Tom Baldwin in Washington
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A worried Democratic Party official has begun to describe Hillary Clinton’s strategy for winning the presidential nomination as the “Tonya Harding option”.
The anonymous quote, which echoed across the internet yesterday, is a reference to the American Olympic ice skater who was complicit 14 years ago in a hitman’s assault on the knees of Nancy Kerrigan, her chief rival for the gold medal.
In this scenario, the role of the saccharine-sweet Kerrigan is being filled by Barack Obama. He returned from his Caribbean holiday yesterday to find aides complaining that Mrs Clinton had begun another effort to “take his legs out”.
They screamed foul over her comment that she, unlike Mr Obama, would have left the Rev Jeremiah Wright’s church in protest at sermons urging his congregation to sing “God damn America!” or suggesting that the US Government had invented Aids to destroy “people of colour”.
Mr Obama said yesterday that critics were making a meal of “five or six of his most offensive statements” and warned he would not be able to solve America’s problems if people continued to get so excited every time “someone says something stupid”.
His aides have described Mrs Clinton’s remarks as a “transparent effort to distract attention” away from her own embarrassment at being caught exaggerating the risks she faced in Bosnia 12 years ago.
The Clinton campaign spent much of yesterday claiming innocence, saying she had expressed an “honest view shared by many Americans” by declaring Mr Wright would not have been her pastor.
It added that Mr Obama’s aides had responded with “disingenuous” attacks because he did not want an examination of “the shortcomings in his record and the efforts he has made to embellish it.” Back came the Obama campaign, saying that Mrs Clinton’s “fantastic invention of a sniper-raked landing is one in a growing list of instances in which she has exaggerated her role as First Lady”.
Trading insults is largely how the two Democratic campaigns spend their time these days. The fear, however, among party elders is that they are doing the work for John McCain, the Republican nominee-elect, in driving up each other’s negatives.
Despite the mathematical improbability of Mrs Clinton securing enough delegates to win the nomination, she has signalled a determination to battle on through the next three months and suggested yesterday that even elected delegates could yet “exercise independent judgment” by backing her at the convention.
Bill Clinton said yesterday his family is “not big on quitting”, adding: “If a politician doesn’t wanna get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office.”
Mr McCain, meanwhile, delivered a heavyweight foreign policy speech yesterday that showed him tracking back towards the political centre and away from his sometimes hawkish reputation. “I detest war — it is wretched beyond all description,” he said, urging greater co-operation between America and its international allies.
It was left to other obsevers to point out that in the 1994 Winter Olympics, Harding finished eighth, while Kerrigan came second.
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Please Clinton, get out of the way, the train wants to take off. If you stay there, you will only have yourself to blame. Obama is the nominee. Doesn't that take someone of experience to figure it out?
Eric Kakoole, Beijing, China
Dale Johnson from Wheaton, your figure fudging leaves a lot to be desired! And the troubling thing is... you sincerely believe them to be true!
Elias, Stevenage, UK
and it's ok for obama to practically stalk hillary's every word ?
suzanna riedl, cleveland, ohio
Fascinating to read that "Despite the mathematical improbability of Mrs Clinton securing enough delegates to win the nomination", a statement which indicates rank prejudice on the part of the writer, since neither candidate can secure enough delegates. With a massive vote in her favour in Pennsylvania, Mrs Clinton will be able to demonstrate that she alone can be electable; the Republican machine would make mincemeat out of Mr Obama. The primary interest of all delegates is which of two able persons can defeat Mr McCain. With new revelations about the Rev Wright, Mr Obama's "inevitability" is by no means certain.
David Cunard, Los Angeles, United States
The reason why Chelsea has not corrected her mother's false version of events in Bosnia is because she originally directly confirmed them. Chelsea may be as creative with the truth as her parents or she may simply be a horrible situation here. Only time will tell, but it is a good idea to remember that she is 28 years old and not a child any longer.
Angela, Epping, Australia
Mrs Clinton with all her claims of experience, I am surprised she has no idea how to behave. If what I have seen is an example of what she calls international experience, it is a disgrace. All Countries around the world deserve better, than Mrs Clintons Rants. Spite, venom, harerd, is what I hear about from Mrs Clintons Campaign. I have seen no professionalism.
Daphne Kenward, Cambridge, United Kingdom
These comments are hillarious. Obama responds with humor? His attack dogs were out from day one.
