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May 17, 2008
Let's count the states . . .
Posted by: Chris
Hopefully you didn't miss Jon Stewart nailing the shifting criteria by which Hillary Clinton is (still) claiming she deserves the Democratic presidential nomination. After showing several clips from early in the campaign in which she says "voters will decide," Stewart serves up more recent Hillary, haltingly saying, "Voters are an important part of the process."
If you missed it, the clip is at the end of the post; with the Hillary switcheroo about 1:50 in.
Another Clinton tactic, of course has been to push the Democratic Party to seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan, which held primaries in violation of party rules. Both candidates agreed, of course, not to campaign in either state, and Obama's name wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan.
Nonetheless, Hillary's latest formulation of the argument surfaced in her Indiana victory speech:
"It would be a little strange to have a nominee chosen by 48 states," she argued.
This week, Katie Couric asked, "If Barack Obama declares victory, Senator Clinton, once he reaches that magic number of 2,025 [delegates], will you still hold out if Florida and Michigan have not been counted? "Absolutely," Hillary said.
Because that's not the right number. How can we have a nominee based on 48 states?
And yet that very same day, her excitable campaign chair Terry McAuliffe announced she was officially ahead in the "popular vote." How did he arrive at that conclusion? After noting that Clinton actually trails in four different methods of calculating the popular vote, CNN concluded:
The only scenario in which Clinton would appear to the lead is a fifth scenario that only counts primary states –- including both Florida and Michigan –- and excludes any votes cast in the party’s caucuses. In that count, Clinton currently holds a lead of about 225,000 votes.
Ahh yes. It would be "a little strange" to have 48 states pick a nominee, but perfectly valid to have 35 states pick the nominee, since the Clinton camp is excluding the 15 states that held primary caucuses.
And now, your Moment of Zen (with the Hillary switcheroo 1:50 in):
(Photo of Hillary Clinton in Bath, S.D., via Associated Press)
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Comments
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Andoni on May 18, 2008 9:42:09 AM:
You've touched on something that drives me crazy and that I can't stand about Hillary, Bill, and all of their surrogates. Do they think we are stupid? Well, apparently a certain number of us are, to accept this kind of bullshit. They speak in half truths, qualified truths, secret code logic truths, so much that it sickens me to listen to them or their surrogates. Terry McAuliffe and Harold Ickes are the two biggest stretchers of the truth I have ever heard. Wait, let's not be nice. These two are both liars, not stretchers of the truth.
When I think back to the 1990's, it is clear that this is the same modus operandi that the Clintons governed by. And it really comes down to that famous statement, "It depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." That simple statement encapsulates the central core of their presidency and Hillary's campaign. They lie, they lie, they lie, but in their own minds they twist things as much as necessary, so they themselves think they are telling the truth. This way to avoid the cognitive dissonance doesn't come easily, it takes a lifetime of practice, to perfect.