Clinton was defiant at her Louisville victory party, pledging to stay in the race until either she or her opponent Barack Obama reaches 2,210 delegates–nearly 200 more delegates than most people consider to be the threshold needed to claim the nomination (Clinton is including in her count Michigan and Florida, which were stripped of their delegates by the national Democratic Party after moving their primary dates up on the calendar in defiance of the party’s wishes). And while Obama took pains to praise his opponent in a speech in Iowa on Tuesday night, Clinton, who had toned down her rhetoric in recent days, fired it up again. The race is “nowhere near over,” she said Monday, arguing that she has won states worth many more electoral votes than Obama can claim. She warned the Louisville crowd that “the stakes are high. After all the country has been through these past seven years we have to get this right. We have to select a nominee who is best positioned to win in November.”
Clinton also played the gender card more overtly than she has of late, suggesting that she is still in the race for “all of the women I’ve met who were born before women could vote.” In an article published in yesterday’s Washington Post, Clinton spoke at length about how she sees the press as having been more tolerant of sexism than racism in coverage of the primary campaign.
Tuesday night, she told a story of meeting with Emma Hollis, 89, an African-American woman who, Clinton said, “has seen so many barriers crumble and fall in her lifetime, but she is not finished yet. She has been volunteering … to help our campaign break the highest and hardest glass ceiling in the land.” Clinton also spoke of Andrea Steagall, 20, the “strong and composed” wife of a soldier deployed to Afghanistan, who drove across Kentucky to meet the candidate.
Her calculus rests on the claim that she’s winning the popular vote–boasting that “more people have voted for me than for anybody who’s ever run for the Democratic nomination.” But she failed to mention a few big caveats–her alleged popular-vote lead counts Florida and Michigan delegations (Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan and neither candidate campaigned in Florida). A supporter in the crowd who cheered loudly during Clinton’s rousing speech expressed private bewilderment about her popular-vote claim, whispering to his friend, “Where is she getting these numbers? That’s not true.”
How will these arguments play with the crucial superdelegate constituency? Clinton addressed them directly at one point, asking that they consider “who’s ready to defeat Senator McCain in the swing states and among swing voters.” Her campaign chair, Terry McAuliffe, says the superdelegates are worried enough about Obama’s electability that they’ll give Clinton a hearing. McAuliffe said he’s convinced that the Democrats’ Rules and Bylaws Committee, which meets in two weeks, will seat the contested Michigan and Florida delegations. That, McAuliffe believes, will help turn the tide of superdelegates her way. “After North Carolina and Indiana, many of the TV commentators declared this race over,” McAuliffe said. “At that point you would have assumed 100, 150 superdelegates would have moved that week. They didn’t, they stayed right where they’re at. The reason is they wanted everyone to vote and then they’re going to make a decision of who they think will be the best to run against John McCain. Every piece of polling data now says Hillary Clinton is stronger in the general election.” McAuliffe said he believes Clinton will finish within 100 delegates of Obama and ahead in the popular vote–and thereby coax superdelegates into her column. “Their job, and the DNC rules say this,” McAuliffe said, “is to determine what is in the best interest of the national party–i.e., how do we win this election … Today, Hillary Clinton has a much greater chance of winning.”
It’s an uphill battle, but one Clinton and company seem as determined as ever to wage.
