Think Democrats can’t screw up 2008?
One of the fun things about politics is that things change very quickly, things are very fluid and there are a lot of aspects of it that are open to speculation.
Reading the political ticker this morning got me thinking about the Democrats continued ineptitude when it comes to running campaigns. Sure, you could point to success in 2006 but I think that only shows that voters are willing to look past that when the issues are seemingly important enough. You could also talk about Republicans lack of unity and party infighting that could hurt them. It seems like all of the hype behind the Clinton/Obama race is more in spite of what the party tries to do. Are we coming back to reality? Here is what I think is a beginning of how Democrats can lose in 2008:
Clinton dismisses weekend losses
You have to hope Clinton isn’t (or is, depending on what side you are) the nominee with quotes like this:
“These are caucus states by and large, or in the case of Louisiana, you know, a very strong and very proud African-American electorate, which I totally respect and understand.”
Clinton argued that caucuses are “primarily dominated by activists” and that “they don’t represent the electorate, we know that.”
“It is highly unlikely we will win Alaska or North Dakota or Idaho or Nebraska,” she said, naming several of Obama’s red state wins. “But we have to win Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, Michigan … And we’ve got to be competitive in places like Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma.”
Let’s see here.
- Dismissing opponent wins in black strongholds assuming everyone voted based on race
- Writing off swaths of legitimate nominating contests and Democratic voters by assuming that caucuses do not indicate the will of the electorate
- Explaining that certain reliable red states are gone to the right months before election while inferring that certain reliable blue states are up for grabs if Obama is nominated
The Republicans have problems. If Clinton is selected as the nominee (and there are a LOT of bad ways that could go down), that would solve a lot of the Republicans problems.