Clark is going to give the nomination to Kerry

[ShaneGR]

Because Clark will now declare "victory" in a .2% race, Clark will go on to Tennessee and Virginia. Edwards and Clark will split the vote, and Kerry will laugh his way to the nomination.

[Endangered Specie]

1. Which is why I was hoping 1 of em would drop out

[D G]

2. I guess that's the "glass-half-empty" way of looking at it...

... I don't see the appeal of Clark or Edwards limited to Southern states. I don't think Kerry should be taking anything for granted just yet either. :shrug:

[abburdlen]

3. I got an idea then

You could ask Edwards to withdrawl and back Clark. :)




just a thought.

[Turkw]

4. Kerry is splitting the veteran vote with Clark, the media has been biased

against Clark. With the four way race now, I don't think they will or should drop Dean, we might see something different.

[Renew Deal]

5. Edwards should drop out

Clark will finish with more delegates tonight. He has more money going into the future and broader appeal.

[ShaneGR]

8. Uh no, on multiple fronts, and Clark does not have more delegates

With Iowa and South Carolina and a split vote in Oklahoma, Edwards has far more delegates. PLUS, Clark spent all his money in a state he could barely even hold onto. PLUS, Clark finished with 6%!!!! in South Carolina. So much for the southern boy.

[anti-bush]

10. Don't forget Missouri

Edwards gets delegates in Missouri, Clark and Dean don't.

[ShaneGR]

12. Oops, yeah

Forgot the largest state of the day.

[pa28]

6. Here we go again

First it's verbal warfare with the Dean people and now the Edwards people are trying to pick a fight.

[Jerseycoa]

45. It's been this way since Iowa

Haven't you noticed? Victory does not become everyone. :eyes:

[Joe the Revelator]

7. Why should Clark drop?

He won 1 state and came in 2nd in at least 3. Thats 4 out of 7 (or more then edwards)

[ShaneGR]

9. Spent all his money and time in a state he barely won

By less than 1%, and finished 40 points behind in South Carolina, a state his campaign was predicting he would win just three weeks ago... and a state he spent more MILLIONS in.

[OKNancy]

20. Honey he has more money than Edwards does

Last I checked 4 million cash on hand, and we Clarkies are givers.

[Clark Can WIN]

34. I'm giving more tomorrow, and I'm going to hit up

my disgruntled Republican mom for some bux too.

[BeyondGeography]

11. Don't worry, Edwards is saying he really won OK

even though he lost.

Whatever.

Kerry is a much tougher draw for Bush than Edwards, who has ZERO credibility in national security and foreign policy. Edwards will make a fine VP nominee (and so would Clark).

[jenk]

32. well Clark nearly choked it away, Edwards came from very far behind

and almost topped clark.

[mikehiggins]

39. True enough. All this strategy was put into motion before Kerry and

Edwards became the media darlings of the day, and Clark was committed to Oklahoma with no way to change horses in mid-stream without appearing to be fumbling. The campaign fought on and won a razor-thin victory, but as Casey Stengle used to say, "a win is a win."

So now Clark has a win and some delegates and the game continues. He managed to eke out a third in NH despite the odds and now a narrow win in Oklahoma against the two guys with "momentum".

Kerry does not have 50+% of the delegates awarded so far and the longer that lasts the more questionable his frontrunner status becomes. The next round becomes Kerry vs Dean, Kerry vs Clark, Kerry vs Edwards.

Chip, chip, chip

(edited for late night spelling error)

[eaprez]

13. Clark was banking

on having to run against Dean as the front runner --- against whom he would have probably fared better. Deans loss in Iowa, and subsequent drop in the polls has hurt Clark who now has to campaign against more seasoned canidates.

[TexasPatriot]

14. i said it before

Edwards has been done for a while - because he didnt knock clark out in NH (and Dean didnt win in NH to open the 'Dean alternative' slot). If Edwards had won in OK, he'd still be a regional candidate.

Tonight - Edwards won his home state and came in 2nd in 2.
Clark won a midwestern state and came in second in 3.

Clark DOES have money - lots of it. Enough to hire Gephardt staffers that Edwards couldnt afford to hire. Clark has a MASSIVE volunteer base. You want to see Clark win a southern state? wait till Texas...

Clark goes on from here and does just fine

[windansea]

18. what he said n/t

[jenk]

35. Clark knocked himself out in NH

Edwards came from 3% to 12, Clark dropped from the mid 20's to 13. Edwards didn't have to do a damn thing, Clark is taking himself out of the race

Clark doesn't have a chance in Tennessee or Virginia, that's where Edwards delivers the knockout blow.

[TexasPatriot]

41. i disagree

Last Tenn poll from Survey USA 2/3...

