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The Path to the Democratic Nomination (2008 Edition)

I just came across a post I wrote in 2008 quoting a Hillary Clinton campaign press release on Feb. 13, 2008 titled "The Path to the Nomination." It included the following:

After Iowa, every poll gave Barack Obama a strong lead in New Hampshire, but he ended up losing the state. And after a defeat in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton went on to win by large margins in California, New York, Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Arizona, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

As history shows, the Democratic nomination goes to the candidate who wins the most delegates – not the candidate who wins the most states. In 1992, Bill Clinton lost a string of primaries before clinching the nomination. He ceded Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Arizona, Washington, Utah, Colorado, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont and South Dakota.
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Similarly, in 1984, Walter Mondale also lost a series of major primaries before winning the nomination, including New Hampshire, Vermont, Florida, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Indiana, Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado, Ohio, and California.

And in 1976, Jimmy Carter lost twenty-three states before winning the nomination, including: Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah.

The media manufactures momentum so it can sell more papers and garner more online traffic. Whatever happens in the Nevada caucuses, I doubt it will be a bell weather of anything. And the media is often wrong. In 2008, South Carolina voted at the end of January and "Tsunami Tuesday" was February 5. At the time, I quoted The Wall St. Journal which reported on a day between the two:

Despite Barack Obama's South Carolina win, Hillary is still significantly ahead in the major states.

Mr. Obama heads into the 22-state showdown as the underdog. The Illinois senator trails Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York by large margins in polls in most of the big states voting Feb. 5. And he lacks the time or resources to campaign intensively in many of those far-flung races to close the gaps.....for all of the attention Mr. Obama has garnered since his Iowa caucus victory at the beginning of the month, Mrs. Clinton has maintained her big lead in national polls -- and in polls in the big states with delegate prizes far greater than any state that has voted so far.

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  • Display: Sort:
    You are so right about the media (5.00 / 3) (#1)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Feb 20, 2016 at 09:26:19 AM EST
    Ginning things up.

    I think it a bit funny that the blogosphere has exploded in outrage about MSBNC giving Donald a town hall and none of the same people are at all concerned about their open relentless and often completely dishonest and irrational 24/7 Bernie fluffing which is being done for exactly the same reason.

    Donald and Bernie are both great for clicks and ratings.

    Kudos to our hostess for speaking her mind (none / 0) (#2)
    by ruffian on Sat Feb 20, 2016 at 06:34:34 PM EST
    Regardless of losing some clicks.

    I'll say that now and it will still apply for the times I don't agree with her and sullenly won't give her kudos....but she will always get my clicks!

    Parent