a window into the argument that Barack Obama will present against Hillary Clinton in the next few weeks. If she and John McCain are going to continue to use the same lines against Obama, the same attacks, the same dismissive rhetoric that ignores a movement of millions - then she will be John McCain in this election. If she stands in the way of millions of Americans hungering for change, if she tries to tear down this movement - we have to remember that those attacks are just words. They cannot hurt us.
What was rumored is now official, as Scott Kleeb begins to roll out his campaign for United States Senate. His redesigned website is now online, and his campaign has sent out an official statement.
"Over the past several months, I've asked myself, my family, and people all over Nebraska how each of us can best honor our country, our heritage, and our traditions ...and how all of us together can make the changes we so desperately need.
We can either demand more of ourselves and our leaders, or we can settle for more of the same. We can demand new ideas that uphold our finest and oldest traditions, or we can settle for the same failed old policies. We can stand up, together, and have a say about our future or we can put our future in the same old hands that got us where we are today.
In December, I wrote at length about the choices we face in this election.
As we prepare to welcome Scott Kleeb to the race for United States Senate in Nebraska, the fact that we have this choice is not reason enough to celebrate.
The decision will be left to Nebraskans, and not to politicians in Washington. It stands in stark contrast to the Republicans who forced out their other candidates to hand-pick a nominee from Washington.
Nebraska Democrats are going to offer voters a choice, this May. But more important than that, more important than the choice that exists, is what that choice represents.
Local news reporter Joe Jordan posted this on his blog earlier today:
Several sources now tell me Scott Kleeb is running for the Senate, and will make his announcement soon (maybe Monday).
That will set up a primary fight between Kleeb and Columbus businessman Tony Raimondo. As I've said before that's a primary fight the Democrats need if they have any chance of beating Mike Johanns in the fall.
It's too early to say right now, but we might know very soon. This is great news for Nebraska Democrats. Our efforts to Draft Kleeb may have paid off. Sorry for the brief diary. Thought you all should know.
A couple months ago, we heard this rumor. That the DSCC was recruiting a Republican to run for Senate as a Democrat. That Scott Kleeb was their second choice. That they wanted one of their own in Washington. It's reality now.
Columbus businessman Tony Raimondo today announced that he plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Chuck Hagel.
Raimondo, who switched from the GOP to the Democratic Party in December, said he was filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to begin his campaign.
"I pledge to be a public servant—not a professional politician. I will bring my real world business experience to Washington and fight against the career politicians who unwittingly stifle innovation, economic opportunity and development," Raimondo said.
Raimondo is chairman of Behlen Manufacturing Co. in Columbus. He's the first Democrat to enter the Senate race.
Here's an exciting development in Nebraska: an Iraq veteran from Bellevue, Nebraska, is considering a challenge to Rep. Lee Terry. Terry defeated challenger Jim Esch by only 17,000 votes in 2006.
Omaha, Neb. - Richard N. Carter, a U.S. Air Force Reserve Captain with active duty combat experience in both Iraq and Afghanistan, will file Friday with the Federal Election Commission to form an exploratory committee. Carter, a Democrat, is considering a run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District.
"Nebraskans know that this country needs significant change," said Carter. "We are tired of the politics of division, fear, and intimidation. We are tired of politicians who march in lock-step with Washington party leadership in support of unpopular policies-policies which are not in the best interest of the American people."
"It's time for a new generation of leadership to step forward and change the direction this country is headed. My experience as a combat officer in the United States Air Force and my graduate work in economics have prepared me to be that kind of leader for the people of the 2nd district."
I don't have the same view of this as some people do. My view is Connecticut is an unmitigated blessing for the Democrats because Lieberman has said if he wins he's going to vote with us to organize the Senate. I'm interested in getting one of these houses back, because that's the only way, I think, we can move away from the philosophical and political and economic direction the country has taken in the last five years. So I'm doing what I can to help the Democrats win the House and the Senate or both.
I think it's unfortunate that many in the netroots seem intent on destroying their own movement. That the preachers of "people-powered politics" don't recognize a people-powered campaign when it's right in front of them. Worse yet, when given a real choice between the Democratic establishment that we've been attempting to reform, and the new generation - too many are failing to recognize the choice.
I hate to be the one to break it to you, folks, but we've gone from refighting the battles of 1968 to refighting the battles of 1980. The right-wing seems fixated on refighting the battles of 1992, but we'll get to that another time. Right now, it's time for a wake up call.
It's over. We lost.
Jimmy Carter lost to Reagan in 1980. Reagan cloaked a reactionary conservative message in a message of optimism and change. He won the message battle so effectively that in 1984, he won a massive 49 state landslide victory. And he did so because he convinced many Democrats to support him.
Mock Outrage and over-the-top rhetoric! My candidate is the only real progressive in the race! The other candidates are corporate phonies and will destroy the Democratic Party from the inside out!
Inflammatory statement placed in bold for greater emphasis
This is something I've been thinking of for a while now, but, prompted by Obama's Reagan comments, thought I should post. Bear with me, it's been a while since I've posted a candidate diary.
The biggest split in the Democratic Primary right now is not one of gender or race, but a generational split. Voters under the age of thirty are among the strongest supporters of Barack Obama. Older voters who fondly remember the Bill Clinton years are among the strongest supporters of Hillary Clinton.
The gap isn't simply age, though. This is about a generational outlook. The narrative that has driven Barack Obama's campaign: Clinton is the past, we are the future. Many in this party want to go back and refight the wars of the past, but the next generation of Democratic leaders believes we cannot effect change that way.
