This shallow, dipshit analysis is typical of the horse race style crap that passes for political commentary. I think there is a lot more to this "cycle" than outrage-umbrage-disumbrage-out­rage etc.

The Clintons have written off the black vote, and then made the decision to drive a wedge between them and what they hope to be their number two constituency after post menopausal lesbians-- white bigots. Oh, was that mean? Will Clinton supporters take umbrage? Fuck 'em.

If Hillary wants to commit political suicide by these tactics, by all means, go for it. But reducing a vile and intentional campaign tactic taken straight out of the GOP's "southern strategy" playbook to a mere "tit for tat" shows not only a shallow appreciation for what's actually going on, but a rather stunning lack of qualifications to have your musing published.

Oh, and incidentally, smart campaigns are already full of "suicide surrogates" such as Bill Shaheen. They know damn well that after making a stupid and hateful remark, they are going to be "tossed" from the campaign. That's the only function they have from the get go. Hockey works the same way.

Or don't you understand sports, either?

Take a pill!! Or at least try decaf.

caLm down

This is the pros in HRC's campaign at their best/worst. It's like what John Foster Dulles used to call "Brinksmanship:" you take the disagreement to the edge of dissolving into a chaos of mutual hatred, and then see who blinks first. What fun.

That's what a "war room" is for, and the "war room" is what the HRC campaign still has going for it, and NOTHING ELSE. Clinton supporteres like to talk about her "momentum," but if you look at the superdelegate numbers, where she seemed to have it locked up early, and see how they've shifted since the Iowa Caucuses, it looks like it may be a shorter convention fight than the Clinton strategists think.

See:

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Their (only) hope now is that they can maintain the candidate (when doing press ops) in a constant wad of fake rage at Obama and the press, meanwhile sending out surrogates to play gotcha games with Obama to keep the pot boiling, making sweet with the supers and hoping her institutional advantage in Pennsylvania is good enough for a victory there.

That's like winning the trifecta: the odds are against it. Every week, Obama gets closer in teh "big states," and he passed her a long time ago in the party and delegate totals.

What will she do then? She can't steal enough votes in Florida and Michigan to make up the totals if the supers leave her. Unless the solid trends of the last three months reverse suddenly, she's toast.

cathy carron:

caLm down

I'll calm down when Hillary either quits or starts behaving like a Democrat that cares about something other than her own damn self.