Air Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Hiller Instinct: West Virginia Democratic Primary
Hillary Clinton was a winner and a loser tonight, while Barack Obama and the Democrats were just losers.
Hillary won the primary, but lost another chance to end this race with grace.
Obama lost stature and their party lost time.
"It's not over until the lady in the pants suit says it is!" Clinton said.
Yes, she can keep running. But why? You can't believe her victory somehow makes Barack Obama a stronger candidate by toughening him up for November, when logic says it just weakens him. So maybe she's still in it for history:
"A Democrat doesn't win the White House without winning West Virginia--that's a fact," Clinton said.
Well here's another fact. Barack Obama is a Democrat, too. And if West Virginia wants to vote for one in November, it doesn't have to be her.
What's she's really talking about is electability, but put the major national polls together and Hillary beats John McCain by 4.5-percent while Obama's margin is virtually identical: 4.4-percent.
And Obama has more votes, more delegates, and math on his side.
But let's slog on, until next Tuesday, when the parade of primaries moves to
Oregon--where Obama is favored-- and to Kentucky, where Hillary is expected to win big again.
It's a week away, but you can already hear her:
"I'm staying in this race until there's a nominee."
According to Clinton's campaign chairman, the media is biased against her. "It is what it is," says Terry McAuliffe, "we have to deal with the hand we're dealt."
But look at her cards. It is not biased to conclude she has a losing hand.
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