Clinton out?

By Jennifer J. Foster

Her statement about going “full steam to the White House” on the heels of tonight’s primaries notwithstanding, Matt Drudge reports that Hillary Clinton will huddle with undecided superdelegates tomorrow, “gauging if she can go on.“

Her campaign staff is doubtless watching to see whether her web site is turning up the kind of money—$10 million in the first 24 hours after Pennsylvania—she’ll need if she decides to go on to next week’s contest in West Virginia.

Voting irregularities

By Jennifer J. Foster

Regarding the decision of Lake County, Ind., elections officials not to release any returns until they are able to release all returns, Jeffrey Toobin said, “What’s going on in Lake County right now is a disgrace.“

News outlets are unable to call Indiana for Hillary Clinton until Lake County results are in; it comprises the suburbs of Obama’s hometown of Chicago. As such, he is expected to do well there.

Toobin said that there is a pattern of irregularities in Indiana’s administration of the elections process that suggest old-time vote-rigging in Texas and other states, where elections officials held back partial returns until they knew how many votes they needed to win, and then they announced a number exceeding that amount.

Toobin also referenced the Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding Indiana’s voter ID law and state election officials’ decision to close polls at 6 p.m. among the irregularities.

“It is outrageous,“ Toobin said. “This is right out of the old days of Chicago politics, when it was openly corrupt ... I’m not suggesting that that’s going on in Lake County, but by holding back that many votes, by not reporting partial returns, they are inviting that comparison,“ he said.

King, the keeper of election results on the Magic Wall, agreed that Lake County’s delay is “certainly curious.“

Something to think about.

Hillary from Indiana

By Jennifer J. Foster

If the pundits are writing the lead to her presidental campaign’s obituary, Hillary Clinton doesn’t know it.

She wasted no time reminding the crowd that Barack Obama called Indiana the “tiebreaker” in their contest. “Thanks to you, we’re full steam to the White House!“ she said to cheers.

Also surely keenly aware of the financial strain her campaign will be facing, Clinton delivered her fundraising plea in the first 60 seconds of her speech.

Clinton addressed that festering buzz about the fracture the continuing contest is creating among Democrats, saying that she will work for the Democratic nominee, because Democrats have to win in November.

There wasn’t much new in the speech; it was basically her regular stump speech. And it’s never a good thing when your opponent just gave a general election speech, but you’re still on your primary stump.

Post-speech anaylsis notes:

Carl “Methuselah” Bernstein said he had talked with people Hillary Clinton goes to for political advice. They believe that “it’s all about Hillary Clinton’s psychology now, and her accepting that the doors are closing on her campaign,“ he said.

David Gergen said he admired that Clinton put on her game face, but that we might be able to learn more about what’s going on inside the Clinton inner circle by gauging Chelsea Clinton’s face and body language during her mother’s speech: “She looked like her heart was breaking,“ Gergen said.

Tweaking Lanny

By Jennifer J. Foster

GOP strategist Alex Castellanos said that tonight’s results indicate “the beginning of the end of the Clinton era” and that he can’t see the rationale the Clinton campaign will have to go on. If that wasn’t enough to send Lanny Davis into a rabid, grumbling babble, Castellanos added that to bring the nomination contest to a close, Democrats may have to—“irony of ironies”—bring in Al Gore to negotiate a truce.

Davis responded after the commercial break that Democrats should be asking why Obama couldn’t “close the deal” in Indiana. Also, he said, all the folks of both political stripes that he talks to in green rooms at all the cable networks agree privately that Clinton is the stronger candidate against John McCain, nationally and in expected battleground states.

David Gergen made the point that had Michigan and Florida had been allowed to vote “correctly,“ Clinton would have done well and might well be leading in the popular vote.

Donna Brazile challenged Davis to accept that it’s time to bring the party together and that 93 percent of pledged delegates have been allocated; Davis responded with his characteristic rejection of reality, stating, “Those poll numbers are why I believe Hillary Clinton is gong to be the nominee.“ Apparently, Davis still believes that superdelegates should hand the nomination to Clinton, primary results notwithstanding. He noted the “demographic statistics” in the states Obama lost and said they are the same reason he will not win Indiana tonight: “He has not connected with our base,“ he said.

Then the set took on the look of CNN’s old show, Crossfire:

“Who is the base?“ Brazile asked, emphasizing that Obama is winning in huge margins among African-Americans; are they not the base of the party?
Jamal Simmons asked whether anyone believed that Clinton is going to win white middle class men in the general election. “Primary results are tenuously connected to general election results,“ he said.
Davis shot back, “Does anyone believe that Obama is going to win in Idaho, in Utah or in Kansas?“ arguing that Obama isn’t going to win in traditionally red states.
Simmons responded that Obama’s huge advantage among African-American voters means that he can make traditionally red states, especially in the South, competitive in a way that Clinton simply can’t.

Roland Martin chimed in that because of his broad-based appeal, Obama’s nomination will mean that other states will be in play. “If your basis is polls that say she can beat John McCain, then why even have a primary?

“You have to win on the field,“ he said. 

Fight! Fight! Fight!

By Jennifer J. Foster

This primary season has been going on for a L-O-N-G time, and it’s starting to take its toll on the candidates. But they’re not alone: Even the pundits are getting punchy.

First, Donna Brazile had a verbal sparring match with Paul Begala.

Then Clinton supporter Lanny Davis appeared, whined about CNN’s coverage of Clinton, got testy with a breezy Anderson Cooper and argued with John King and David Gergen about what tonight’s results mean (i.e., no one is talking about how Obama said he would win Indiana, they are only talking about how Clinton didn’t get the “game-changer” she needed, etc.).

Then Jamal Simmons, commenting on Davis’ contention that Clinton would have won Michigan and Florida “IF” they were allowed to revote, said, “If my aunt had an appendage, he’d be my uncle.“

Everyone on the panel cracked up (except, probably, Davis).

It was the real-est (I know, it’s not a word, but let’s pretend)—and, therefore, the most interesting—segment I’ve seen all primary season.