Wasn’t it All Kinda Arbitrary?

The discussion that is making the rounds is that the Primary is over and we have a nominee. This comes complete with pictures on the cover of time blessed by the high priest of punditry Tim Russert. Daily Kos has exploded with diaries dedicated to the end of Clinton’s campaign, pleas for unity and speculation about paying off Clinton debt. I wonder though why we have this sudden and absolute switch from she has a good chance to she is mike huckabee.

To me the split decision in Indiana was the expected out come. Reality based people were anticipating this. I keep coming back to the idea that there was no real reason to suddenly declare this over. Clinton’s arguments about why Obama is unelectable have been specious for months now. She has not made any real gains on Obama since Super Tuesday. She never had a shot at the popular vote or delegate lead and there was no sign that the Supers were interested in backing her. Her arguments have been bogus for months so I fail to understand why all of a sudden a loss in a state Obama was predicted to win is such a campaign killer.

Think about the last time that everyone thought Clinton was going to be civil and ride out the primary in Democratic harmony. That was the Texas debate where Clinton immediately returned to her brutal septic tank strategy. The Pundits have been wrong about everything this entire primary and now we credit them with wisdom? Do not fall into the trap of assuming that this will last either. Clinton will come out swinging hammer Obama in W. Virginia and Kentucky. She has even started floating the notion that the 2025 number is not the finish line. Clinton is not going quietly into that good night. It is just not her style.

If you have noticed the media is crediting the Gas Tax pander as giving Obama the chance to salvage his campaign. This is just an excuse to explain why the 24/7 Wright coverage had no effect. The gas tax is a fig leaf for the vanity and egos of those very important media analysts. This is one of the reasons that the media has called it over, they think that Obama has cleared the Wright hurdle so Clinton has lost that argument. However, rational and reality based people already knew that Wright was not going to be the campaign killer the media echo chamber was trying to make him. Clinton will continue to use the specter of J Wright in the more conservative states coming up in the primaries. She has not gone this far only to throw up her hands and say, "oh, well if the media says so."

Clinton will continue by any means available because she is not capable of running at any rate but full throttle. She has to be knocked out of the campaign. That is who she is. We may dislike the tactics that have been employed as a result of her single minded pursuit of the nomination but I doubt anyone would argue that she has not gone all out. It seems to me, people are expecting Sen. Clinton to do something that she has shown zero inclination towards doing. Obama or someone he has heard of will say something and Clinton will cling to it and ride it for as much as its worth. Some new faux controversy will raise questions that no one really cares about but seem like something someone might be offended by. Debt or no debt Sem. Clinton is not leaving.

There was nothing that happened in Indiana or North Carolina that would alter the trajectory of the Clinton campaign. Ignore your personal bias and desire for this seemingly interminable process to end and you will see its true. The process is not over because Russert or Olbermann says so. It is only over when Sen. Clinton says so and knowing her that might not be until we pry the delegates from her cold dead hands on the floor of Denver. The again maybe, you saw something I did not? Cause to me the call to roll the credits seemed just a little arbitrary.