Analysis: A Clinton Victory Would Fracture The Democratic Party

Brian Fairbanks — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:00:00 GMT

The Washington Post had a very insightful story on Sunday called "8 Questions That Will Shape Where The Race For The Democratic Nomination Goes From Here." Despite the Lawrence of Arabia-long title, it's actually a decent layman's guide to the next several months in this electoral steel cage match.

The Post, as well as other observers, conclude that Hillary's near-impossible uphill battle involves winning more contests, more of the popular vote, fare better in head-to-head matchups with McCain, and convince superdelegates that somehow her nomination wouldn't cause a huge uproar with Democrats:

Clinton must persuade uncommitted superdelegates to deny the nomination to the candidate who has more pledged delegates. But to side with her would almost certainly offend African Americans, the party's most loyal constituency. How many superdelegates will be prepared for that?

Aren't Clinton supporters concerned that to choose an establishment candidate, not entirely favored for the nomination, who gains in the polls when she hints that her Republican opponent would be better than her primary one, would be all but fatal to the party, fracturing it basically in half and disenfranchsing and disenchanting African Americans? Take a look at 1968, a year eerily similar to the one this one is shaping up to be, in which the anti-war outsider/youth candidate (played in that instance by Eugene McCarthy) was bested by an experienced Capitol Hill insider less interested in change and not as likely to energize the base (Vice President Humphrey.) That contest also came down to a controversial convention, one which historians generally agree was the beginning of the end for a resurgent Democratic Party, an outfit which has seldom since controlled the government.

Think about it.

PS We can't resist stonewalling your defense of Clinton's "experience" with this gem from Governor Huckabee:

"To say that being married to the president gives you the experience to be president would be like me saying, you know, that being married to my wife gives me the capacity to explain childbirth because, after all, I've been married to her and she's given birth to our three children." [New York Post]

Before responding to the above, check out the full story in the Washington Post.

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Analysis: A Clinton Victory Would Fracture The Democratic Party