Why should Clinton quit? Did Obama get 2024 delegates? If so, it'd be news to everyone in America except the Obamaites. Today the diff is 171 pledged delegates, BHO being 629 SHORT HRC 782 short. w/ 576 dels to go. That's not enough for EITHER to win with.
Superdelegates will decide and won't just look at who has most delegates/popular vote.
They'll look at potential EC votes. the ONLY ONES that matter.
As of today the most accurate pollster, Rasmussen, shows the following -
Rep - 189 safe/likely EC votes
Dems - 200 " " ".
The Ds need 70 EC votes to win and the Rs 81.
Swing states - FL +27 McC, PN +21 McC, OH +20 McC, MI +17 McCain, VA +13 McC, MO +11 McC,
MN +10 BHO or McC, COL +9 McC, IOWA +9 BHO or McC, Nev +5 Dem, NM +5 McC or BHO, NH +4 McC.
Thats 335 to 205 vs HRC, 326 to 214 vs BHO.
BUT-
BHO loses 15 in NJ + HRC can "tip" more close ones than BHO can.
Dale Johnson, Wheaton, IL
Alleged experience and superior knowledge should have enabled Hillary to act presidential. It is perhaps the lack of the them that prompts her to deal in trivia. There were flaws in Wright's speeches. I have sat through many idiotic speeches of very highly placed religious leaders. I have heard blatant racism and other profanities. My attitude is to take into account the totality of the contributions made by the religious personality in question and tell my friends in the audience to ignore what is not sensible. Not long ago in the bible belt of United States of America the bible was used to justify racism. Today it is used to denounce well established scientific ideas. If Hillary says every time she heard such utterances she walked out. I will find it difficult to believe it but there may be others who may buy the idea from her. She also forgets the fact the lots of people switch off in the first few minutes and say their own prayers.
sinna mani, london, UK
If Hillary Clinton could talk out of both sides of her head she would. Lying has become endemic of the Clintonian psyche and just shows that she is not fit to be President of a shoe box yet alone the US.
Vernon Butcher, BASINGSTOKE, Hampshire
In defence of her "misspoken" statement on her visit to Bosnia, Hillary Clinton said she speaks "Millions" of words a day, so it is no big deal that she got it wrong. Wake up the adverage person hears 200 words a minute so that comes to less than 300,000 words in a 24 hour day. Again Hillary misspoke the 'Truth" unless she is speaking out of both sides of her mouth.
John, Greenville, SC
I have noticed that Clinton and her aides have wilfully made the campaign into a negative battle. Clinton will either covertly or overtly make references to his plagiarism and 'empty'speeches, his lack of experience , his exaggerations by plumping up her own image or she will will jump on the band wagon and be seen to support the wild speculation about his muslim name, his link to Rev Wright, and align herself with the McCain in order to do this. As she stated she will continue to 'throw the kitchen sink ' at him until a decision has been made. Obama, in the main has responded directly to her points with humour and his aides have now started throwing challenging her credentials. She will destroy the Democratic party unless the party intervenes to stop her! What a dangerous, ruthless and undemocratic candidate!!
Cindy Bryant, London, UK
Chelsea Clinton accompanied her mother on the trip where, Hillary Clinton claims to have come under sniper fire.
Why hasn't she corrected her mother's version of events, I wonder?
Anne, St. Saturnin d'Apt, France
Could it be that Mrs. Clinton realises she can't win now but presses ahead, weakening her own party, hoping the Republicans will win so that, comes November, she can proclaim: "I told you so!".
Her repeated lying is an embarassment!
Peter Paul, Chiang Mai, Thailand
I am surprised and dissapointed that anyone would look at his or herself in the mirror and say, look, ' i cannot see my face here'.
Elizabeth bennet, can't you see the handwriting on the wall?looking in the mirror, don't you see your face?
Please tell her to back out.
liufang, beijing, china
at every turn, party officials (including superdelegates) and mainstream-media mandarins continue to opine, write, and comment, as if they are reprensetative of the opinions and wishes and positions of the voters, and at every turn, they have been wrong. this is one more instance. the majority of democrat voters wish this race to go on. no one wants either candidate to drop out. no one wants thievery at the convention, but continuing the primary process right up until the opening of the convention, with a full-pitch battle until then, is just fine with everyone except for the self-referential twits in the mainstream press, and the democratic party leaders. you'd never know it from their commentary, which is always phrased to portent a "general" will or opinon, and always angled as "news" of some kind.; no one cares what these technocrats think, the electorate wants the primary race to go to the finish.
elizabeth bennett, riverside, california