Print This Post Print This Post

May

19

Obama acting like a leader: won’t declare victory tomorrow night


And someone, if not him directly, is listening to as well as giving excellent advice about how Barack Obama’s response to the most disappointed of primary voters will be the key to his fate in November.

This item in Politico details how, on May 6, an Obama senior advisor said that on May 20, they would declare victory. However, more recently, the campaign has massaged that assertion to mean something a little less than declaring victory.

From Politico:

Concerned about appearing presumptuous or antagonistic towards Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama will not declare victory in the Democratic nomination fight Tuesday in the event he wins enough pledged delegates to claim a majority.

Rather, he’ll tiptoe right up to the line, without explicitly asserting the race is over.

While it may sound like an exercise in hair-splitting, the conscious decision not to declare victory is a revealing measure of the sensitivity surrounding overtures that appear to disrespect Clinton and her supporters.

It’s also a reflection of the Obama campaign’s supreme confidence in the delegate math at this juncture—the campaign now appears secure enough in its commanding position that it no longer feels compelled to declare victory in an attempt to marginalize Clinton.

Why that’s predicted to be what will happen tomorrow:

At the heart of the bid to steer reporters from the he-will-declare-victory narrative [fueled by previous Obama campaign statements about the significance of May 20] is a recognition that Clinton, who trails by a historically small margin, claims millions of supporters who don’t want her unceremoniously pushed out of the race. And the Democratic party views its chances in November as dependent upon its ability to reunite these opposing camps.

“Right now, it is all about unifying the party,” said Peter Fenn, a Democratic strategist unaffiliated with either campaign. “This election should be won by the Democrats if the Democrats unite behind a candidate. The one hope that McCain has is if the party splits. For Obama, who has so far been very concerned about antagonizing Clinton’s supporters, you are walking a fine line.”

Not to mention the fact that the Clinton campaign refuses to recognize the Obama math, stoking an intra-campaign conflict at a time when both candidates are avoiding personal attacks.

Ayup. Very smart, leadership quality move. If it in fact does go down like this tomorrow and through June 3 (read the entire Politico article to learn more).

Bookmark and Share

By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:39 am May 19th, 2008 in Barack Obama, Campaigning, Democrats, Elections, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Media, Politics, Voting, WH2008 

Comments

Leave a Reply




"));