Hillary Clinton's advisers 'in a state of panic'(push for superdelagates begins)

[Wretched Excess]

Hillary Clinton's advisers 'in a state of panic'

Hillary Clinton's most senior advisers are in a state of "panic" about her presidential prospects and are plotting to enlist Democrat leaders in Congress to thwart her rival Barack Obama's ambitions.

The Clinton camp is braced for Mr Obama to win a series of primary elections over the next three weeks, which they fear could hand the Illinois senator unstoppable momentum in the race for the White House.

Mr Obama has begun calling those "super delegates" - 795 congressmen and senior party officials who could break a dead heat - who are committed to Mrs Clinton, asking them to change their minds and help him wrap up the nomination.

As of tonight, the two candidates were neck and neck but Mr Obama appeared to be gaining momentum.

"He's saying: 'Hey, I won your state and I won your congressional district, why are you supporting her?'" a Democrat strategist revealed.

The Clinton camp hopes to stop the Obama bandwagon by winning Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4, after which Mrs Clinton is planning to call on party grandees including Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Harry Reid, the party's leader in the Senate, to persuade Mr Obama to stand down.

Clinton aides have privately admitted that Mr Obama would only consider such a move if offered the position of vice presidential running mate, something Mrs Clinton has always been reluctant to consider.

A senior Democrat who has discussed Clinton campaign thinking with a member of her inner circle said: "The Clintons are in a state of panic. She has to win both Texas and Ohio."

But he added that this might prove impossible if Mr Obama maintains his momentum and wins most, or all, of the nine contests which come before that.

Mr Obama won yesterday's primary elections held in Washington state and Nebraska, and is expected to do well in Louisiana.

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it all comes down to TX and OH, it appears.

[Lauri]

i can only imagine how hard she is pushing for the superdelegates now..

if they broker the Dem convention, is it behind closed doors? will we get to see what is happening?

[Wretched Excess]

i can only imagine how hard she is pushing for the superdelegates now..

if they broker the Dem convention, is it behind closed doors? will we get to see what is happening?

if it's brokered, then everything happens under the radar.  we probably won't know until they have a nominee.

that's the way politics happened for years and years.  lincoln (just off the top of my head) was the product of a brokered convention.

[Lauri]

i can only imagine how hard she is pushing for the superdelegates now..

if they broker the Dem convention, is it behind closed doors? will we get to see what is happening?

if it's brokered, then everything happens under the radar.  we probably won't know until they have a nominee.

that's the way politics happened for years and years.  lincoln (just off the top of my head) was the product of a brokered convention.

i know its 'tradition' .. but i would think the Dem public would hate that.

[Wretched Excess]

Democratic insiders agree that Al Gore is the ultimate prize among uncommitted superdelegates, and Clintonistas well understand a Barack Obama endorsement by Bill Clinton's veep would be a huge blow to Hillary.

They're hoping Gore will stay on the sidelines, but shudder over reports Obama has been courting Prince Albert for months.

They also believe that Gore must be sorely tempted to stick it to the Clintons, whom he blames in large part for his defeat in 2000.

"The level of animus between them is unbelievable," a well-placed Hillary partisan confided.

A prominent Democratic strategist with close ties to both camps echoes: "The Clintons and the Gores can't stand each other."

Linky

well, there's gratitude for ya.  the Goracle was universally considered to be a lightweight and something of a whack job until clinton picked him as his running mate.  the impact of moni*cough*ca notwithstanding, he would be president if he had won his own state in 2000.

he was an awful, awful presidential candidate.  not as bad as that corpse named kerry, but spectacularly bad in his own right.