Media Won't Stick Fork in Clinton Bid

Pretty much every political analyst and math teacher agrees that Hillary Clinton can't catch Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Pretty much every political media outlet also covers this race as a neck-and-neck affair, likely to be decided at the Democratic National Convention in August. Why the disconnect? Politico has the story:

One big fact has largely been lost in the recent coverage of the Democratic presidential race: Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning.

Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party's most reliable constituency.

Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote - which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle - and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else. People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet.

Earth to Hillary! Come in, Hillary! Klaatu Barada Nikto!

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PD toolbar!My colleague, Denise Williams, and I discussed this over drinks tonight, and of the media's insistence on making this seem like anyone's ballgame, she assessed, Jon Stewart-esquely, "We're hurting America."

Politico gives the media more benefit of the doubt than I do, citing several possible motivations for this, only one of which is really true. It's good for business.

For my part, the thought of a brokered convention has enthralled me ever since I decided to attend the conclave in Denver. As a writer, the prospect is stimulating, to say the least. In the politically bygone era of several weeks ago, the delayed decision even promised to benefit the party, focusing media attention on the Democrats and their message.

Of course, that was before the message turned coyote ugly. As I have reported steadily for several weeks now, the Clinton campaign's desperate struggle to get back in a game they have already lost has done nothing more than weaken the eventual Democratic nominee and make a case for Republican Senator John McCain.

I reported on a Clinton conference call earlier this week with Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson, mainly on the 3 salient points that actually emerged from the hour. What I didn't report was the barrage of disconnected-from-reality talking points they threw at us. There were cherry-picked poll numbers, impassioned pleas to re-enfranchise Florida and Michigan, as if Hillary had never signed agreements in advance not to seat those delegates, and talk of "buyer's remorse" for Obama.

The truth is, unless Barack Obama eats a live kitten on national television, she is not going to catch him. That means, if he humanely kills the kitten and cooks it a little, he still wins. That means that all of Hillary's attacks on Obama will be for nothing, except to help John McCain.

As I stated earlier,it appears that the Democratic Party may be lining up behind Barack to put a stop to this. I told Denise tonight that I wouldn't be surprised to see Edwards, Gore, and Biden follow suit leading up to Pennsylvania.

However, perception is reality, so if the media won't call this race over, this firefight will continue.


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