In Clinton's interview with Newsweek, she again raises the idea of going after Obama's pledged delegates. Those are the delegates that were won in the primaries and caucuses to date. I find this to be a very troubling idea, and the fact that she even raises this idea tells me that she is planning to use every tactic possible to steal the nomination.
How can you win the nomination when the math looks so bleak for you?
It doesn't look bleak at all. I have a very close race with Senator Obama. There are elected delegates, caucus delegates and superdelegates, all for different reasons, and they're all equal in their ability to cast their vote for whomever they choose. Even elected and caucus delegates are not required to stay with whomever they are pledged to. This is a very carefully constructed process that goes back years, and we're going to follow the process.
Remember the uproar that came up after South Carolina when the Clintons floated that possibility, and how quickly they took it back? It seems that they are still planning behind the scenes to go after Obama's elected delegates at the state party conventions, which begin in June and others in the later summer months.
This race will not stop after Pennsylvania. They will say and do anything to take the nomination.
Mark Halperin at Time's The Page outlines the Clinton strategy thus to date:
- Delighting in successfully raising the volume on the Clinton-Obama Dream Ticket talk — which their research shows could give some wavering voters (and superdelegates) a reason/excuse to choose her.
- Trying to gauge the danger of ejecting or diminishing Mark Penn, given his control over the targeting data (and his methodical knowledge of all that has occurred lo these past months).
- Trying to figure out if Indiana is a Clinton state or an Obama state.
- Waiting on John Edwards.
- (Still) gritting their teeth over media bias — as with the Ken Starr thing, the "thuggish" thing, and the continuing belief in extreme anti-Clinton bias (the apparent preference of Lorne Michaels and Tina Fey notwithstanding).
- Keeping Bill Clinton away from reporters.
- Wondering what kind of negative ads will be acceptable — and necessary — in Pennsylvania. What negative ads do you think they would run that would attack Obama's strongest points? His honesty? Commitment to government transparency? His Iraq position? Another repeat of the 3 AM ad in some form?
- Strategizing about how to "bracket" Obama’s possible foreign policy trip with their own spin before and after every overseas Obama event. I think the Clinton spin will be that "Obama's desperate to show that he has foreign policy credentials whereas Hillary has made over 80 trips to foreign countries" and attack him on that score alone.
- Figuring out how to leverage the bipartisan support of Florida and Michigan elites to force an admission of the original votes or hold new contests.
- Factoring in Florida and Michigan superdelegates (who only count if the overall delegations are seated).
- Determining how to rattle Obama as much as possible (they can, they have, and they want to push him to the limit).
- Gauging if the over/under for being behind in elected delegates by the end is 100 in order for superdelegates and the media to consider the race "tied."