The race for the democratic nomination is over. Most of the democrats knew it a month ago. Even more Kossacks knew it more than a couple of months ago. It seems that finally the pundits are starting to realize what we all knew long ago: The race is over. Hillary lost.
I rarely do diaries but with the race being over, I thought I'll do one and put some of my thoughts in it. Some truths you'll never (or rarely) hear the pundits and the Hillary campaign say. More bellow the fold.
1. The race would have been long over if Hillary had admitted her Iraq war vote was a mistake. She simply needed to come out and say out loud 'I am sorry, I was wrong. The war was a mistake'. 6 months ago she was riding high in the polls, had most money and most pledged delegates. The nomination was hers. It was a sure thing. But she did underestimate the importance of this issue to the democratic voters. She showed a bad judgement and a stubborness to admit it. She paid a heavy price for it.
2. Hillary didn't have a plan to win a nomination. She had a plan to have a coronation. Her plan since day 1 was show strength with the super delegates, show a huge war chest, show the support of the party elite (the irony of labeling Obama an elitist) and all her opponents would fold. That didn't happen.
Unlike her, Obama had a clear plan to win the nomination. Remember the leaked Obama memo before Super Tuesday? His campaign had a very good idea what their result will be in every state from Iowa to Puerto Rico. They knew it will be a tough race where every delegate would be important. They played very smart to reach the goal - have the 2025 pledged delegates needed to secure the nomination. They contested every state unlike Hillary. They were in it to win by the rules. Hillary was in it to win half a dozen of swing states and play the electability card. Another instance of bad judgement.
3. The notion that Obama can't close the deal. That he can't win the white blue collar workers, that he can't win the rural areas, that he can't win the regular church goers and that makes him unelecable. And that unlike him, Hillary would win them in a general election against McCain.
Hello??? Isn't there a term for these same voters? Aren't these voters the republican base? When was the last time a democratic presidential candidate won the rural vote? Or the white vote? Or the regular church goers vote? Hillary was more appealing to these groups and won them by roughly 60% to 40% but so what? It is a primary election between two strong candidates and each of them appeals to different demographics. It will be equally wrong to say that since Hillary is losing the black vote 90% to 10% in the primary, she is going to lose it 90% to 10% in the general election. How stupid even to think about it?
4. One last thing never or rarely mentioned is that Obama cannot be denied the nomination. If you listen to the pundits, it is as if the nomination contest has started a couple of weeks ago and it is dead even. Obama won it fair and square. He won the popular vote. He won the most states. He won the most delegates. He raised the most money. Hillary has absolutely no right to try and convince any super delegate to overturn the will of the people and support her failed bid. She has absolutely no arguments left. She has to make the final step - concede the nomination to Obama and start the process of healing the party.
These are some random thoughts of mine about the primary race. The diary may not look so tidy but I am having a very bad case of migraine and I've hardly had any sleep last night.