America's Democratic 'Undead' Stumble On

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'Hillary prepares for another long day.'

[de Volkskrant, The Netherlands]

Nachrichten, Switzerland

America's Democratic 'Undead' Stumble On

"The Clinton camp wants to take a slice of McCain's pie, while Obama wants to bake his own … Unfortunately, Obama has begun to display certain Clintonesque properties - the bitterness of the primary elections has left its mark, transforming he, too, into a political zombie."

By Patrik Etschmayer

Translated By Patrik Etschmayer

April 24, 2008

Switzerland - Nachrichten - Original Article (German)

Hillary Clinton recieves a bat as a gift at the Cove Ballpark in South Bend, Indiana, Apr. 26.

BBC NEWS VIDEO: The Clintons think they've turned a corner after Pennsylvania win, Apr. 24, 00:02:11

Yup, she's done it. Hillary Clinton holds on in the race. First and foremost because she can. There's no good reason for her to believe that the approaching Primaries, which are supposed to be non-Hillary States since they are bereft of her cohort of elderly White voters, will help her close the gap with Obama.

Instead, it looks as though she'll come to the Democratic Convention as a strong but losing second-place-finisher trying to scoop up Superdelegates, the 800-member Democratic nobility that will almost certainly have the last word on the nomination of John McCain's opponent. But what could Clinton's argument for these votes possibly be? That she never quits and wouldn't accept defeat?

And perhaps that is the argument killer. Many U.S. Democrats recall the last presidential election in which John Kerry - having amassed a veritable army of lawyers and volunteers behind him to fight irregularities in vote counting - simply abandoned the fight. This despite glaring irregularities in Ohio and the possibility that for a second time, Democrats had lost an election to George W. Bush because votes were counted incorrectly.

A bitter, unyielding campaigner who is willing stoop as low as needed, won't give a hair's-inch of ground and who'll fight to the last moment for the last vote and be the last one standing - that would likely be the right opponent for John McCain.

The objective of the next election should be that not a single vote goes uncounted. But in the face of America's repeated and almost notorious election irregularities - even in the Pennsylvania primary - this could be just a pious wish. One might consider it a cynical joke that in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, Clinton won two states that election-monitoring groups rate as extremely questionable in terms of Black Box Voting and electoral shortcomings.

[Editor's Note: Black Box Voting is defined as, "Any voting system in which the mechanisms for recording and/or tabulating the vote are hidden from the voter, and/or the mechanism lacks a tangible record of the vote cast ."]

But one must question how Clinton would stand up in a campaign against McCain. Her argument is that she would draw more of her opponents' core-voters. But Obama does something that Clinton no longer wangles: he mobilizes new voters. The Clinton camp wants to take a slice of McCain's pie, while Obama wants to bake his own.

And this is precisely what Clinton seems to want to prevent with her war of attrition. She has never offered a new perspective; only tried and tested ones. That was supposed to be enough. But then came Obama, who turned her into a zombie-candidate. If you're not attractive enough, you must paint your opponent as even uglier. Unfortunately, Obama has begun to display certain Clintonesque properties - the bitterness of the primary elections has left its mark, transforming he, too, into a political zombie.

If Clinton succeeds it really will be questionable whether in the end, Obama will remain the better candidate. But the benefits of this would only accrue to John McCain and the Republicans. Because if this is only to be a contest between the Democratic undead, chances are that voters would be right in asking what happened to the promised and long- awaited change.

CLICK HERE FOR GERMAN VERSION

SEE ALSO BY PATRIK ETSCHMAYER:

Nachrichten, Switzerland

No Slap for Bush; Pope's Unspoken Endorsement of John McCain

http://worldmeets.us/nachrichten000008.shtml

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America's Financial Crisis: It's Time to 'De-Deregulate'

http://worldmeets.us/nachrichten000007.shtml

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Obama's Words of 'Courage' that European Politicians Should Hear

http://worldmeets.us/nachrichten000006.shtml

Nachrichten, Switzerland