Don't Hate The Playa, Hate The Game

Matt Lewis | March 06, 2008 8:54 AM

As I noted yesterday, Obama's campaign has sent out a warning that there would be consequences if Hillary somehow stole the election.

But one man's stolen election is another man's hardball politics. And what some Obama supporters might certainly view as "stealing" the election, Hillary supporters (and others) might view merely as playing by the rules -- or even -- playing the game.

Let's look at the super delegates, for example. Aside from the fact that it's ironic that the supposed "party of the little guy" is the party that trusts elitists and insiders to potentially reverse the popular will of the people, the rules do specifically allow these super delegates to be an independent voice. In fact, it seems to me that they would be superfluous if they always merely ratified the popular vote.

Another issue is seating the Michigan and Florida delegates. As I also noted yeterday, there are some good reasons why this should be done.

All of this won't change the fact that Obama's supporters will probably view this as Hillary having "cheated" them. Until recently, that's how I saw things, too.

But keep in mind, though Hillary is currently trying to take advantage of the weird Democratic "rules," such as super delegates, she has also been hurt by them. For example, if the Democrats had "winner-take-all" primaries, she would be well ahead right now, having won New York and California, for instance. If she's going to be hurt by some of these rules, why can't she also benefit from some of these rules?