Sunday, April 27, 2008
NEW DEMS ARE OLD LOSERS
Barack Obama is the new George McGovern:
If you look at Obama’s vote in Pennsylvania, you begin to see the outlines of the old George McGovern coalition that haunted the Democrats during the ‘70s and ‘80s, led by college students and minorities. In Pennsylvania, Obama did best in college towns (60 to 40 percent in Penn State’s Centre County) and in heavily black areas like Philadelphia.
Scroll down for previous 1972-ish thoughts. Meanwhile, Hillary is the new Al Gore:
One thing many people haven’t noticed about Hillary Clinton’s 55% to 45% victory over Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary is that it put her ahead of Obama in the popular vote.
(Via James Taranto)
UPDATE. The New York Times is in deep Democrat despair. Paul Krugman:
Mr. Obama was supposed to be a transformational figure, with an almost magical ability to transcend partisan differences and unify the nation. Once voters got to know him — and once he had eliminated Hillary Clinton’s initial financial and organizational advantage — he was supposed to sweep easily to the nomination, then march on to a huge victory in November.
Well, now he has an overwhelming money advantage and the support of much of the Democratic establishment — yet he still can’t seem to win over large blocs of Democratic voters, especially among the white working class ...
Unless Democrats can get past this self-inflicted state of confusion, there’s a very good chance that they’ll snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this fall.
You can almost feel the air seeping out of the Obama phenomenon. The candidate and his aides are brainstorming ways to counter the Clinton death-ray machine and regain the momentum. They need to generate some new excitement and enthusiasm, and they need to do it soon.
One of the problems is that anger is growing like a cancer among Democrats ...
What we’re witnessing here — in what was supposed to have been a championship season for Democrats — is a potential train wreck.
Hillary grows more and more glowy as Obama grows more and more wan.
Is she draining him of his precious bodily fluids? Leeching his magic? Siphoning off his aura?
Only Frank Rich is holding fast to the dream:
The Democrats’ unending brawl may be supplying prime time with a goodly share of melodrama right now, but there will be laughter aplenty once the Republican campaign that’s not ready for prime time emerges from the wings.
Keep those chins up, Frank.