Despite the odds stacked up against her, Democratic co-frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton of New York is still in the race. However, the delegate math is against Clinton as Democratic co-frontrunner Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is still in the lead and with the majority of the pledged delegates.
Throughout the primary season, let alone Democratic primary, Clinton’s campaign has taken very heavy hits. Obama’s campaign has taken heavy hits as well. However, Obama has managed to recover and regenerate from the damage. Clinton was not as lucky.
While Clinton had won major states, her campaign has gone through turmoil several times. She had lot many key people such as staffers, donors, and fundraisers. They have resigned and/or defected to Obama’s side. While Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, she lost a key person to Obama.
On the May 6 contests, Clinton was soundly defeated by Obama in North Carolina. In Indiana, Clinton barely beat Obama by two points.
Recently, Clinton has insisted that both Florida and Michigan count. She won in both states. However, both states held their primaries too early in violation of DNC rules. Both states were stripped of their delegates.
Clinton also maintains that she still holds the popular vote. But, that is something that can be contested.
Recently, New York Democratic Governor David Paterson, a supporter of Clinton, said that she was getting desperate. He said that none of the Democratic hopefuls objected to the penalty imposed by the DNC. Paterson also adds that Clinton did not object to the penalty, either.
DNC Chair Howard Dean said that there will be a compromise reached by the end of May in regards to Michigan and Florida. However, he said that the other forty-eight states need to be respected for playing by the rules. He said that you cannot change the rules at the end of the game to change the outcome.
Now in South Dakota, Clinton has argued that the nomination process by the Democratic Party needs to change. She argues that it should be a primary-only system in which the nominating contests would be grouped together.
Clinton put up an argument against the use of superdelegates. But, it contradicts the normal argument that she and her campaign have given that the elites of the Democratic Party should exercise free judgment when picking a nominee to back.
She explained while using Karl Rove’s electoral maps and polling data as an example, that she can put together a similar map to defeat presumed GOP nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona.
So far, McCain looks to be ready to acknowledge Obama as the eventual Democratic nominee.
In Clinton’s argument, she continued to maintain that she is more electable than Obama. She adds that she is the one who can defeat McCain.
In an ironic note, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said that the delegate rules of the Republican National Committee should be like the DNC. Huckabee was the final person in McCain’s path towards becoming the presumed GOP nominee.
However, the reports and polls did not say that Huckabee was showing signs of desperation. In Clinton’s case, many could say that her argument would give off the scent of desperation.
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