Obama Wins Mississippi
Clinton Falls Further Behind in the US Democratic Race
With another primary loss, the Clinton camp is poised to increase its attacks against Obama, but it might be too little too late.
Hillary Clinton has tried everything. She has played nice. She has played dirty. Little of it has worked, and with only six primaries remaining for the Democrats (eight if Florida and Michigan are factored in), she is running out of time. Look for the attacks on Obama to increase, as that might be the last hope Clinton has of gaining any ground in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Obama increased his lead in the race for delegates with an impressive win in Mississippi. That is now 30 of 44 states that Obama has won and, despite a setback in Ohio and Rhode Island, he seems almost unstoppable at this point.
That, however, will not stop Senator Clinton. Her last, great hope appears to be the April 22 primary in the key state of Pennsylvania, and she will be doing everything she can to make sure she wins the coveted state. This inevitably means more attacks on Obama by impeaching his credibility and questioning his experience. Actually, it is already happening.
The first sign of the vicious attacks was the "3 a.m." ad--fear mongering at its best--something usually reserved only for conservatives. Obama responded with a similar ad only hours later.
Then yesterday came a comment from one of Clinton's biggest fundraisers, former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, who told the Daily Breeze (Torrance California) that, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
Apparently no one questioned Ferraro about whether she would have been Mondale's running mate in 1984 if she were a white male, but perhaps that is a question best left for another day.
Although Ferraro is not an official spokesperson for the Clinton campaign, the comment follows right in line with what the Clinton campaign has been practicing for the past month: when Clinton's substantive policy differences with Obama fail to resonate with voters, attack his character. And now, it apparently is not only fair game to attack his character, but to attack who he is as a person. It will be interesting to see if the Clinton camp offers an official response to Ferraro's senseless and ill-advised comment.
This country likes to think that it is past the point of certain races being treated differently by the majority, but a comment like that from a public official is an unwelcoming slap in the face from reality. And worse for the Clinton campaign is that they have to clean the mess up while trying to gain ground in a race that appears to be slowly slipping away.
And now, there is even more evidence that the Clinton campaign is grasping at straws. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton have suggested that they would like Obama to be Hillary's vice presidential running mate--a "dream ticket." As Obama noted yesterday, however, it is a bizarre request, considering where Clinton stands in the delegate race: "With all due respect. I won twice as many states as Senator Clinton. I've won more of the popular vote than Senator Clinton. I have more delegates than Senator Clinton. So, I don't know how somebody who's in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who's in first place."
In a continuing pattern, this is more behavior that makes Obama look more presidential than Clinton. Obama appears focused on the prize, unrattled by the attacks, and poised for a general election. Clinton, however, appears ready to try anything that will give her an edge. It has not happened yet, and as of now, it does not appear that it ever will.
