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Race 'all but over'
21/05/2008 14:39 - (SA)
Nedra Pickler and Beth Fouhy
Washington - The Democratic presidential race is all but over.
Barring a cataclysmic change of events, Barack Obama will win enough
delegates to win the party's nomination. The only real issue is whether
he and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton leave the race with their futures
- and their party - intact.
For Obama, that means winning with class so he endears himself to
Clinton's supporters - letting her leave the race on her own terms,
without gloating or appearing to push her out with any disrespect. And
Clinton has to be careful not to damage Obama and make her legacy a
weakened Democratic nominee in the fall.
No matter what the New York senator and former first lady wants to
do next - angle to be Obama's running mate, make another presidential
run or ascend one day to Senate Democratic leader, it is in her
interest to leave the 2008 race in a position of strength. She is doing
a bang-up job of that.
Clinton won five of last seven primaries
Even as Obama is steadily climbing toward the 2 026 delegates he
needs to secure the nomination - he was fewer than 60 away after
Tuesday night's split decision in Kentucky and Oregon - Clinton has
defeated him in five of the last seven primaries, including big states
such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Her decisive victories in Kentucky and West Virginia showed she has
a durable base of support, particularly among white, working-class
voters and older women. Obama cannot just discount those voters as he
moves on to the general election.
Kentucky Democratic Party chairperson Jennifer Moore, one of roughly
200 superdelegates yet to be claimed by either candidate, said the
Clintons will always have a loyal following in her state because voters
there remember the economic good times of the 1990s.
"Clinton supporters need to get to know Barack Obama, get to
understand that he stands for many of the same principles as Senator
Clinton," Moore said.
Obama praises Clinton
Obama offered his own olive branch on Tuesday night, praising Clinton
for her pioneering candidacy and acknowledging the millions who have
voted for her.
"No matter how this primary ends, Senator Clinton has shattered
myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters
and your daughters will come of age, and for that we are grateful to
her," the Illinois senator said. "Some may see the millions upon
millions of votes cast for each of us as evidence that our party is
divided, but I see it as proof that we have never been more energized
and united in our desire to take this country in a new direction."
Steve Grossman, a former DNC chairperson and Clinton fundraiser, said
Obama is "wisely being patient", not pushy, about pursuing Clinton
backers.
"The art of the appropriate is not always present in politics," he
added. "It means you show respect, keep your distance, and understand
what people are going through."
Jabs
Still, neither candidate has moved flawlessly toward reconciliation.
Even after it was clear Obama was on a path to the nomination,
Clinton has not been able to resist the occasional jab such as
criticising his health care plan. And in a newspaper interview
following her West Virginia win last week, Clinton noted she was
beating Obama among "working, hardworking Americans, white Americans" -
a characterisation that drew widespread criticism. Clinton later said
she regretted the comment.
For his part, Obama has taken the risk of appearing to trivialise
some of the final primaries, choosing to shadowbox with Republican John
McCain in general election swing states rather than focus solely on the
remaining Democratic contests. He is already making plans to take over
the Democratic National Committee.
"They want to claim victory and push Hillary aside - this is what
Bush did to Gore in 2000, and we aren't going to put up with it," said
Susie Buell, a top Clinton fundraiser based in San Francisco. "It's
wrong and corrupt."
'Not so fast'
Buell helped launch a new organisation, www.womencountpac.com,
dedicated to giving Clinton's female supporters an avenue to speak out.
The group placed full page ads in The New York Times and USA Today
proclaiming, "Not so fast: Hillary's voice is our voice, and she is
speaking for all of us."
Clinton's advisers are keenly aware that the calls for her to drop
from the race are likely to intensify during the 10-day hiatus between
Tuesday's primaries and the next contest in Puerto Rico on June 1. But
they say there is virtually no chance the former first lady will do so.
They say that she is firmly committed to staying in the race through
the last primaries in South Dakota and Montana on June 3 and the
meeting of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee on May 31, where the
situation involving disputed primaries in Michigan and Florida may be
resolved.
Clinton expects to do well in Puerto Rico and her advisers say she
will compete actively in South Dakota and Montana even though the three
contests will yield just 86 delegates total.
But the numbers are not as important as the signal each primary will
send to her supporters: She's a fighter, not a quitter, and she's got a
future. Even after this race is over.
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