The Morning After Hillary…

Is there a morning after pill for what Hillary just did to the democratic party?  Something for the body politic to ingest this wed after yet another wild night in which the democratic party lost its head in a world of hurt, perhaps even leading to another unwanted presidency nine months from now?

Commentators at FOX and MSN are leading the Hillary chant: “why can’t obama close the deal?”
The real question is why self-hating democratic voters can’t close the deal on an attractive, incredibly intelligent candidate that appeals to our better angels.

Once again, fear, intolerance, and kidney punching one liners are winning out over reasoned political discourse. and of course the kidney punchers have a response: the better angels are elitists because they refuse to kidney punch.

Well, the unwanted consequence of this punch drunk minority in the democratic party is that they are going to help elect George W McBush for a third term.

Pennsylvania Results

Two take aways from this evenings’ results:

1) If Obama loses Indiana in 2 weeks, he could lose the nomination.  not sure how, but he could lose.

Clinton is not going to pull out; she is going to claim a big victory tonite, and is going to continue throwing the kitchen sink against Obama.  Problem for her is that she is out of money; her big donors are tapped out and it remains to be seen where her funds for advertising in the many mini media markets will come from.  Further, as Chuck Todd suggests, it is nearly impossible at this point for her to win the pledged delegate count.  

But continue she shall.

and here’s the argument:  Howard Wolfson says she is going to pull out an overall popular vote victory come Puerto Rico (counting Florida).  Considering the 2000 election (popular votes versus electoral votes) and, were Clinton to win the popular vote, she indeed could make a valid claim of entitlement for the nomination.  

And in the meantime, MSN’s Joe Scarboro makes a valid claim (1st time i ever said that) that Hillary keeps winning precisely because of her ‘take no prisoners” approach.  no kantian means to ends silliness. The stakes seem so high this time that voters just may want ends over means– get the bums out, no matter how nasty.

so,

2)  the other key result tonite just may be that voters are daring obama to get tougher and even match hillary in playing dirty to win–kitchen sink and all– and then they will help him close it out. 

“Toughness” and fear are going to be big issues in the slog ahead.

is this really where we are?  it’s gut check time.

Yikes.