Why Hillary is GOING to use the "nuclear" option...

[lapfog_1]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/04/clinton-camp-considering_n_100051.html

But as David Bender(?) explained on Rachael Maddow's show just now... no matter what happens in the remaining primaries and with the super delegates, by using her people Rules and Bylaws committee (which meets at the end of May), she can FORCE her two challenges to the floor of the convention. There, even if she loses the challenge, she can ensure that Obama in NOT the presumptive nominee until the 2nd day of the convention.

And that would almost certainly cause Obama to lose the GE to McCain...

and... that means she can try again in 2012, running against a then 76 year old John McCain, hoping that we all forget what she did this year.

[peacebird]

1. if HRC pulls that, then she proves my suspicion that her ego comes before her party

[Speck Tater]

2. The fatal flaw in that plan is...

... that after 4 years of McCain there won't be anything worth salvaging of the country. The economy will be ruined beyond repair, the armed forces will be completely broken and non-functional, the middle class will be gone, and 1/2 of all Americans will be living below the poverty line, and 1/3 of them will go hungry every night.

[kenny blankenship]

12. You say that like you think any of that -or all of that- could deter her

[WA98296]

3. She pulls this crap and watch a VIABLE third party birth

[WA98296]

4. She pulls this crap and watch a VIABLE third party birth

[Uben]

9. OMG! A glitch in the Matrix

.....deja vu! They've changed something...........quick, someone check the delegate count!

[Bucky]

5. As I understand it, Obama will be nuclear proof by mid June

It's a nonissue. He'll be strong enough in delegates by the convention that, barring a mass defection of Supers, he can back down on the Michigan and Florida delegates and still squeak through the final nomination. That's the worse-case scenario. The best case scenario is just about the same, but instead of "backing down" he instead "welcomes the full participation of delegates from all 50 states" with open arms and ends up looking like an inclusive candidate.

[lapfog_1]

8. Yes, but he can't be the presumptive nominee UNTIL

the convention vote on the 2nd day.

[BattyDem]

6. Does she honestly believe she would have any support in 2012 after going nuclear?

She wouldn't just be sabotaging Obama, she would be sabotaging the Democratic party. If the Dem nominee loses the GE, what will that do to the down ticket races?

[lapfog_1]

11. She has already filed the challenges...

all that is left is to either win the Rules and Bylaws vote OR file a minority report (she certainly has the votes to do the latter, she MAY have the votes to do the former), then, no matter if Obama WINS every delegate from here on out, he will NOT be the presumptive nominee until the convention.

[4themind]

23. SHe'll lose supporters before that happens IMO

only maybe Ickes will be there at the end, the others have to worry about their own futures. WHat obama will probably do is once he gets the magic number, he'll say that "the voters have voted, and I received the number of delegates needed to gain the nomination, I will also be announcing my running mate in the next week", This will put pressure on hillary, to either drop out or not even have the VP consolation prize. Even if she has filed the challenges already I won't believe that she'll actually do it, untill she does it. Its just bluster in the mean time IMO.

IF there's one thing I can depend on her to do, it's to follow her self-interest, and I think as her chances dwindle, even SHE will see that, if not right now ,then at the time obama hits the magic number. Otherwise we'll just ignore her, her money will dry up(from dwindling donor support) and she have little chance to impact anything(unless the MSM gives her more airtime of course). ANd enough super delegates will jump to obama to avert catastrophe that even WITH MI and FL she still won't be able to catch him. At that point obama can just seat the delegates as is, and there will be no excuse to go to the convention (the turning-pledged-delegates-thing is a dog that won't hunt IMO). We'll have a better view about this tommorrow

[BlooInBloo]

7. Let her do it. I want the entire country to see Clinton and her supporters try to destroy everything

EDIT: Try and fail. Then we can all laugh at her even harder than we have been.

[cali]

10. That's not logical. At all.

If she takes it to the convention over the heads of SDs, she'll bleed SD support over the period between when SDs put Obama over the top and the convention, she'll become a national joke, she'll lose at the Convention and she'll totally destroy her viability for any future run.

[BlooInBloo]

13. Shhh! I want to watch it happen! Don't jinx it!

[BattyDem]

14. Exactly!

There's nothing to stop her SDs from switching to Obama between June and August. She won't win and her reputation would be so badly damaged that she couldn't possibly run in 2012 ... at least not as a Democrat.

[lapfog_1]

16. I am pretty sure this IS going to happen. We will know for sure

by the end of this month when the Rules and Bylaws committee meets. If there is a "minority report" from the committee... then it HAS to be the plan. And not much can stop it.

[lapfog_1]

15. But she will say that "she is exercising her rights" under the rules

of the DNC. And she does have a lot of supporters... all she has to do is drag this out until the convention and then hope Obama loses the GE... she can even continue to "campaign" and keep doing the "kitchen sink" whack job on Obama.

I think that she (much like Bush) lives in a bubble... and believes that this is her best chance to be President (either this time or more likely 2012). And her followers have STATED that once she is nominated, the party will fall in line and support her. And with four years between now and her likely run in 2012, bygones will be bygones, etc. And Obama will be the "shooting star" that failed to win in 2008 (couldn't close the deal!). Yet another flawed African American candidate.

[Blarch]

17. One problem.

any true democrat would hate her for doing that to the party. She wouldn't stand a chance.

[lapfog_1]

19. Any true democrat would hate her NOW for doing

half the crap she has already done...

She has compared a Repuke candidate for President favorably to a fellow Democrat.

And so, so much more than that.

And yet, many Democrats have already forgotten those outrages. This would be just one more.

[berni_mccoy]

18. The Super Delegates will End It before then.

[lapfog_1]

20. That's the point. THEY CAN'T

Only the people on the Rules and Bylaws committee can stop this. And 50% of those (and they are all selected as of now) are Hillary supporters.

[BattyDem]

21. They may be Hillary supporters, but they're also Democrats.

The questions is ... would they be willing to blow up the party to give Hillary what she wants? :shrug:

[lapfog_1]

24. I hope you are right... but my gut feeling is that

unless Obama has blow out wins tomorrow, they WILL do her bidding... the meeting is only 3 weeks away.

[BattyDem]

25. I hope that doesn't happen, but if it does ...

I honestly believe the Democrats will lose the African-American community for decades.

[berni_mccoy]

22. There will be a large number of defections is she does this. That will shut it down.

[Spazito]

26. It's not going to happen, imo

The Clinton family income depends on getting speaking engagements, selling books, etc. The word will go out, their income will dry up and Hillary will lose her Senate seat which she would need for any run in 2012.

This isn't going to the convention without a presumptive nominee, even her mouthpieces have said as much.