On 12/13/07, Hillary quoted as saying that the race "is all going to be over by Feb 5th

[FrenchieCat]

Hillary says she’ll be Democratic nominee by Feb 5th
December 13, 2007
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is anticipating that she will not have to wait long to become the Democratic presidential nominee, privately telling campaign donors in California that the race "is all going to be over by Feb. 5."

Though the focus of the 2008 presidential campaign is on Iowa and New Hampshire, the states with the earliest contests, Clinton suggested that California's influence might be larger than was commonly believed.

"You've got to realize that people in California will start voting absentee about the time Iowa and New Hampshire happen," the senator from New York said at a closed-door fundraising reception Tuesday evening. "In fact, more people will have voted absentee by the middle of January than will have voted in New Hampshire, Iowa and a lot of other places combined."

On Friday, California absentee ballots began going out to members of the military and others living abroad.

California's remaining absentee ballots will be sent out beginning Jan. 7, one day before the New Hampshire primary and four days after the Iowa precinct caucuses.

California holds its primary Feb. 5, along with 21 other states and American Samoa.

"California, Texas, New York, New Jersey — you've got way more than half the country," Clinton said at the fundraising event at a Sacramento restaurant. "And we're going to be ready, thanks to all of you. We're running a vigorous campaign here in California."

Voters in 22 states will vote after Feb. 5, as will those in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

The fundraising reception was closed to the news media, but an audio recording of Clinton's speech was made available to the Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-clinton13dec13,1,2613727.story

Guess this was based on her 35 years of experience, and the fact that she could get it "done" on that day.

So now, I'm supposed to believe that she'll be ready from day one too? :shrug:

[XemaSab]

1. At some point I'm going to start pitying that woman...

But not today. :D

[dkf]

2. Misunderestimated the opponent.

Kind of like Iraq.

[FrenchieCat]

3. And McCain, if we let her.

[XemaSab]

4. *no shit*

The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking that *if* Obama pulls this thing off, we will have dodged one of the ugliest defeats in American history.

Her really shocking statements about why she's lost different states, and then claiming that the states she's lost don't really matter... Um? Check your ego. :scared:

It reminds me not of a mature woman with 35 years of experience, but a shitty little eighth grader trying to explain to mom why he flunked a class. :P

[dkf]

5. I don't think she would contest 50 states, just target blue ones like Dems normally do.

Then if she is off in some estimate the whole thing goes to pot.

[XemaSab]

6. Which is ironic, because in 1992 Bill ate it in Arizona and Florida

but he won Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Shockingly, he also won Montana, Louisiana, and Georgia.

By '96 he won Arizona and Florida, but lost Montana, Colorado, and Georgia.

Note well, however, that these states are some of the states that Barack is ROCKIN'. :D

He's picked up Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, and Louisiana, (and New Mexico is still being counted), and I'd frankly be surprised if he totally wrote off the South, which I think Hillary's way more likely to do even though she's an adopted Arkansan.

Note well that I think he's also strongly positioned to take Montana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, 1 of which is in March, 2 of which are in May, and 1 of which is in June, provided we don't have a clear candidate by then.

There's also rumors that Virginia will be in play this year, and I don't need a crystal ball to predict an Obama win tomorrow. :D

But yeah, the rumor is that Obama's a Howard Dean disciple, who in turn is a George Lakoff disciple, and it's a LONG TIME COMING. :D

(Oh, and on edit: even though Clinton lost three states in '96 that he'd won in '92, he still picked up 9 more delegates with Arizona and Florida... BUT I think we can virtually write off Arizona this year. So haha, it'll be a 49-state strategy.)

[FunkyLeprechaun]

12. I'm willing to bet

That Obama wins the states that Clinton won in 1992 and more. Except for Arizona... unless Arizona pulls something off like Tennessee did in 2000 (Gore lost his home state to Bush).

[johnnydrama]

7. I am convinced

that 90% of the clinton supporters here are in utter shock about what has happened, and just can't stop snapping at everybody they see that doesn't think Obama should drop out because it's her turn.

[Major Hogwash]

8. She underestimated Democrats who heard her say "I'm not going to apologize for my vote, if you don't

like it, vote for someone else."

We did.

Stick a spork in her, she's done.

[elizm]

10. Yeh....

I had forgotten about that one! :rofl:

[w13rd0]

9. Oh, I'm going to play Devil's Advocate...

...this was a fundraising speech, and she was trying to get money from those California donors. So she played up their importance and made it as if that time would be the last time in the primary she'd be asking them for money.

So she was wrong...

[FrenchieCat]

16. So if this was not the overall belief of the campaign, that which she spoke,

do you think that they had a alternate plan? Cause I don't see it.

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. She obviously failed math

"California, Texas, New York, New Jersey — you've got way more than half the country,"

CA est. population - 36M; NY est. population - 29M. TX est. population: 23M. NJ est. population: 8.7M. Total: 93.7M.

US population est. 299M.

Less than a third ≠ 'way more than half'

[FunkyLeprechaun]

13. That's what turned me off Hillary

That it was HERS to win. It seemed that she didn't really want to work to win the nominee, that it would be down to her name recognition and her experience in the Senate.

Stinks of Thomas Dewey to me.

[peoli]

14. they need to start getting the best therapists money can buy. Shes gonna need help recovering

from this major loss.

[peoli]

15. dupe