Clinton’s Three-Pronged Strategy to Steal the NominationRandy Shawbyline‚ Mar. 10‚ 2008Hillary Clinton is pursuing a three-pronged strategy to win the Democratic presidential nomination despite finishing second in the elected delegate count. Her goals are to change the rules by adding new contests, reinterpret the rules by spinning the primacy of popular vote wins in “big states,” and to turn Barack Obama into the George McGovern of his time. Clinton supporters are citing Martin Luther King Jr. to back their demand for new primaries in Florida and Michigan, claiming the civil rights leader opposed supporting “unjust laws.” Clinton’s camp is also framing Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary as decisive, a strategy to make popular vote victories in “big states,” rather than the actual delegate count, the chief entitlement for the nomination. But Clinton’s chief strategy is to portray Barack Obama as so weak on national security issues that his election would jeopardize the nation’s safety. To this end she has aligned herself with fellow Iraq war supporter John McCain, and against both Obama and the Democratic Party majority that strongly opposed the invasion and wants troops out now. But for all of the fretting by Obama supporters that Clinton will steal the 2008 nomination like Bush stole the White House in 2000, there is a key difference: Clinton, unlike the Republican-controlled Supreme Court that annointed Bush, can be stopped. |