White women did in fact lean toward Hillary, by a small 52 to 47 percent margin. But Hillary only got 31 percent of the male vote while tying the female vote. White males? They went with Obama by a full 29 points.
Obama won both married men and women, and he tied on unmarried women -- a heretofore Hillary stronghold. Most likely to unite the country? Obama, by almost 30 points. Most interested in improving relations with the rest of the world? Obama, 56 to 40.
You think these trends are going to change in Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania? I don’t -- no matter what last-gasp neutron-negativism tactics the Clinton team employs.
Bash Obama for plagiarizing Deval Patrick? That negativism backfired. Go after Michelle Obama’s incredible anti-American speech? Women are coming ’round to Obama, so try again. Go super-negative over the next two weeks? That’ll mean Obama beats Hillary by 35 points instead of 20. Lift the sanctions on the Michigan and Florida delegates? That’s an Obama trump card. Bribe or rent the super-delegates? Make my day, Obama is thinking.
If Hillary wants to preserve her career as a professional politician her best bet is to pull back in Texas and Ohio as a prelude to withdrawal. Bill will say no, ’cause his career is even deader than hers. But Hillary has more class than her husband. She also has some vague sense of reality -- of the difference between right and wrong.
The Intrade pay-to-play prediction market showed Obama with a 10 point gain after Wisconsin, giving him an insurmountable 81 to 19 lead. It’s as if Hillary has suddenly become a steeply inverted yield curve, with a rapidly declining credit rating and a liquidity pool that’s quickly drying up. She won’t be able to raise two wooden nickels going forward. Not even Bill can raise enough money in Dubai to keep her out of bankruptcy.
The market has officially pulled the plug on Hillary, terminating her campaign. What’s left for her now is to muster some grace, humility, and character and begin the process of pulling out. To do otherwise will destroy the Democratic party, and what’s left of the Clintons’ badly tarred and tattered reputation. |