A new theory of how Hillary can still win

Richard Poe thinks that Hillary can still carry it off, and has an intriguing argument explaining why. He points out how in the past she has repeatedly won over men who had previously despised her. First there was David Brock, whose book on her, intended to be an evisceration, ended up taking her side, and he then even went to work for her. Then there was publisher and conservative funder Richard Mellon Scaife, her long time foe, who after meeting with her earlier this year said he had changed his mind about her and then endorsed her for president. Then there was Rupert Murdoch, another past harsh critic enemy who now supports her and held a fund-raiser for her.

Poe suggests Hillary can exert the same winning power on the super delegates, most of them men, who are now aligning against her.

There is something to Poe’s idea. Look at me. From January 1992, when Mrs. Clinton first appeared on national television with her obnoxious “I could have stayed home baking cookies” comment, to January 2008, I had nothing but negative feelings about her. Then, in the weekend before the 2008 New Hampshire primary, as I explained here and here, I suddenly, to my own astonishment and embarrassment, started to have a positive response to her as a person (while not, like Brock, Scaife, and Murdoch, giving her a pass on her leftism and her record of corruption), and began preferring her for the presidency over Obama and McCain

If, as Poe tells us, Hillary’s charm, to use a word not normally associated with her, can reverse the seemingly irresistible political currents now flowing in favor of her opponent, it would make her greater than the Irish hero Cuchulain, who fought, but did not overcome, the invulnerable tide.

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However, let us remember that on January 7, after Hillary’s huge loss to Obama in Iowa, Poe wrote an article called “The Fix is in on Hillary,” in which he insisted that she not only could still win the nomination, but in fact had it locked up, because of her supposed total control over the super delegates. I’d be curious to know if Poe has admitted that his assured prediction back then was not borne out, since he’s now arguing, in a sort of desperate last chance, that she can somehow win over super delegates who are disposed against her.

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Tim W. writes:

I don’t think Brock, Scaife, or Murdoch have much in common with the average Democrat superdelegate. Brock is a total flake. He’s a homosexual who first came to fame as a conservative writer, and then went completely over to the far left after being outed. He isn’t someone who rationally assessed Hillary against one of her rivals and concluded that she was preferable. He simply decided to turn against his former allies because they didn’t show open enthusiasm for his sexual fetishes, and what better way to punish them than to hook up with their nemesis?

Scaife & Murdoch are rich eccentrics who could retire to a south seas island tomorrow and live out the rest of their lives in luxury. They can afford to take chances and have no problem switching allegiances. When the GOP began to decline under lame duck Bush, they both probably decided the Republican brand had peaked and began scoping out other politicians. Hillary likely seemed a reasonable port in the storm.

The Democrat superdelegates are mainly establishment politicians. They’ll side with whichever candidate appears to be the future of the party. Hillary might be able to woo them with the argument that she’s more electable, but that’s been obvious at least since Ohio. Yet there’s been no mass movement of superdelegates to her side, and in fact Obama has caught up with her among this group The superdelegates all presumably know Hillary personally, and have known her for years. If she hasn’t charmed them by now, she never will. They’re looking at Obama’s huge crowds and the fact that he’s young and will be around for years to come no matter what the outcome in November.

Richard Poe writes:

My reference to Hillary’s hypnotic hold over men was, of course, satirical. Hillary does not use charm to get her way. She uses bribery, blackmail and threats.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 18, 2008 10:33 PM | Send