Kerry 31%
Clark 26%
Edwards 20%

doesnt look like much of a knockout to me... esp since our guy has money and your guy doesnt. And - with Kerry still in the race, its not like the democratic party bigwigs will flock to him to protect themselves from the outsider candidate... they have Kerry for that.

Edwards is a media prop so they dont have to talk about Clark.

[Bread and Circus]

15. That is such a joke, you are trying to blame Clark in advance?

I could just as easily say Edwards is giving Kerry the nomination
because he is stealing/splitting the Southern vote.

I think at this point Clark has beat Edwards in quite a few
states.

Ultimately a trial lawyer with no foreign policy experience
couldn't beat bush anyway.

Why do you think cnn and fox is trying to push him so hard?

[eaprez]

17. That's the same thing they said

about Bill Clinton!

[Bread and Circus]

19. Yeah, and that was a different time in the Country....and Edwards...

is no Clinton.

He may be smarmy, but he doesn't have the gravitas.

Suing as a trade doesn't impress a lot of folks.

[Tim_in_HK]

22. But unfortunately this isn't 1992 . . .

And there's that little problem of Sept 11 and the Iraq war.

Clinton is brilliant, but if Clinton was running this year, I don't think he'd have beat Bush. No way. National security was not an issue in 1992 compared to today.

[Doctor_J]

16. Here's another possibility

Kerry is taking military votes from Clark. Why doesn JFK drop out, so Clark can win?

[krkaufman]

21. I like Edwards

I like John Edwards but he doesn't yet have the credentials for the job of President -- or for beating Bush this Fall. If any of the 4 main candidates should step aside, it is Edwards. At least Dean has executive leadership and governing experience.

Edwards will make a great VP, for Clark .. or Kerry.

[Tim_in_HK]

23. Hey! You are TOTALLY WRONG!

Clark beat Edwards by 0.5%!!

;)

Also, as discussed in previous thread, it's hardly true that Edwards barely campaigned in OK.

GO CLARK!

[ShaneGR]

29. Clark spent 3 mil in 8 states in the last week

Barely won Oklahoma (Less than 1%), the state he spent ALL week in. Got only 6% in South Carolina. Had a dismal showing in Missouri (The largest state, where Edwards took second) and didn't get to give his speech until midnight (In a contested recount election). Meanwhile Edwards finished TIED FOR FIRST in Oklahoma, won SC, finished second in Missouri, and reasonably well in New Mexico. And he won TWO HOURS OF PRIMETIME television tonight. Who do you think is the favorite? Who do you think the media will talk about?

[KittyWampus]

36. Clark Won & Placed Second In 3 States With NEGATIVE MEDIA COVERAGE

how sad is it that Edwards couldn't do better with all the attention he got?

And also all the Republicans voting for him? Because you KNOW the GOP has their minions pumping up support for Edwards.

[jenk]

40. you have no case against the media, clark has been dropping

in all the polls since iowa, how do you explain his fall in NH? he didn't even bother competing in Iowa because he would've gotten creamed, as he did in SC and Missouri.

[TexasPatriot]

54. how do you explain the drop in NH?

how about the fact he was in NH by himself? DUH... how about the fact that suddenly Kerry came out of nowhere to become the big story?

it's not a difficult thing to see - if you dont have Edwards Blinders on.

[Bread and Circus]

57. You are really making your candidate look bad...sorry.

Why do you need to belittle Clark so much.

Edwards did well tonight though Clark has still beaten
him in more states.

[OKNancy]

44. You know what?

You are starting to get real annoying. Remember when some early supporters of another candidate just bugged the heck out of us ( you and me and others)? You are starting to sound like that.

My advise is to cool it, because you may need our help one of these days.

[Jerseycoa]

47. Oh, please

Edwards campaigned in Oklahoma for a goddamn year.

We know who is the media favorite and we know who the media will talk about. We're used to it, but it doesn't stop us. With all that press, I would have thought Edwards would have won a clear first in Oklahoma, instead of a close second.

[Beaker]

48. The media will talk about-

the DLC candidates who they know will "play ball"...

[windansea]

51. won't do ya any good

JK ain't going to win the nomination...and he ain't going to be tapped for VP earlier....he's still on the training wheels

[in_cog_ni_to]

52. Considering

the media BLACKOUT of Clark....I'd say he did pretty damn good tonight! All we have heard for the last 3 weeks is Kerry, Edwards, Kerry, Edwards, Kerry Edwards! I would think Edwards would have done a hell of a lot better than he did. He was 2nd in IOWA AND NH....he had a boost from THAT! Edwards should have done MUCH MUCH better tonight. Clark is the one who had an UPHILL battle. :grr:

[Beaker]

24. If edwards and his people are smart enough to realize this-

and Clark and his people apparently aren't(daring to claim victory in a state where he got the most votes- the pomposity!), then it is incumbant upon Edwards to do the honorable thing and bow out...for the good of the union.

