Little-Acorn
01-16-2008, 01:17 PM
The most astonishing result of yesterday's Michigan primary, is that Hillary Clinton was barely able to eke out a slim majority, even though she didn't have any opponents in the race! She got 56% percent of the vote… and "Uncommitted" got 40%.
It reminds me of an old ethnic joke I once heard:
"The Italians and the Poles were playing a football game against each other. The game seesawed back and forth as football games do. Then at 4:00, a nearby factory sounded its steam whistle, signifying that its day shift had ended.
"In the stadium, the Polish team immediately got up and walked off the field.
"Six plays later, the Italians scored."
OK, it's not quite true that Hillary had NO opponents. Kucinich and Gravel scored in the lower single digits, but their participation was clearly marginal and unimportant.
But the specter of Hillary almost losing the majority, even with no one running against her, is unique in my memory. And it has to be sounding alarm bells throughout her campaign. The "uncommitted" vote, likely made up of frustrated Obama and Edwards voters, amounts to an "Anybody but Hillary" vote in this primary. And it is massive. Even when people didn't have a chance to vote for their guy, they still didn't want to vote for Hillary.
If Hillary is smart (and no one says she isn't), I'll bet she's ruing the day she EVER went to Michigan.
It reminds me of an old ethnic joke I once heard:
"The Italians and the Poles were playing a football game against each other. The game seesawed back and forth as football games do. Then at 4:00, a nearby factory sounded its steam whistle, signifying that its day shift had ended.
"In the stadium, the Polish team immediately got up and walked off the field.
"Six plays later, the Italians scored."
OK, it's not quite true that Hillary had NO opponents. Kucinich and Gravel scored in the lower single digits, but their participation was clearly marginal and unimportant.
But the specter of Hillary almost losing the majority, even with no one running against her, is unique in my memory. And it has to be sounding alarm bells throughout her campaign. The "uncommitted" vote, likely made up of frustrated Obama and Edwards voters, amounts to an "Anybody but Hillary" vote in this primary. And it is massive. Even when people didn't have a chance to vote for their guy, they still didn't want to vote for Hillary.
If Hillary is smart (and no one says she isn't), I'll bet she's ruing the day she EVER went to Michigan.