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With the Pennsylvania Primary over -- and a resounding victory for Hillary R. Clinton -- now is the time we should look back and ask "What does it all mean?"
It means a long, hot summer of blistering politics.
First, Pennsylvania is a "big state". Like California, New York, Texas, Ohio, and New York. Hillary won them all. Barack won none of them. What does that mean for November? Well, it means that if Barack Obama IS the Democrat Nominee, he wasn't even able to win his party's primary in at least ONE of those states.
Second, while "winning" the states is a big deal, it also doesn't mean bupkus. Primaries and caucuses are not about democracy. They are about PARTIES choosing their NOMINEES for the general election. So, the argument that whoever wins the "popular vote" should get the nomination doesn't hold water from the perspective of the nominating the process. The problem, of course, is that if you can't win that vote in the primary, how can you win it in the general? This becomes even more of problem with caucus states-- because caucus states ALWAYS have a much lower turnout (percentage-wise) than primary states. Caucus states draw out the hardcore party establishment. In the general, however, that establishment won't be in play. It's unlikely that a Democrat Caucus-goer in Iowa is going to cross the line and vote for John McCain. So, making the claim that "Barack won all the caucus states" is a lot like winning fourth place in a three-way race.
Third, the longer the contest goes on, the more ammunition that Barack and Hillary hand John McCain. At the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy meeting the other day, we decided that the best thing we could do is spend our opposition research money on the two Democrat candidates. Contributions to them will earn us returns far greater than any money we could spend on Private Eyes -- even if it was Anthony Pellicano.
Finally, the longer the "campaign" goes on before it is a general election campaign, the more opportunities there are for candidates to end up with their feet in their mouth (and their head up their ass). I am not talking about opposition research here -- I am talking about the basic gaffe, which all candidates make. In a short campaign, those kind of things burn bright for a news cycle and go away. In a long campaign, they become Chinese water torture -- repeated over and over and over again.
The fundamental question that the so-called "super delegates" are asking is: why is Hillary still around, and why can't Obama put her down? He just can't close the deal. And that has to worry the party leadership.
What should have been a slam dunk for Democrats this year is looking like a long hard fight to the end.