On June 2nd, I
wrote an article describing the tactic I believe Clinton was going to use - forcing a brokered convention, and taking the nomination from Obama. FoxNews, yesterday, began showing a video from Hillary where she is now stating to her supporters that she is pushing for an innocent role-call count of supporters in order to show her need to be on the ticket. (Perhaps Obama informed her that she was not his VP pick)
If Clinton gets an actual vote and the first round is undecided (because of unelectability, Super delegates may still decide to switch leaving a contest), the second round frees the delegates to vote however they so choose. If Clinton has enough delegates personally pledged, she can take the convention, and the nomination from Obama.
"The former first lady did not rule out the possibility of having her name
placed into nomination at the convention, being held Aug. 25-28 in Denver. But
she also said no decisions had been made." reports the AP.
Clinton is moving forward with her supporters as a tactic of unity, but the truth is that she is taking advantage of Obama's falling numbers and series of gaffes in recent weeks on the campaign trail. She states that she is organizing the protest to make the vote go smoothly, but you and I both know that she is really hoping for that vote to go in her favor - she denies it, but this tactic was foreseen.
Obama's campaign is beginning to bend under the pressure of the political machine. His overall poll numbers are up, but the most recent polls indicated that an overwhelming majority do not believe that Obama is ready to lead in areas of national security, and there is a virtual tie on areas of economy (a democratic stronghold). These poor numbers this early in the season are Obama's soft underbelly - and it is something he cannot "Hope" his way out of.
Let us suppose that Clinton takes the nomination. The Republican Party has a battle plan to Tackle the Cackle. They are going to hit her hard on her experience, on her health plan, etc. The problem is that Obama was so far left, and has been moving to adopt all of Hillary's positions in the center, that voters may say that Hillary is the acceptable alternative to Obama, instead of McCain who is increasingly being tied to Bush's Third Term. If Clinton does steal the nomination, however, the Obamanites will likely rally around a Green Party candidate as a protest to the Clinton Empire tactic.
How can McCain steady the GOP ship in the case of a Democratic shake-up? Here are my suggestions:
1. Pick a running mate now. Choose
Sarah Palin as "
the future of the party". She is a young, attractive, energy wise woman with McCain's gusto for anti-corruption in the party. Choosing her now states that the
GOP is solid and ready to take on whomever the Dems throw their way. This is a strong move... waiting until our convention is reactionary and a weakness.
2. Adopt Palin's position of drilling in ANWR. McCain needs to let it be known that it is the GOP willing to work on gas prices, while Obama's tactic of Flopping is empty political words with no intention of action (with Pelosi as his leader)
3. Play up the
Picken's Plan future of energy - natural gas, and the fact that
Palin just succeeded in passing the Trans-Canadian pipeline for natural gas to be delivered to the lower 48 states from Alaska - a key to the future of America's energy!
4. Release a series of TV ads showing that McCain and Palin have been working toward a plan to re-energize the US economy, have won a battle to bring more supplies of energy to the lower US states, and are committed to moving forward on alternative energy not to reach a Utopian oil-free future, but to ensure an America-first energy independence plan.
The key to victory is Energy... that means
Palin.
