Maybe Jonathan Alter Should... (fill in the blank)

by  D. Cupples |   Newsweek's Jonathan Alter thinks Hillary Clinton should drop out of the race -- not in April, not after next week, but before the March 4th Texas and Ohio primaries.  That would be one way to hand the nomination to Barack Obama, which does seem to be a goal of some NBC-affiliated editorialists.

Perhpas Mr. Alter is suffering from political-bias fatigue.  I know I'm fatigued by witnessing media bias, and I don't work full for a major media outlet.  Imagine actually participating in it dozens of hours a week.

Then again, maybe Mr. Alter is using reverse psychology, intended to upset Hillary's supporters and inspire them to work hyper-diligently to get out the vote in Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.  Of course, this would be equally biased and equally fatiguing.

Then again (again), Mr. Alter cites polls as evidence that Hillary should drop out.  Apparently Mr. Alter has forgotten that some polls failed to accurately predict results of the California and New Hampshire primaries. That and some recent polls re: Texas and Ohio have Hillary slightly ahead.

At this point, all delegate counts are merely estimates (i.e., soft numbers). The Associated Press's estimate:

Obama    1,351

Hillary    1,262

That's a difference of less than 100 delegates.  Now consider the number of delegates up for grabs in Texas and Ohio:

Texas   228

Ohio   161

And don't forget that Pennsylvania (whose primary is in April) has 188 delegates.

The upshot: it seems a tad early to call the nomination for either candidate.  Pennsylvania has more delegates than Ohio: why shouldn't Pennsylvania voters have their say?  All we have to do is wait two months and see what happens.

I know, I know.  Some people (largely those who want Hillary out of the race) think that the Democratic party is being divided and will not mend itself before November. 

Even if Hillary (or Obama) waits until late April to drop out, that gives the party 7 months to heal its rifts.  If Dems can't do that in 7 months, what makes Mr. Alter think they can do it in 9 months?

Memeorandum has other commentary.

Other BN-Politics Posts:

* CBS' video re: Questionable Siegelman Prosecution

* Obama Pulls a Rove on NAFTA?

* Clinton Gets Standing Ovation at Debate

* Tina Fey Endorses Hillary

* Presidential Primary Polls

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Comments

[On a Limb with Claudia]

I saw this too and wondered what it was about. She's come so far for so very long - why quit now? I guess there's always the worry about splitting the party but really Nadar will do that efficiently enough! ;)

Hey I tagged you guys for the message in a bottle meme.

[D. Cupples]

HI claudia,

I'm not sure what it means, but thanks for the "tag."