Opinion: Polls good for Barack Obama in NC and for Hillary Clinton in IN
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We’ve learned from the start of his campaign cycle that the presidential polls have not been a reliable predictor of votes, and we offer this with the usual shroud of skepticism. Fresh poll aggregates on Real Clear Politics show solid support for Barack Obama in North Carolina, and strong reason for hope for Hillary Clinton in Indiana.
Which would make Tuesday yet another draw, with neither candidate likely to mount more than an incremental change in the delegate count. This begins to sound a bit like a broken record, but what else can you call this but a stalemate? There aren’t enough delegates left in the remaining contests for either to seal the nomination.
Superdelegates -- let’s just call them SuperDs, shall we? easier to type -- are watching, at least those who haven’t committed. The SuperDs (imagine them in tights and capes) also have to be getting concerned that all that good mojo from the start of the campaign cycle, when everybody got along and made nice, might be gone for good.
The Democrats are very anxious to win the White House in the fall. But is all this discord setting them up for something akin to political self-immolation? From the pragmatic outside perspective, the nation’s in the midst of an unpopular war and is dragged down by a dicey economy. The Republicans hold the White House and their presumptive presidential nominee, John McCain supports the war and has admitted economics isn’t his strong suit.
If the Democrats can’t turn that into a victory, then it might be time for little intervention. And a very large mirror.
-- Scott Martelle
