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Dems’ Elder Statesmen

Via Surber, the Scotsman has it that Democratic grandees Jimmy and Al have been tapped to deliver the bad news to Hill:  

DEMOCRAT grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore are being lined-up to deliver the coup de grâce to Hillary Clinton and end her campaign to become president.

See, I didn’t make that up. They really did call them Democratic grandees. Only because they’re Brits, they said “Democrat grandees.” Anyway …

Falling poll numbers and a string of high-profile blunders have convinced party elders that she must now bow out of the primary race.

Former president Carter and former vice-president Gore have already held high-level discussions about delivering the message that she must stand down for the good of the Democrats.

“They’re in discussions,” a source close to Carter told Scotland on Sunday. “Carter has been talking to Gore. They will act, possibly together, or in sequence.”

An appeal by both men for Democrats to unite behind Clinton’s rival, Barack Obama, would have a powerful effect, and insiders say it is a question of when, rather than if, they act.

Obama has an almost unassailable lead in the battle for nomination delegates, and is closing the gap with Clinton in her last stronghold, Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22.

Clinton remains publicly defiant, insisting she will continue the battle with Obama all the way to the Democratic convention in August – when superdelegates, or party top brass, will have the chance to add their weight to primary votes.

But the party’s top brass have concluded her further participation in the race can only harm the party as Republican nominee John McCain strives to take advantage of her increasingly bitter battle with Obama.

Both Carter and Gore occupy the rarefied position of elder statesmen – in addition to their White House past, both are winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, giving them additional gravitas to carry the party with them.

Neither of them is likely to object to the role of bringing down the curtain on Clinton. While neither man has formally endorsed either her or Obama, both have clashed in the past with the Clintons.

It’s a heck of a story.  Not the first noteworthy campaign report out of the Scotsman this year. There’s a couple of problems with this report, though.

Let’s ignore for the moment the fact that Hill is likely to tell both of them to get effed.  I’m more entertained by the straight-faced statement of fact that a one-term loser, who has Richard Nixon to thank for his presidency and his own lame response to the Ayatollah Khomeini to thank for his loss of it, and a no-term loser ex-veep who got his Oscar and Nobel for a film the scientific advocates of his position consider an embarrassment, are considered the elder statesmen of the Democratic Party.  That’s a pretty sad commentary, though when you look at everyone else the party has put forward, from Mondale to Dukakis to Kerry to Pelosi and Reid to Hillary to Obama, with Bill, the only thing you could call a success story having several big fat asterisks, I guess Jimmy and Al as elder statesmen makes sense. There’s not much left, though I noticed that Gary Hart’s made a bit of a comeback.

Anyway, I’m going with Hill telling them to get effed, and I think Jimmy and Al are expecting that, too. I also think they’re a little scared of her and Bill. Mainly her, because let’s face it, she is scary. But I’ll bet Bill wouldn’t have to break much of a sweat making the pair of those guys feel small, grubby, kind of dumb, sheepish, maybe if he’s on his game even sleazy. And they know that. Which is why I think option 2 is more likely.

A number of options are being considered by the higher echelons of the Democrats, but they fall roughly into two categories. One is for Carter and Gore to go to Clinton privately and ask her to step down. The other is for both men to appear in public and endorse Obama – a move which would see a majority of superdelegates go with them.

The campaign to force Clinton to make an early exit is being masterminded in Congress, home to the most influential of the superdelegates. Senate Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have called on superdelegates to hold an unofficial congress in early June to anoint a winner, rather than waiting for the convention in Denver.

Masterminded in Congress by Pelosi and Reid? Stone the bloody crows!* Hero of Tuzla vs. the Scarf of Damascus and that other guy? My money’s on Tuzla. 

Pelosi has drawn withering fire from the Clinton camp for saying that these superdelegates must follow the national vote, with Clinton insisting that they should “vote with their conscience”.

Yet some in the Democratic elite are wary of moving too soon. Polls show that 30% of Clinton’s supporters would vote for McCain if she fails to become the nominee. To close off Clinton’s bid before millions have had the chance to vote risks causing the very split that officials are desperate to avoid.

Political wags might look at that combination of factors and say, “They’ll find a way to eff it up.” And quite seriously, this has all been fun, but it is a weighty matter that merits a sober examination. Large numbers of votes are at stake, after all. Quite possibly enough to sink any chance of the Dems winning in the general. Do you really think Dems intend to bollix this?

All things considered, I’m going to have to go with ”They’ll eff it up.”

There’s one other big problem with this story.

But a loss to Obama, or even a single-digit victory, in Pennsylvania will seal Clinton’s fate. Pennsylvania is the last big state left in the race, and the last chance for Clinton to claw back Obama’s delegate lead. “If he (Obama] wins (Pennsylvania] flat out, I think the big foot will come down,” a source said.

