Democrats who sided with Barack Obama long ago are continuing to tear their hair out over Hillary Clinton's refusal to quit the presidential race. The latest example of hair-pulling is from Jonathan Chait of The New Republic: No, Really, You Should Go: Wretched rationalizations for Hillary Clinton's kamikaze campaign.
I have to admit that I find the angst on the left at least a little amusing.
Even more amusing are the online comments to Chait's article, which include attacks on Obama, vigorous defenses of Hillary Clinton, and a spirited pitch for . . . Ralph Nader.
Adding to the fun, the Wall Street Journal notes that Obama may not have fully contained the damage from the exposure of anti-American remarks by his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright:
Sen. Barack Obama's Philadelphia speech on race relations last month seemed to put the controversial remarks of his former pastor behind him. But three weeks later, there is evidence of lingering damage.
"It has not been defused," says David Parker, a North Carolina Democratic Party official and unpledged superdelegate. He says his worries about Republicans questioning Sen. Obama's patriotism prompted him to raise the issue of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.'s remarks in conversations with both the Obama and Clinton campaigns.
"I'm concerned about seeing Willie Horton ads during the general election," Mr. Parker says, referring to campaign ads that Republicans widely credited for helping defeat Michael Dukakis in 1988. Mr. Parker said the Wright controversy didn't hurt his opinion of Mr. Obama.
National polls show the Illinois senator hasn't suffered among Democratic primary voters. Contests in Pennsylvania on April 22, Indiana on May 6 and West Virginia on May 13 could serve as an important test. His performance among largely white, less-urban voters could show how well he can secure critical swing states in November.
Sen. Hillary Clinton has argued that she can better withstand Republican attacks. One of her senior advisers last week told the Talking Points Memo blog that he had raised the Wright issue with superdelegates. The campaign didn't dispute the report. "[C]ertainly, as you recall, it was very heavily in the news and people, you know, sometimes have it on their minds," Sen. Clinton told reporters last week.
Recent polls suggest that, in key swing states, the New York senator fares better in head-to-head matchups with Republican nominee Sen. John McCain than does Sen. Obama. In Ohio, Sen. Clinton led Sen. McCain 48% to 39%, while Sen. Obama led Sen. McCain 43% to 42% in Quinnipiac University polls conducted in the last week of March.
I know the Dems will pull together and come out guns a'blazing for McCain soon enough. But for now, the internal struggles in the Democratic Party are both amusing and revealing.
It's the Ultimate Identity Politics Showdown. Back in the ring for another round! Ding!
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