It’s Over
Finally, North Carolina mattered in the presidential race.
The home of hard-edged racial politics clinched the nomination of Barack Obama. And put the nail in the coffin for Hillary Clinton.
The Clinton campaign expected to do much better here. They hoped to keep the margin to five points. They even dreamed of an upset.
They thought they had momentum. They had their Ace campaign manager. They had a top-flight in-state team. They had the Jeremiah Wright flap. They had the shameless gas-tax pander. They had Hillary, Bill and Chelsea everywhere.
Yes, they were worried about the early voters. But they thought Tuesday’s turnout looked good.
So a 14-point loss is devastating.
Here is what happens next:
- Clinton plays out her string in West Virginia and Kentucky. She goes out gracefully with a couple of final, meaningless wins.
- The superdelegates fall in line. Hillary has no way to sway them now.
- Obama picks her as his running mate. McCain will have to fight him, her and Bill.
A few die-hards will want to fight on to Denver. But you can do that only when there is a great ideological divide: Humphrey-McCarthy in 1968, Ford-Reagan in 1976 or Carter-Kennedy in 1980. The only cause now would be Clintonian ambition.
If Obama loses in November, Clinton will be the presumptive nominee in four years. If he wins, she is Vice President, and she won’t be any older in eight years than John McCain is today.
It’s Over
Finally, North Carolina mattered in the presidential race.
The home of hard-edged racial politics clinched the nomination of Barack Obama. And put the nail in the coffin for Hillary Clinton.
The Clinton campaign expected to do much better here. They hoped to keep the margin to five points. They even dreamed of an upset.
They thought they had momentum. They had their Ace campaign manager. They had a top-flight in-state team. They had the Jeremiah Wright flap. They had the shameless gas-tax pander. They had Hillary, Bill and Chelsea everywhere.
Yes, they were worried about the early voters. But they thought Tuesday’s turnout looked good.
So a 14-point loss is devastating.
Here is what happens next:
- Clinton plays out her string in West Virginia and Kentucky. She goes out gracefully with a couple of final, meaningless wins.
- The superdelegates fall in line. Hillary has no way to sway them now.
- Obama picks her as his running mate. McCain will have to fight him, her and Bill.
A few die-hards will want to fight on to Denver. But you can do that only when there is a great ideological divide: Humphrey-McCarthy in 1968, Ford-Reagan in 1976 or Carter-Kennedy in 1980. The only cause now would be Clintonian ambition.
If Obama loses in November, Clinton will be the presumptive nominee in four years. If he wins, she is Vice President, and she won’t be any older in eight years than John McCain is today.