'Closing The Deal': Campaign Theme To Watch

[NYCGirl]

I'm already tired of hearing this one...but there's a few good points here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/23/closing-the-deal-campaign_n_98223.html

Still, counterarguments abound. Obama is still the frontrunner, he's finally starting to gain ground in some clear Clinton demographics, and if the remaining superdelegates are simply waiting for a pretext to emerge for them to rubber-stamp, Obama remains on the inside track. And he's in this position because he did close the deal in some critical states back on Super Tuesday - Connecticut and Missouri come to mind - as well as a Potomac primary sweep.

More pointedly, there's a seeming shallowness to the whole "close the deal" argument - it only really comes up if we're talking about white voters. Of course, Obama pretty much hoisted himself halfway up this particular petard - "Bittergate" is the thing that is giving this legs. But rarely is it asked: "Why can't Clinton close the deal with African-American voters?" She's done worse and worse with this core constituency as time has passed. This is critical as North Carolina looms: will a "closed deal" for Obama in the Tarheel State not "count" because it's too black?

And finally, there's a grim reality to the money situation that gets ignored amid all the clatter and hype about how much Obama spent in Pennsylvania. Obama couldn't fund himself a knockout notch in the Keystone State, but it's not like he drove off the used car lot in a lemon. Money funds the long game, and Obama was smart to spend as much as he did there. If it takes four bucks to compel Clinton to spend one, you spend the four - because if you can bleed her cash reserves in a state she was projected at one point to win by twenty, the road ahead looks a lot brighter. Yeah, the money spent is going to get spun, but if you ask me, skint trumps spin. As a colleague pointed out to me last night, everytime you hear the Clinton team use the word "outspent," you can substitute the word "outraised."

Nevertheless, this "close the deal" concept is effectively stalemated, encased in amber, because Obama's got hardly anything ahead that truly looks like it's going to be the environment for a knockout blow. A TKO possibility remains in two weeks, but in all likelihood, we're looking at this deal finally getting closed by the decision of the superdelegates. 'Cause only one thing counts in this world: get them to sign on the line which is dotted.

[berni_mccoy]

1. Clintons who Can't Close The Deal shouldn't throw memes

She's the one who can't close the deal. With all the SD's, Money, Supporters and Political Machinary, she couldn't close the deal in Iowa, she couldn't close the deal on Super Tuesday, she Couldn't close the Deal in March and she Couldn't close the Deal in April. She's STILL LOSING and has no chance to win the nomination.

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Obama can win Indianna.

If he does so by more than a few points while piling up a big margin in NC that effectively ends this campaign. That is very doable for Obama to pull off. Indianna is pretty much nuetral ground, and he has all the money he needs to wage any type of campaign there that he wants.

[NYCGirl]

3. Of course Hillary has the Evan Bayh factor, just like she had Rendell. NT

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. The polls are close there, that's the point. Obama had Kennedy

along with Kerry and Duval, but they couldn't deliver Massachusetts for him. Clinton had the Mayor of Philidelphia in her camp and didn't exactly clean up in that City yesterday.