[The Telegraph, U.K.]
Le Figaro, France
Will Hillary Go Willingly After Pennsylvania?
She needs a win that is vivid enough to
reverse the course of the election … otherwise all that will remain is for her
to drop out or, through reckless calculation, be dislodged against her will,
which will prolong a fratricidal duel that can only undermine the chances for Democrats
to return to the White House.
EDITORIAL
By Pierre Rousselin
Translated
By Sandrine Ageorges
April
22, 2008
France
- Le Figaro - Original Article (France)
Hillary Clinton is putting everything she has into the
Pennsylvania primary election. In this state where she's the favorite, it won't
be enough to win - she needs a win that is vivid enough to reverse the course
of the election and to present herself as the one
without whom the Democrats cannot beat John McCain in November.
It won’t be easy. The lead once enjoyed by the former First
Lady in this working-class state, which seems sociologically cut-to-order for
her, has been significantly reduced.
Barrack Obama may make beautiful faux pas, but Hillary
Clinton has a gift for over-reacting that causes her to lose advantages of the
moment. Such was the case during the debut of the sometimes racist, often demagogic
paster who was a long-time spiritual advisor of her
rival. Barrack Obama managed to get out of his rut with a well-noted speech on
race.
When more recently, the Black candidate began to speak
of the "bitterness" of the "have-nots" in Pennsylvania who
“cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or
anti-immigrant sentiment,” Hillary Clinton made much ado about denouncing his
contempt for ordinary people. There was in fact, in that phrase, an indication that
could lead one to believe that despite his magic, Barrack Obama is just a politician
like any other.
[Editor's Note: At a San Francisco fundraiser, Obama
was quoted as saying, "It's not surprising then
they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who
aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way
to explain their frustrations."]
But it's not clear that Clinton's attack made any
impact. To the spontaneity - albeit clumsy - of the Illinois senator, Hillary
Clinton replied with a calculation which highlighted her attitude toward God,
the right to bear arms and immigration, none of which is exempt from electoral ulterior
motives.
If Barrack Obama remains the man to beat at this stage
of the race, its because he has managed to escape
every label Hillary Clinton has tried attach to him. He's not the candidate of
the Black minority, or the unions, or the left-wing fringe of the Democratic Party.
For Democrats, Obama is illusive, unclassifiable. He will be much less so if he
faces John McCain, who could easily portray Obama as a
big-spending Democrat that's soft on national security.
Posted by
WORLDMEETS.US
For a long time now, Hillary Clinton has been running
a second-round race in order to impose herself in the first [she has been
running a general election campaign rather than a Democratic primary race]. She
argues that she has a better chance of wining in November than Barrack Obama.
It's an argument that has yet to convince Democrats.
If she wins today in Pennsylvania, she'll be able to say
that she has prevailed in every major state in which Democrats must be strong
to win the presidential election this fall. But if this argument is to swing
the superdelegates that hold the key to the
nomination to her side, her victory must be presented as a triumph that marks a
turning point in the campaign.
Otherwise, all that will remain is for her to drop out
or, through reckless calculation, be dislodged against her will, which will prolong
a fratricidal duel that can only undermine the chances for Democrats to return
to the White House.
CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH
VERSION
[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
April 22, 5:56pm]
