It’s crunch time in the Democratic presidential nomination race. And the two campaigns are putting pedal to the metal in their efforts to generate any kind of news that might influence the outcome here in Little Rhody. Over the weekend I got eight emails from the Clinton campaign and four from the Obama campaign.
So what’s going to happen? A month ago you would have had to look pretty hard to find anyone that believed Obama had a legitimate chance to beat Clinton here. But doubts are creeping in. Obama continues to draw in much larger crowds than Clinton. He continues to outspend her on the airwaves. All the movement in this race is going his way. If there was another week before the primary I think he could actually sweep the four primaries scheduled for Tuesday. (For those not paying attention that would be Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island.)
My gut tells me that his momentum is not enough to overcome Clinton's huge initial lead in our fair state, but it shouldn't be a blowout.
There's no way of gauging the political temperature in the other states, but reading news stories leads me to believe Obama has a better than even chance of taking Texas, but will fall just short in Ohio. Vermont is anybody's guess.
If that plays out, Clinton will have stopped Obama's 11 state winning streak, but not very convincingly. Although she will try to spin an Ohio victory as another New Hampshire comeback, the truth is that she will need something a bit more convincing to turn around the Obama momentum.
And Democrats who fret about Republicans having an advantage because McCain has the nomination sewed up really have nothing to worry about. As long as the Democratic nomination goes on - and remains civil - the party is inundated with positive publicity. McCain will have to scrap to get any attention as long as Clinton and Obama are center stage. Once the Democratic nomination is settled, the national race will probably go into hibernation until the conventions, so enjoy all the attention now.
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Obama, whatever his platform might be, (still not sure? Join the club!), has announced that, if elected, he intends to meet with an assortment of fiendish characters.
So now, the only thing that's clear is that Obama is willing to meet with, but without preconditions, the leaders of rogue nations such as Iran, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea during his first year in office. Obama with a Who's Who of the UnderWorld! Bet he'll be right at home! Clinton slammed that position as irresponsible and naive. Even Dubya had the sense to Just Say No to the Scoundrel Squads. Responding to Bush's criticism, Obama said he would meet with these leaders because, "It is important for the next president to go above and beyond the call because there is enormous suspicion about America right now". Bush (yes, Bush!) warned that, "A president meeting with rogue dictators would send 'Chilling signals' to the world and sow 'Confusion about our foreign policy'. It'll send the wrong message. It'll send a discouraging message to those who wonder whether America will continue to work for the freedom of prisoners. It will give great status to those who have suppressed human rights and human dignity."
It took a while, but at last Bush said something right!
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