The story adds only as an afterthought, a tacked-on update that isn’t part of the cental argument, the fact that Obama just called Pennsylvania a state full of sister-loving snakehandling Jesus-addled gun nuts. Clinton may be a big fat liar, as the Scotsman does point out, but pre-flap polls still show her with a lead in Pennsylvania, whose residents Obama just called, to put it charitably, a pack of goobers. And even a sister-loving snakehandling Jesus-addled gun nut who’s proud to be a sister-loving snakehandling Jesus-addled gun nut isn’t much interested in hearing some fancy pants Harvard grad social worker from Chicago describe him like that to a bunch of rich people in San Francisco. I could be wrong about that.  Then, I suppose, I could be wrong about Hillary telling a former one-term president and an ex-veep no-term loser and the Democratic Party to get effed. But Ehud Olmert just did.  And the Clintons are like the Israelis of Democratic politics. No offense intended, Israel. But they do what they have to do, they don’t give up, and they don’t mind telling people to eff off.

* Note to lexicographers: Used here solely to express superlative incredulity, maybe with a tinge of exclamatory wonder. No annoyance. I welcome the involvement of Pelosi and Reid in all matters of Dem strategizing.

Topics: pols, Clintons

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:18 am on Sunday, April 13, 2008

13 Responses to “Dems’ Elder Statesmen”

1. JM Hanes Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 2:32 am

   “An appeal by both men for Democrats to unite behind Clinton’s rival, Barack Obama, would have a powerful effect….”

   Kind of like an advert for emetics.

2. Elroy Jetson Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 3:20 am

   Two months ago this primary was heralded as historic. The first viable black candidate versus the first viable woman. They were saying, “Look at our party, aren’t we special?” They were singing kubaya in harmony in the weeks after Edwards dropped out.
   Now, mostly because of their own words, neither one of them is viable. The more they campaign, the worse they look. There is not one solution to this mess that is workable and they can’t blame this on Bush or Cheney.
   Keep on a poppin’ that popcorn. Truth really is stranger than fiction. I’m enjoying the hell out of this farce. Here’s hoping Hillary wins by double digits in PA.

3. theospark Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 4:36 am

   I hope they take garlic and wooden stakes when they go to break the ‘good’ news.

4. Tigerhawk Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 7:36 am

   The idea that Al Gore, who tried to sue his way into the presidency, is now going to tell Hillary Rodham Clinton to “stand down” for the good of everybody else is beyond hilarious.

5. sarah rolph Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 8:22 am

   There is so much to laugh at here, it’s hard to know where to start!

   Are there any Democrats who *don’t* consider themselves grandees? How can you tell which ones are really in the “higher echelon”? Is there a secret password? I’m pretty sure the Clintons think they’re more important than any “party elders.”

6. Fatty Bolger Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 9:45 am

   Hey, why should John Kerry be left out of the fun?

   Hmm, just got a mental image of Jimmy, John, and Al as wise men, looking down at a baby Obama with a halo, in the manger. (Hillary is the snake curled around a tree, off to the side.)

7. Don Surber » Blog Archive » To the rescue Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 10:26 am

   […] Jules Crittenden linked. […]

8. The_Real_JeffS Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 10:56 am

   Let’s ignore for the moment the fact that Hill is likely to tell both of them to get effed.

   Billary and Lord Goreacle™ are exclusive members of a mutual loathing society, so while He might relish the though, Billary will certainly tell Him to eff off.

   And Jimmah? Jeez, he’ll have a heart attack from her withering glare.

   No, if these “Democrat grandees” (snort!) have the nads to do this, they’ll just publicly endorse The Messiah™. And then run for cover.

9. Edde Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 11:36 am

   “Hero of Tuzla vs. the Scarf of Damascus”

   I owe you a beer for that one!

10. Carter and Gore to end Clinton bid? : Stop The ACLU Says:
    April 13th, 2008 at 11:42 am

    […] Jules Crittenden: Let’s ignore for the moment the fact that Hill is likely to tell both of them to get effed. I’m more entertained by the straight-faced statement of fact that a one-term loser, who has Richard Nixon to thank for his presidency and his own lame response to the Ayatollah Khomeini to thank for his loss of it, and a no-term loser ex-veep who got his Oscar and Nobel for a film the scientific advocates of his position consider an embarrassment, are considered the elder statesmen of the Democratic Party. […]

11. RebeccaH Says:
    April 13th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    It’s pretty clear The Scotsman doesn’t understand American politics. I haven’t had this much fun in I can’t remember when. At this point, no matter what the Dems do, they’ll eff it up. And since Obama’s foot-in-mouth debacle in San Francisco, I don’t think he’s going to do very well in Pennsylvania.

12. Michael Lonie Says:
    April 13th, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    The Dems are desperate to end this primary before Mr. Obama and his oh-so-charming wife reveal any more of their true natures. Mr. Obama’s comments to a bunch of fat-cat lefties in San Francisco is so revealing of his arrogance and contempt for ordinary Americans that only a psychiatrist could get deeper into his unconscious than his own comments do. And it’s obvious that the lefties who dominate the Democratic Party share every bit of that arrogance and contempt. None of them see anything wrong with his comments, it’s what they always hear when they gather together, and what is commonly spoken among the population of our elite universities. What bigoted slimeballs.

13. bill_w Says:
    April 14th, 2008 at 12:21 am

    This is probably one of the funniest pieces in ages. Don’t know where to start, but after guffawing through the first part, this one had me doubled over laughing:

    Both Carter and Gore occupy the rarefied position of elder statesmen – in addition to their White House past, both are winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, giving them additional gravitas to carry the party with them.

    The Nobel prize did nothing to add to their stature, it merely showed how inconsequential and out of touch the Nobel people are, and made a mockery of the prize.

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