Posted by Jed Lewison on Fri Feb 22, 2008 at 12:40 PM Pacific

Hillary Clinton isn't giving up...she is doubling down

It seems that many folks, mainstream pundits and bloggers alike, took Hillary Clinton's closing argument during last night's debate to mean that she's giving up. For example:

NBC: Clinton ended the debate on a VERY conciliatory note | The Nation: It sounded like a concession. | Marc Ambinder: she is thinking, already, about life as a Senator from New York supporting Barack Obama | NYT: [left viewers] suspecting that Senator Hillary Clinton was conceding the race.

Don't be fooled. Hillary Clinton is not giving up. In her closing comment, she gave people a reason to be for her instead of against Obama. For that, she is to be saluted. But she isn't conceding. Indeed, she is doubling down.

Now is not a time for Obama supporters to relax. It ain't over -- not by a long shot.

Here's some reasons why:

  1. Hillary Clinton is continuing her fight to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations seated based on the results of their unsanctioned primaries in which no candidates campaigned. In Michigan, only Clinton was on the ballot. There should be a way for Michigan and Florida to have a say in the process, but you just can't use the results of an election that went uncontested. That's like Politburo rules.

  2. Last night, Clinton dodged a question about whether or not superdelegates should overturn the judgment of voters. Her campaign continues to make the case that they should on its Delegate Hub website.

  3. Despite Clinton's graceful closing speech, she still slammed Obama with the crude "Xerox" one-liner. She backed off after being booed by the audience, but on two separate occasions declined to defend Obama's fitness to be commander in chief.

  4. A small group of her supporters are donating at least $100,000 each for a $10 million pro-Clinton advertising campaign in Ohio that likely violates the law.

  5. Hillary Clinton went on all three network morning shows today. She said that her closing speech in the debate was not a "valedictory" of any sort.

  6. On ABC, Clinton backed away from her husband's suggesting that if she didn't win Ohio and Texas, she couldn't win the nomination -- implicitly embracing the idea that superdelegates could overturn the judgment of voters.

  7. In the same interview, Clinton highlighted the 2,025 delegates it would take to win the nomination in a convention floor fight, indicating that she rejects the idea that the nomination should go to the candidate who wins the magic number of 1,627 pledged delegates -- a majority of democratically selected delegates.

  8. Clinton's campaign spokesman said her closing speech "showed women and men why she is the best choice."

  9. The Clinton campaign is continuing to make the argument that Barack Obama is not ready to be commander in chief -- the exact same argument advanced by John McCain's campaign. Yesterday, Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, and Charlie Black, John McCain's top adviser, discussed the strategy in the Wall Street Journal. The interesting thing? In addition to his work on the Clinton campaign, Mark Penn is CEO of a public affairs firm whose DC-based lobbying subsidiary is headed by Charlie Black. (More here.)

So what does all this mean?

It means you should tell your friends and family in the states left to vote that they need to get to the polls and support Barack Obama. It means now is a good time volunteer for the campaign, if you have the time. It means now is a good time to make a contribution to thecampaign, if you can afford it.

Barack Obama is still winning this campaign -- but he hasn't won it yet.

Hillary Clinton isn't giving up...she is doubling down

It seems that many folks, mainstream pundits and bloggers alike, took Hillary Clinton's closing argument during last night's debate to mean that she's giving up. For example:

NBC: Clinton ended the debate on a VERY conciliatory note | The Nation: It sounded like a concession. | Marc Ambinder: she is thinking, already, about life as a Senator from New York supporting Barack Obama | NYT: [left viewers] suspecting that Senator Hillary Clinton was conceding the race.

Don't be fooled. Hillary Clinton is not giving up. In her closing comment, she gave people a reason to be for her instead of against Obama. For that, she is to be saluted. But she isn't conceding. Indeed, she is doubling down.

Now is not a time for Obama supporters to relax. It ain't over -- not by a long shot.

Here's some reasons why:

  1. Hillary Clinton is continuing her fight to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations seated based on the results of their unsanctioned primaries in which no candidates campaigned. In Michigan, only Clinton was on the ballot. There should be a way for Michigan and Florida to have a say in the process, but you just can't use the results of an election that went uncontested. That's like Politburo rules.

  2. Last night, Clinton dodged a question about whether or not superdelegates should overturn the judgment of voters. Her campaign continues to make the case that they should on its Delegate Hub website.

  3. Despite Clinton's graceful closing speech, she still slammed Obama with the crude "Xerox" one-liner. She backed off after being booed by the audience, but on two separate occasions declined to defend Obama's fitness to be commander in chief.

  4. A small group of her supporters are donating at least $100,000 each for a $10 million pro-Clinton advertising campaign in Ohio that likely violates the law.

  5. Hillary Clinton went on all three network morning shows today. She said that her closing speech in the debate was not a "valedictory" of any sort.

  6. On ABC, Clinton backed away from her husband's suggesting that if she didn't win Ohio and Texas, she couldn't win the nomination -- implicitly embracing the idea that superdelegates could overturn the judgment of voters.

  7. In the same interview, Clinton highlighted the 2,025 delegates it would take to win the nomination in a convention floor fight, indicating that she rejects the idea that the nomination should go to the candidate who wins the magic number of 1,627 pledged delegates -- a majority of democratically selected delegates.

  8. Clinton's campaign spokesman said her closing speech "showed women and men why she is the best choice."

  9. The Clinton campaign is continuing to make the argument that Barack Obama is not ready to be commander in chief -- the exact same argument advanced by John McCain's campaign. Yesterday, Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, and Charlie Black, John McCain's top adviser, discussed the strategy in the Wall Street Journal. The interesting thing? In addition to his work on the Clinton campaign, Mark Penn is CEO of a public affairs firm whose DC-based lobbying subsidiary is headed by Charlie Black. (More here.)

So what does all this mean?

It means you should tell your friends and family in the states left to vote that they need to get to the polls and support Barack Obama. It means now is a good time volunteer for the campaign, if you have the time. It means now is a good time to make a contribution to thecampaign, if you can afford it.

Barack Obama is still winning this campaign -- but he hasn't won it yet.

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