And John Edwards is Still a Fighter Floater!

Just a couple of comments after the South Carolina Primary:

Talk about the “audacity of hope!” The Clintons are now hoping that the Democratic Party will decide to count the delegates from Michigan, where Billary won handily as the only candidate on the ballot; and Florida, where she is expecting a big win. If the Clinton campaign is successful at convincing the Democratic Party establishment to change the rules in the middle of the game to benefit her, the “establishment” candidate, and the Michigan and Florida delegates provide her a margin of victory (or, for that matter, if superdelegates end up providing her a margin of victory), the Democratic Party will have essentially disenfranchised the entire country!

Despite their primary being “unofficial,” Florida Democrats who support Barack Obama still have an opportunity to have their votes register as a critical turning point in the nominating process. After the Clintons’ cynical ploy of trying to encourage a change in the rules to their benefit, if Obama supporters can turn out in sufficient numbers to deny Billary a win in Florida, they could, perhaps, drive a stake through the heart of the Clinton campaign! Clinton supporters in Florida don’t have the same opportunity, since a (currently meaningless) win is expected.

Finally, I’ll close by highlighting my favorite piece of post-election analysis by paraphrasing Joe Scarborough, as he described John Edwards strategy of staying in the race after finishing third in South Carolina, a state he won in 2004:

John Edwards is trying to keep circling the drain long enough that one of the larger candidates gets sucked down first!

Thanks, Joe, for the perfect visual metaphor for the Edwards campaign, although, technically, I don’t think they call it a “drain!”