Hillary Clinton's advisers 'in a state of panic'

[Blue State Bandit]

Source: UK Telegraph

The Clinton camp hopes to stop the Obama bandwagon by winning Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4, after which Mrs Clinton is planning to call on party grandees including Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Harry Reid, the party's leader in the Senate, to persuade Mr Obama to stand down.

-snip-

But the Clinton camp fears that a failure to engineer a deal could lead to bitter battles at the Democrat convention in Denver in late August, which could even end with Al Gore, the former vice president, emerging as a compromise candidate.



Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/09/wus509.xml

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First super delegates, and now.... AL GORE?

[Azathoth]

1. Al Gore is probably the only compromise candidate I could get behind n/t

[Maat]

3. Well, I certainly agree with you there (n/t).

[Trajan]

9. So .. both of you agree ....

Al Gore is the ONLY person you would consider voting for ?

This is unfortunate, given that there may be at least ONE other person whom you might consider voting for ..... all you need is one ..... right ?

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. I, too, would not have a problem with Al Gore...but ONLY Al Gore

would be a decent compromise.

[sandnsea]

7. That's what the Clintons are counting on

Don't buy into this, they're trying to throw water on the Obama fire any way they can. The best thing that could happen is that they make Gore mad and he endorses Obama. There isn't going to be a compromise candidate.

[Azathoth]

10. Oh, don't worry, I'm with Obama till the end

And I'll be damned if I'm gonna see the Clintons twist the arms of party insiders to steal the nomination away from the voters. If it really did stalemate, however, Gore is probably the only possible compromise candidate I could support.

[Kahuna]

35. Me too. Keep it up Hillary. You'll make my day. nt

[OKthatsIT]

53. HILLARY GETS PELOSI TO STRONG ARM OBAMA???

The Clinton camp hopes to stop the Obama bandwagon by winning Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4, after which Mrs Clinton is planning to call on party grandees including Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Harry Reid, the party's leader in the Senate, to persuade Mr Obama to stand down."

Why does this sound bad? Could it be Pelosi has a reputation for being a bully?

Poor Hillary...the Biderbergs promised her the throne and something's gone terribly wrong.

[bemildred]

43. Yeah, there can be only one, and he is it. nt

[Maat]

2. Boy, I hope that the thing isn't strong-armed ...

I think that all that would do is make me think hard about remaining a Dem.

Also, I've about had it with stories about Pelosi being used to intimidate fellow Dems (she was accused of attempting to intimidate Dennis K. out of proceeding with his impeachment plans).

[sandnsea]

4. They'll say anything

First it was that Edwards would be included in their administration, now it's trying to take away excitement by peddling the Al Gore myth again. Why does this Clinton propaganda always seem to be coming through British newspapers?

[aquart]

5. At the "Democrat convention"????

Who's information is this, anyway?

[Blue State Bandit]

8. Brits.

[muriel_volestrangler]

37. We don't use the '-ic' so much.

eg the third party in the UK is normally called the Liberal Democrats, but will use 'Liberal Democrat' as the adjective - eg the weekly newsletter is the 'Liberal Democrat News' - http://www.libdems.org.uk/party/ . And before anyone starts, that is perfectly acceptable, grammatically - like "Forum News", for instance.

[Ken Burch]

11. Interesting that they're still assuming THEY'LL be in a position to demand Obama's withdrawal.

What part of "The momentum is against her" do they not understand?

And there's no inherent reason to assume either Texas OR Ohio is a lock for HRC.

[splat]

14. He's coming off states he was expected to win

Momentum shifts, the public mood changes, events happen, donors/supporters rally when they're really needed. It's seldom a trajectory.

[splat]

15. The Telegraph isn't exactly inside baseball, either

Rumors in Georgetown and Londond?

[Ken Burch]

17. Ah yes...here it is again...the "Doesn't count when Obama wins" meme.

Yes momentum shifts. And you guys have to accept that it has shifted decisively away from your candidate. You know, your candidate who was supposed to lock the whole thing up four days ago?

You've lost the mandate of heaven. Deal with it.

