Dee Dee Myers: Fuzzy Math Redux

Ouch! At least Ms. Myers is facing reality. Maybe she needs to have a chat with Hillary.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dee-dee-myers/fuzzy-math-redux_b_100793.html

Dee Dee Myers

Fuzzy Math Redux

Posted May 8, 2008 | 10:58 AM (EST)


With results in Indiana and North Carolina showing that Hillary Clinton wasn't going to beat expectations, her increasingly audacious campaign attempted a stunning political sleight of hand. They simply declared that the magic number--the combined pledged and super delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination--had changed. No longer would it take 2,025 votes to claim victory at the convention, as every single living, breathing candidate, combatant, and commentator (not to mention voter) had believed for months. No, the new number would be 2,209. The new benchmark was reached by including the delegates that would have been awarded in Florida and Michigan--if the results from those two states had been counted.

Talk about moving the goal posts.

Tuesday was not a good day for Team Clinton. Most of the gains, not to mention the momentum, that Hillary had earned with her substantial victory in Pennsylvania two weeks ago were wiped out. And with time, primaries, and available delegates leaking away, the campaign was clearly looking for a way to keep the game going.

But the math is still the math, even if you change the rules. Hillary Clinton still trails in both pledged delegates and total votes. She needs to win at least one of those two critical categories if she's going to have any claim on the party's nomination. Let's take a look at the numbers:

Hillary won Indiana, beating Obama by roughly 30,000 votes. But he romped in North Carolina, winning by more than 230,000 votes, for a net gain of at least 200,000 votes--or just a fistful short of Hillary's 215,000 vote pick-up in Pennsylvania. Once again, Obama leads by more than 700,000 total votes. Can Hillary catch him? It's nearly impossible. Looking ahead, even if she wins big victories in West Virginia and Kentucky (states where she is expected to do well) and holds down Obama's margin in Oregon, Montana, and South Dakota (states where history suggests he'll win), she would pick up only about 100,000 votes, nowhere near enough to close the gap.

snip//

So, yes, there are scenarios where Hillary could overtake Obama's lead in either total votes or pledged delegates. And if she does, she'll have a strong claim on the nomination. In the meantime, she can't just keep moving the goal posts to keep the game going. Time is running out. And even the Clinton campaign's latest iteration of fuzzy math can't change that.

Dee Dee was very loyal to them...I guess she's going under the bus.

Recommended.

she was just at her alma matter to talk about her book,where my son attends.

bill from ct

had nothing to do with it.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504EFDE123AF937A1575AC0A962958260

snip//

Her job became even more difficult when Leon Panetta took over as chief of staff and a reorganization was promised that was rumored to include permanently reorganizing her. Besides, it is difficult to be a spokesperson for an Administration in which so many are so invested in open advertisements for themselves.

Nevertheless, Ms. Myers has been the face and voice of the Clinton Administration for millions of Americans, giving this President a public profile different, more diverse than any before. Perhaps Mr. Clinton, who understands the value of visible symbols, realized that when he saved Ms. Myers's job and promised to provide her with better access to the inner circle.

This crisis came at a particularly unfortunate juncture for the Administration. Hillary Rodham Clinton lately appears to be in retreat as a power player. If most of us had faced a barrage of stinging criticism of the sort she has received, the temptation to hide under the covers would be strong indeed. When was the last time a President's wife was burned in effigy, as this one was by tobacco farmers not long ago?

They'll do the figuring and tell us when she's won.