I heard this while at work today, and since Bill Moyers is such a sage of the left I just had to share it with you:
Broadcasting Legend Bill Moyers on the 2008 ElectionsAMY GOODMAN: What about Hillary Clinton now staying in the race?
BILL MOYERS: She's a--you know, I admire Hillary Clinton. I know what it's--I've seen over the years how hard it is for a woman, a married woman, to gain her independence in our society, whatever her profession, and I admire the way she's tried to negotiate her own persona, her own position, her own place in our politics. But if she stays in this race, it can only be at the expense, as I said, of her reputation and of Obama, because she can only move forward by attacking him, by continuing to say he can't win in November, which is not true.
I don't have a horse in this race. I enjoy watching it, and I actually have admiration for all three of these candidates within the political system. But she's got--she just cannot win, except--remember Marlene Dietrich in that great movie where Marlene Dietrich, the actress, says, "See what the boys in the back room will have and tell them I'll have the same"? She can only win in the metaphorical back room, in the superdelegates.
And the key date is not these upcoming primaries. She'll do alright in West Virginia. She'll do alright in San Juan in Puerto Rico. He will do well in Montana, South Dakota, and probably in basically white but liberal Oregon. But this--on May 31st, the Democratic Rules Committee meets to assess how to deal with the Michigan and Florida delegates. Thirteen of the members of that thirty-person committee are Clinton supporters, eight are Obama supporters, the others are undecided. If she were to muscle her way to a decisive moment in that Rules Committee where they decide to change the rules here in the last inning, she will really be hurt.
But that's the only way, barring lightning striking him. You know, that's what she keeps hoping for every day, is that lightning will strike him, and she'll have a--some October surprise in May will happen. That's not going to happen. She can only win in a way that would leave the Democratic Party in shambles.
I am always in awe of Bill Moyers analytical prowess, and his way with words.
Moyers' warning against trying to manipulate the Democratic Rules Committee to change the rules should NOT be taken lightly. Doing so would transform Democratic momentum into a Democratic brawl. The winner of such a brawl is unlikely to defeat McPain.
Please take the time to read or watch he whole interview, its well worth it.|
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