[splat]

18. I don't write in rubber stamps you can box as memes.

So many Obama supporters seem sneering and rude. It reflects badly on your candidate.

The big states ahead have a lot of working class people to whom the economy and health care are wolf-at-the-door issues. They favor Hillary's experience.

[Ken Burch]

19. These states had those people as well.

And you're somehow assuming that African Americans AREN'T working class. Most of them are.
The "Hillary gets the workers" thing is also a meme.

I'm not sneering, btw, I'm merely pointing out when the line of the day is being invoked.
Obama will do well in Texas AND Ohio.

[John316]

12. Hillary for VP

This time Texas Isn't the Alamo.. and the Guiliani Defense isn't a winner.

[splat]

16. There are cycles to these contests; these are his, those are hers

Giuliani has nothing to do with this.

[NanceGreggs]

13. "... after which Mrs Clinton is planning to call on party grandees ...

... including Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Harry Reid, the party's leader in the Senate, to persuade Mr Obama to stand down."

Well, once she's called on the incredibly popular Pelosi and Reid, that'll be the end of the ballgame.

[Tarheel_Dem]

20. I agree NanceGreggs, this party will in essence come apart at the

seams if the Leadership comes down in favor of one side over the other. I know that politics is a dirty game, but I hope we're above it, leave that to the Repubs.

[Tat]

21. ... best comment ever...

Heh.

Exactly, nothing will make Obamamania settle down by being told by people with sub-Bush level approval ratings to stand down.

[bklyncowgirl]

24. Rank & file Democrats just LOVE the way Nancy & Harry have run Congress

That'll go over like the world's biggest lead balloon.

Either Clinton or Obama is going to have more pledged delegates by the end of the primary season.

The superdelegates had better go along with it and the process has to be fair and above board. Moreoever, the loser's suppporters have to be CONVINCED that it's fair and above board or we can all get used to saying "President McCain" for the next four to eight years.

[CanonRay]

30. Pelosi and Reid couldn't tell me to pee if my bladder were bursting.

Their credibility is less than zero, somewhere in the Cheyney range.

[VolcanoJen]

48. Gawd, no shit

If they want a revolt in the Democratic party, they'll get it if they throw Pelosi and Reid at Obama. Are they freaking kidding me???

[neverforget]

22. I'd vote for my pencil over McCain anyday of the week and twice on Sundays.

I'll vote for Obama, Clinton or Gore. Just, please God, no more Republicans telling me how terrorists are living under my bed, tax cuts will solve everything and that God is on our side. I want to live in the 21st Century, not the 19th.

[TomClash]

23. Ridiculous British Tory nonsense

No way does Al Gore get the nomination.

He didn't work for it and so he doesn't deserve it. I'd vote for either of these two over Gore - at least they worked for it and people voted for them.

[Pab Sungenis]

36. It's happened before.

Before the primaries were given, well, primacy in 1972, we had a lot of drafts and compromise candidates throughout our history.

Stevenson and Wilson come to mind immediately. And let's not forget that the father of the modern progressive movement, William Jennings Bryan, was drafted from the floor after the Cross of Gold speech.

Once the first ballot is done, all bets are off. Anyone can nominate anyone from the floor, and anyone can vote for anyone. If Hillary and Obama are deadlocked and neither gets the nod on the first ballot, then anyone could make a speech nominating Al Gore, and unless he gets up and specifically shoots it down, he could be nominated. Whether he accepts it or not is another matter.

[TomClash]

44. I understand the history and the process

but I doubt Hillary and Barack would their supporters would back such a move. Imagine if both sides supporters provided lukewarm (at best) support in the GE. Who would do the work? Where would Gore get the funding? Not a smart move in this day and age. Say hello to President McCain.

[non sociopath skin]

25. Don't forget, guys, that the Telegraph is a hard-right Conservative paper ....

... which will be rooting hard for a GOP victory - the further right the ticket, the better, as far as they're concerned.

The Skin

[Zorra]

26. Al Gore? Yay! Just do it. n/t

[shadowknows69]

27. So if Hillary loses Texas or Ohio or both

She'll drop out right?

