Already, Support for Clinton Is Crumbling Rapidly
But it's also a strategy that is clearly backfiring on the former first lady, as Obama picked up five more superdelegates over the Memorial Day weekend, including a California congressman who switched his allegiance from Clinton.
Obama "has proven himself to be a thoughtful, knowledgeable and inspirational leader and will take America in a new direction, which we desperately need," said Representative. Dennis Cardoza, who became the 14th superdelegate to switch from Clinton to Obama.
Two of former rival John Edwards' New Hampshire delegates, State Senator Peter Burling and high school teacher Deborah Nelson, held a news conference on Monday to announce they, too, are backing Obama.
Burling told the AP that he and Nelson believe either Obama or Clinton would make a superb president, but it came down to "who can win and who could make a better president." Burling said he chose Obama "because he so clearly understands the American yearning for change. He understands it, he embraces it, and I think he has the leadership to deliver it."
Clinton Still Insists She's More Electable Than Obama, Despite Her RFK Gaffe
Even before the latest superdelegate defections, the Clinton camp was in full damage-control mode, with Clinton campaign surrogates appearing on the Sunday TV talk shows to explain and apologize for her controversial remarks.
“She has regretted those remarks and, frankly, so do I,” Representative Jane Harman (D-California), a Clinton supporter, said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”
On “Fox News Sunday,” Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe tried to put her words about RFK, who was killed when running for president, in context. “She was referring to the time line, how these events have gone into June, it’s happened in the past,” he said.
Clinton herself wrote an op-ed column published Sunday in the New YorkDaily News further explaining her remarks. “I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year’s primary contest is nothing unusual,” she wrote.
McAuliffe, not surprisingly, blamed the media and the Obama campaign for blowing Clinton's gaffe out of proportion. “A hyped-up press over Memorial Day weekend and the Obama campaign inflamed it,” he said. “It’s nice to get a story going and then let it go for three days over the weekend.”
What McAuliffe failed to note that it was a holiday weekend, with many Americans (including this blogger) preoccupied with recreational pursuits and having tuned out the campaign -- not learning about Clinton's remarks until back-to-work day on Tuesday.
Clinton Camp Operating in Denial-of-Reality Mode
Clinton’s comments about RFK clearly came as a shock to many of her supporters, but they appear unwilling to abandon her increasingly quixotic campaign -- indeed, the Clinton camp continues to insist that she can win the nomination and steadfastly refuses to accept the cold mathematical reality that the former first lady cannot overtake Obama in the delegate count.
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