I swear, Edwards's people are starting to approach the blubberness level of Dean people... "why doesn't your candidate get out of my candidates way???"

[charlie]

56. These goofy threads

have that old Green/Dem smell. YOUR guy, YOUR issues, YOUR concerns don't matter in this race and are fucking up OUR efforts to save America. Kindly back out and leave your vote at the door.

What brass. What a crock.

[John_H]

25. Calrk'll win, but if not better, Kerry than Edwards

Rove will Kill Edwards on national security just like he would have Dean. Hope Edwards rethinks his VP decision, though.

[HawkerHurricane]

26. If {blank} dropped out

and threw his support behind MY CANDIDATE, <blank>, then we could certainly beat .

Fill in the blanks as suits you.

[Tim_in_HK]

27. Totally right.

Screw this. Edwards can go home.

[mmonk]

28. Sorry

No coronations. If you want the nomination, you'll have to WIN it. A win and some second place finishes after nine states and Clark should drop out for Edwards? Give me a break.:eyes:

[BruinAlum]

30. Only one problem with that. Kerry could still beat Edwards if Clark

dropped out. I do think Edwards is the only one that could compete with Kerry though. I think Kerry is the best choice anyway.

[KittyWampus]

33. Then Why Did Clark Do So Much Better Than Edwards Tonight?

[jenk]

37. Is nearly choking away Oklahoma considered doing "much better"

just like dropping like a rock from 25% to 13% in New Hampshire was a great victory, I'm sure.

[BruinAlum]

50. Are you sure about that?

Edwards had a very decisive victory in SC.

Not to diminish Clarks performance in OK, but there were 7 states with primaries tonight, and I think Edwards is ahead of Clark in total delegates if I'm not mistaken.

[MrSlayer]

31. Clark is better than both.

He should stay in until everyone finally gets a chance to hear what he has to say. You do as well as he has with zero mass media play and you are a force to be reckoned with. People are going to want know why he's placing so well but they don't know about him. Clark is the man to beat Bush and truly make progress in this country.

[neverforget]

38. Clark is Kerry and Edwards combined. he has Kerry's national security

standing and has Edwards "southern" thing. Edwards should drop out :evilgrin:

[union_maid]

42. If Clark dropped out lots of his support would go to Kerry

In fact, I'm sure that's where some of his intitial support did go when Kerry won Iowa. Some would go to Dean if he stays in. I don't think that Edwards would be the defacto beneficiary if Clark dropped at this point.

[dawn]

43. Hmmm..this is tough for me.

I'm an Edwards supporter, but Clark is my #2 choice. Of course I want Edwards to get more votes, but I don't want Clark to drop out, either. Sigh.

[in_cog_ni_to]

46. Well,

I think Edwards should drop out. CLARK came in 1st in OK. He came in 2nd in NM, AZ, and ND. Edwards won SC and came in 2nd in OK and MO. Everywhere else Edwards came in 3rd or 4th! Give me a fucking break. Clark did BETTER than Edwards tonight....you need to stop listening to the pundits. :grr:

[knight_of_the_star]

49. No he's not

Clark has been fighting an uphill battle and yet Edwards, with free push from the media and GOP backing, only get his homestate (BIG SHOCKER) and 2nd in two others while Clark wins a midwestern plains state, far from home, and 2nd in THREE other states SOLIDLY, Clark is just starting to roll. Wait until we hit Super Tuesday, then Clark will REALLY blitz ahead of Edwards and Kerry. That and Virginia and Tennessee look to be more favorable to Gen. Clark, and he is likely to get a nice healthy bounce from his gains tonight to help him forward in Virginia and Tennesse.

[joshcryer]

53. Clark should give it to that other grassroots campaign.

Which I don't think I have to name.

[D G]

55. Kucinich, right? n/t

[Julien Sorel]

58. Edwards couldn't beat Kerry head-to-head anyway.

He doesn't have the foreign policy chops, and his appeal outside the South remains undemonstrated. The only person who even has a shot at stopping Kerry is Clark, and Edwards has to get out of the race to give Clark a southern base to work from to build momentum. If Clark drops out, do you seriously think Edwards can compete against Kerry in liberal New York and California, not to mention places like Washington? Edwards is the 2004 version of Al Gore in 1988: a guy with a bright future, but his time, outside the South, has not come. If you really want to stop Kerry, Edwards needs to drop out -- now. Since that isn't going to happen, get used to seeing a lot of John Kerry, and be grateful as hell, as I am, that it isn't Howard Dean's red, sweaty face that's going to be spread all over the TV screens.