[jasmine621]

29. If she loses both, she should drop out and wait until 20012.

She is still the best candidate but she does not need to drive herself into bad health over this. She still has time to be the greatest President since Bill.

[geiger]

32. If she loses both, I hope for her sake she has enough self-pride to drop out.

[Larry in KC]

45. Now THAT is one long wait!

[tanyev]

34. I really started wondering about Texas this morning since Huckabee

took at least two of yesterday's primaries and the third one is now at McCain 26 - Everyone else 74. Texas has open primaries. Since most GOP voters don't seem very enhusiastic about their choices, I wonder if some of them will cross over and vote for Obama?

[geiger]

40. yep.

[bowens43]

28. Ridiculous.

[geiger]

31. I can understand campaign "panic," but I woke up yesterday night

in a panic. She's lost control...and of her campaign, too. How can we expect her to run the country. This is making me very nervous now. I never wanted her to "lose," per se; I'd been looking for reasons to vote for her as a woman in spite of her authorization vote for the war and other character flaws, such as the amazing ability to create her own realities out of situations. Now I don't want her to win. And this is with no disrespect intended, but I don't like her politics and I distrust her now, by the way she tries to marginalize her opponent especially.

She also should have been talking about the money situation earlier. It was a shock to learn of the campaign's deficit after I thought about it. These types of crises come and go, but this was a big one.

[Blue State Bandit]

52. Any super-delegate that is up for election would do well to....

vote for the biggest coat-tails. If they go against a popular majority, they could lose their own race due to a depressed electorate.

[mdmc]

33. AL GORE

:kick:

[Honeycombe8]

38. This makes no sense. Why would Obama step down? Why not Hillary stand down?

If the latter seems silly, then the former does. They are virtually tied, with Obama winning many more states across the span of America, in both rural and urban areas, and with Clinton winning the big states of NY and CA with their huge number of delegates (except that Obama got a healthy percentage of them).

The underdog Obama is more than holding his own. As of today, he is winning.

The arrogance of anyone thinking HE should be the one to step down is telling. Neither should step down. This is how democracy works. But if anyone is forced to step down, it should be Hillary, the divisive one, the one most likely to lose the general election, and the losing candidate as of today.

[geiger]

39. there they go again, trying to create their own reality

this is coming from the top down, believe me, from a master of old-time, shabby, deliberately-meant-to-be-deceptive (insidiously and self-righteously so) politics.

[sofeisty]

41. Don't get my hopes up. Al Gore has been my man from the get go...

He or Edwards.

It would be hilarious for him to step in at the last minute and get the nomination. How dramatic and actually fitting for him to get another chance by being the beneficiary of a nasty battle without having to actually wage it.

[earthlover]

42. Can you imagine the disappointment....if Obama won the primaries but Hillary got coronated?

If it turns out that Obama won the primaries in popular vote and in pledged delegates, and then the super delegates give it to Hillary....there will be a lot of people turned off by the whole thing. It would also just reinforce their disdain for politics as usual.

To make a deal in a smoke filled room for some other candidate? Again, ignoring the voters? Same result.

I think it would be more logical for the loser in the popular vote and pledged delegates to fall on his/her sword and conceed.

Somehow I don't see anyone suggesting Hillary do that. In face, if Obama wins the popular vote and pledged delegate totals I would expect that many of the powered class try to persuade Obama to do that, by some quirk of logic.

[Quixote1818]

49. It would feel like 2000 all over again when the Supreme Court decided for us. nt

[Emillereid]

46. Why can't the Clintons just let this thing play out. Let the People speak!

The nerve to be considering running to Mommy Pelosi to fix the game for her. If Hillary so worried about a brokered convention perhaps for the good of the party she can step down!

[Marie26]

47. Now I might root for a deadlock! nt

[BlackVelvet04]

50. Bullshit. n/t

[TexasObserver]

51. BARGAINING: as the politician faces political death, she bargains

Team Clinton has entered their bargaining phase of the campaign death throes. Will no one save them from this meddlesome upstart?

That campaign is badly wounded and fading.