Hillary: Key to McCain Victory?

See the column beneath this one for comments on Hillary Clinton's massive win in WV. The comment that follows is from http://mccainnow.com.

This morning (Wednesday) I got a call from a producer of "The Curtis Sliwa Show" on WABC-radio in New York City. He was looking for a guest who was a strong Hillary Clinton supporter. I didn't qualify because I strongly support John McCain in the presidential election.

However, I did emphasize to the producer that I admired Hillary's grit, determination, and will to win. I also admire Curtis Sliwa, the founder of "The Guardian Angels," for his efforts to reduce crime in American cities. I hope to be on his show soon. If Sen. Clinton believes she would be the best President, and she obviously does, she should stay in the race.

A growing number of McCain supporters (such as Brad Marston and Sheridan Folger) have appeared on radio talk shows in support of the Senator. Of course, we're not "spokespeople for the Senator." Instead, we're "people in support of John McCain" -- and backers of his positions on the issues. McCain is very good at speaking for himself.

Talk radio is an important element of the "new radio." McCain supporters should make good use of it.

I've been suggesting -- and they're only that, suggestions -- that the Senator take bold steps, things that usually "aren't done." One of those was the idea that John McCain should speak out on how the Democrats' "Old Boys Network" was doing everything in its power to deny Mrs. Clinton the nomination. No Republican nominee that I know of has ever done anything like that.

Why should McCain do something that novel? Because whether he wins the presidency depends largely on how effective he is bringing Hillary supporters to his side. Clinton supporters believe, with plenty of justification, that Howard Dean and others are manipulating the primary process in ways that make it almost impossible for Sen. Clinton to win.

For example, Sen. Clinton is extremely popular with Democrats in Florida and Michigan. However, the number of delegates she will get from those states is currently zero.

Also, we hear that SuperDelegates should vote in line with the popular vote (where Obama has a small national lead). However, in Massachusetts, Clinton won by a large margin. Yet that didn't seem to impress Senators Kennedy and Kerry or Gov. Patrick, all of whom have come out for Barack Obama!

In West Virginia, Mrs. Clinton skunked Obama. She won by something like 67% to 26%. Yet Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Superdelegate, is supporting Obama. The state's Governor, Joe Mancin, remains "undeclared." Did they somehow miss the results in WV?

From the point of view of this conservative Republican and McCain supporter, I see some odd things going on. Mrs. Clinton seems to be in a position where she has big wins in important states -- but often still loses the support of the "Boy's Club" in those states.

The developments I'm citing are obvious, but they don't seem to attract the attention of the national media, which does everything but kiss Obama on the lips.

Mrs. Clinton has won New York, California, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and other states, but she's still portrayed as a loser. Something weird is occurring here, and it would not be unseemly at all for John McCain to call attention to the situation.

West Virginia Loves Hillary Clinton

This morning (Wednesday) I got a call from a producer of "The Curtis Sliwa Show" on WABC-radio in New York City. He was looking for a guest who was a strong Hillary Clinton supporter. I didn't qualify because I will support John McCain in the presidential election. However, I did emphasize that I admired Hillary's grit, determination, and will to win. I also admire Curtis Sliwa, the founder of "The Guardian Angels," for his efforts to reduce crime in American cities. I hope to be on his show soon. If Sen. Clinton believes she would be the best President, and she obviously does, she should stay in the race.

"The one thing you know about Sen. Clinton is that she's a very determined person." (Ron Allen, NBC News)

"The Obama campaign spent twice as much money in WV as Clinton." (Lou Dobbs, CNN)

Wolf Blitzer: "Michelle Obama is going to be heading for Puerto Rico . . ."

My response: "Maybe she'll stay there . . . "

Let's see, it's now 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, and the networks are falling over themselves to declare Hillary Clinton the winner. For a change, the networks are right. MSNBC is saying that exit polls are showing Mrs. Clinton will win by "a two-to-one margin."

I have a strong feeling that the margin of victory will be more than two-to-one. I wouldn't be surprised if Sen. Clinton hits the magic 70% number. If she can beat Barack Obama by, say, 71% to 29%, it will be an embarrassment for the Illinois Senator. It would probably be a good excuse for him to ignore West Virginia in the general election.

About those exit polls: Hillary supporters are not big fans of Barack Obama. In fact, most of them say they would not vote for Barack Obama against John McCain.

The numbers for Hillary supporters are as follows: 36% of them -- presumably with many holding their noses -- would vote Obama if he's the nominee. However, an amazing 35% -- more than a third -- say they would vote McCain, and most of them probably would. The rest, about 29%, say they'd stay home on Election Day.

Tonight, there's much talk about the possibility of Sen. Clinton as a vice-presidential candidate. I believe the talk misses two essential points about the V-P nomination. One, she wouldn't accept it; two, Barack Obama won't offer it to her.

In fact, the Republican campaign next fall will feature many Hillary statements about Obama. The famous one is: "I [Hillary] have a lifetime of experience. Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience. Senator Obama has a speech he delivered in 2002 [against the Iraq War]."

Translation: Sen. Clinton believes John McCain is qualified and able to be President of the U.S. (POTUS). She believes Senator Obama is not qualified -- and perhaps not able -- to be POTUS.

If Mrs. Clinton were to accept the vice-presidential nomination, what would she say about her previous comments regarding Obama? Could she say, "Oh, never mind" or "Fooled you, didn't I?"

As the presumptive (and almost certain) nominee, Barack Obama comes into the election with some serious problems. He recognizes them as we see in his new commercials. At one point, the narrator (not Obama) talks about the importance of "his Christian faith," a term I don't believe Obama has ever used. The main segment shows young Barack with his two white grandparents, both of whom he basically dismisses in his book Dreams From My Father.

As you'll recall, he referred to his grandmother as "a typical white person." His grandfather, whom Obama like to say "served in Patton's Army" is dismissed in the book as a man who "never saw combat."

What are they, Barack? A couple of comical honkies or revered relatives? It all seems to depend on how they can be of best use to him.

By far the best candidate in the Democratic primaries is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and her Party is getting ready to throw her under the bus.

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