Democratic Party anxiety: Hillary still sniping at Obama from behind

Democratic Party anxiety
Hillary still sniping at Obama from behind

Lead editorial in The Statesman, Kolkata and New Delhi, www.thestatesman.net, April 24 2008

Six weeks after the last Democratic Party primary, Pennsylvania as expected gave more votes to Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama, though the latter continues his unassailable lead in “primary delegates”. If Mr Obama had by some surprise defeated Mrs Clinton in Pennsylvania, her campaign would have ended. Now it moves on to Indiana and North Carolina under the same assumptions ~ that she needs to continue to win if she is to have a hope of becoming her party’s nominee for President while if she loses she may have to withdraw. The Republican Party’s nominee John McCain waits and watches in glee as the Democrats offer free cannon-fodder for him to use later in the year. Basically, Mrs Clinton says that Mr Obama is too inexperienced and weak compared to herself; Mr Obama says that her alleged experience is either exaggerated or of a highly dubious sort, and only he can provide real change after the Bush years. Democratic Party loyalists are worried that each of their two star candidates is making the other unelectable. One possible scenario that has done the rounds is that a divided Denver Convention in August will lead to the party choosing the stalwart Al Gore as the Presidential nominee who will then choose Mr Obama as his Vice Presidential running-mate, finally sending Mrs Clinton into the wilderness. The fact such unorthodox scenarios are being floated speaks of the deep anxiety among Democrats that they simply cannot seem to win the White House. (Bill Clinton won in 1992 thanks to a random factor named Ross Perot, Jimmy Carter in 1976 after the Watergate era.)
The world is affected by all this because of the American military actions that may be expected as a result. Mrs Clinton has said this week she would “obliterate” Iran if there was an Iranian attack on Israel - an event that seems far less likely than an Israeli attack on Iran. Mr Obama had earlier said he would attack Pakistan if necessary in the “war against terror”. Mr McCain also has built a foreign policy where “radical Islam” is supposed to be an American enemy. The world might wish that America looked within itself more than outside itself in the search for problems in election-season.