OK I am going to be flamed for posting a diary without much original substance but I am excited.
Yesterday we were talking about the likely successor of Tom Lantos in CA-12, Ms. Jackie Speier.
We were all saying she rocks and will be a terrific addition to the House of Representatives but some of us were disappointed she had endorsed Senator Clinton.
Well, guess what ?
http://www.insidebayarea.com/...
Even more surprising, Speier said that despite her endorsement of Clinton, she would decide whom to vote for after the primary, leaving open the possibility that she'd go for Obama.
She declined to say which candidate would get her vote, but her silence itself was revealing.
Yay ! You go girl !
And if we had any doubt she is seeing the writing on the wall:
The Times asked for her response to the fear among many Democrats that, if Clinton takes the fight all the way to party convention in late August, it will give Republican nominee John McCain more time to consolidate his party base, raise money and widen his lead in the polls.
We expected Speier to downplay the risk of a possible convention fight, which has many liberals worried about losing the election despite the fact that public opinion on the economy and the war in Iraq favors the Democrats.
Instead she replied, "I don't think it'll go to the convention."
Speier, who will become a superdelegate if she wins the race for Lantos' seat, said she expects the nominating contest to end not long after the last states hold their primary elections in early June.
Given Obama's practically insurmountable lead in the delegate count, Speier would appear to believe that either Clinton will bow out for the good of the party or Democratic leaders will put sufficient pressure on her to step aside.
I am for one thrilled. I have always wanted to be an enthusiastic supporter of Jackie Speier but her endorsement of Clinton bothered me. Well, she is officially making it easy for me to "forgive" her.
You see, I sometimes forget not all Hillary supporters are willing to destroy the party to get her nominated and not all of them are willing to parrot the offensive BS they try to spin us with.
And if more of them were just saying "I prefer Hillary but I am all for whoever wins", this primary would be so much less bitter.
And that is why I have renewed admiration for Ms Speier. She is seeing where this is going and she is not willing to let her advocacy of Hillary get in the way of the big picture.
And btw on a national level this is yet another proof that for all the hand-wringing about the SDs (will they overturn the pledged delegate count ?) and about the primary lasting too long, this will be over very soon barring a huge surprise. Either after PA (if Obama wins) or NC/IN (If Obama wins NC big), the SDs will start folding. It is obvious and we need not to worry. Most supporters are not diehard or politically suicidal. Like Ms Speier, they expressed a preference but will be happy to go with the winner.
So kudos to Ms Speier for these reasons and the selfish one that I can be back to be a whole-hearted supporter of hers !
YAY !