Democratic Party Official: Clinton Pursuing 'The Tonya Harding Option'

[Sinn Fein]

Political Punch (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/dnc-official-cl.html)

Democratic Party Official: Clinton Pursuing 'The Tonya Harding Option'March 25, 2008 3:44 PM

l just spoke with a Democratic Party official, who asked for anonymity so as to speak candidly, who said we in the media are all missing the point of this Democratic fight.

The delegate math is difficult for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, the official said. But it's not a question of CAN she achieve it. Of course she can, the official said.

The question is -- what will Clinton have to do in order to achieve it?

What will she have to do to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, in order to eke out her improbable victory?

She will have to "break his back," the official said. She will have to destroy Obama, make Obama completely unacceptable.

"Her securing the nomination is certainly possible - but it will require exercising the 'Tonya Harding option.'" the official said. "Is that really what we Democrats want?"

The Tonya Harding Option -- the first time I've heard it put that way.

It implies that Clinton is so set on ensuring that Obama doesn't get the nomination, not only is she willing to take extra-ruthless steps, but in the end neither she nor Obama win the gold.

(In this metaphor, presumably, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would be Oksana Baiul. Does that make former President Bill Clinton Jeff Gillooly?)

- jpt

[d0uche_n0zzle]

She'd have him whacked in twenty seconds if she could get away with it.

[DoucheMeister]

:popcorn:

[LiddyRules]

She'd have him whacked in twenty seconds if she could get away with it. So would most of this site.

[Sinn Fein]

I meant to put this in the original post:

As has been said many times by many people, nobody is dirtier than the Clintons.

[d0uche_n0zzle]

So would most of this site.

I beg to differ, maybe five seconds. :icon_mrgr

[Vyce]

You know, someone brought up a good point. The Democrats can whine about Hillary "ruining" the Democrat party and the election by continuing on with her campaign, but they have no one to blame but themselves. The way the Democrat delegate process is set up, if there are two evenly matched candidates vying for the nomination (and here, there are), it's IMPOSSIBLE for one of them to clinch the nomination without it going to the superdelegates at the convention. So the Democrats really brought this whole thing on themselves, but now that they've realized they're fucked to resolve it before the election, they're trying to force Hillary to drop out. Why should she, when she's likely to win most, if not all, of the upcoming primaries, and still has time to wheel & deal?

[DonTheTrucker]

She'd have him whacked in twenty seconds if she could get away with it.

Don't think she couldn't. Ever see the list of dead people associated with the Clintons?

[Budyzir]

:popcorn:

x2

I am so enjoying this race, Hillary's Balkan adventure is the latest episode that just makes my laugh and laugh.

Politics can be fun! :haha7::haha7::haha7::haha7::haha7:

[LiddyRules]

And once again the Democratic party will destroy itself.

[Ballbuster1]

The whole process stinks. Super delegates, electoral collage votes,
and primaries that don't count because they were held too early.
That's all bullshit. There should be 1 primary day and it should be
by popular vote only as well as it should be that way with the vote
in November. The process is archaic and needs a major overhaul.

[wes mantooth]

Dead white hooker.

I'm taking bets...who's in.

[South Jersey]

For a minute there I was fearing a Bill & Hill Sex tape! :yuck2:

[roche]

The whole process stinks. Super delegates, electoral collage votes,
and primaries that don't count because they were held too early.
That's all bullshit. There should be 1 primary day and it should be
by popular vote only as well as it should be that way with the vote
in November. The process is archaic and needs a major overhaul.

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

[Ego]

The whole process stinks. Super delegates, electoral collage votes,
and primaries that don't count because they were held too early.
That's all bullshit. There should be 1 primary day and it should be
by popular vote only as well as it should be that way with the vote
in November. The process is archaic and needs a major overhaul.

[Larry King]How important are food and water to sustaining life?[/Larry King]

[mendozathejew]

at a minimum she wants to do enough damage to Obama that his chances of beating McCain are significantly lower, and she can run again in 2012

[Ego]

Maybe she'll get taint cancer and die before then.

[DonTheTrucker]

The whole process stinks. Super delegates, electoral collage votes,
and primaries that don't count because they were held too early.
That's all bullshit. There should be 1 primary day and it should be
by popular vote only as well as it should be that way with the vote
in November. The process is archaic and needs a major overhaul.

The Republican party has none of this drama associated with their process. They pick a guy early and he's their guy. They have their shit so much more together that I'm not sure we'll ever see another democrat president until they change their selection process and stop picking crooks. There has to be an honest democrat SOMEWHERE.

[LiddyRules]

has to be an honest democrat SOMEWHERE. Nope, all Democrats are evil just as all Republicans are pure saints.

[Voss's Tumor]

The Republican party has none of this drama associated with their process. They pick a guy early and he's their guy. They have their shit so much more together that I'm not sure we'll ever see another democrat president until they change their selection process and stop picking crooks. There has to be an honest democrat SOMEWHERE.

Haha, Republicans are simple because they pander to the religious right, and they have to be simple to get that vote.

[BIV]

She should exercise the James Earl Ray option.

[Vyce]

Haha, Republicans are simple because they pander to the religious right, and they have to be simple to get that vote.

Sure, that's it.

Are you even AWARE of how the two delegate processes are set up?

I mean, I referenced this in my earlier post.

The way the Democrat process was established, it was done in a semi-retarded fashion, so that if you have two relatively close candidates, where neither is able to get the required amount of delegate to clinch the nomination, it HAS to go to the superdelegates at the convention.

The reason the Republican system is over and done with is because they don't have all of that bullshit. It's designed so that in many states, you have winner-take-all delegate systems, so that the party doesn't have to worry about this sort of shit going down, because someone from the party will usually gain enough delegates early on to clinch the nomination or have such a lead that overcoming them isn't feasible.

Edit: And pandering to the Religious Right sure worked out for Huckabee, didn't it?

[Fr. Dougal]

The whole process stinks. Super delegates, electoral collage votes,
and primaries that don't count because they were held too early.
That's all bullshit. There should be 1 primary day and it should be
by popular vote only as well as it should be that way with the vote
in November. The process is archaic and needs a major overhaul.

Exactly. Fuck the early states. They decide the path for the rest of the nation? Fuck that. They don't accurately represent the entire nation.

It should be a few weeks of campaigning by anyone who wants to be president. All the debates and whatever... then it comes down to one primary, nationwide, across the country... to decide the party nominees... Then only those 2 until November.