Sunday, April 27, 2008

Bill Clinton's Role in Hillary Clinton's Campaign

The Wall Street Journal has a story out reporting that Bill Clinton has taken on a more prominent role in his wife's presidential campaign. This is a quote from the article:

Mr. Clinton's appearances are designed to boost Sen. Clinton's appeal with working-class and so-called "Bubba" voters, older white men who are likely to sympathize with Democratic economic policies but supported Ronald Reagan and other Republicans. Mr. Clinton is also sending out fund-raising appeals, with strong results, two operatives say.

His role has come at a cost -- to morale among some campaign staff, relations inside the Democratic Party and with African-American leaders, and in the view of some, his own legacy. He has lost considerable credibility with many party leaders, who, as "superdelegates" to the party convention, will be crucial in determining who is the Democratic presidential nominee.


This is a very important development because Bill Clinton understands the concerns of the Southern white working class since he himself came from that class. This understanding probably extends to the concerns of white working class voters in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and West Virginia. The first two were states Hillary Clinton won; she is leading, although narrowly in polls taken in Indiana, and she is expected to win the West Virginia presidential primary.

Of course, as the above quote from the article makes clear, this is coming at a cost. Indeed, it could lead to the super-delegates looking for an alternative to both of them. That would be a natural development from the Clinton argument that the super-delegates should be first concerned with finding the best candidate for the Democratic Party, regardless of who has won the most popular votes or the most primaries and caucuses.

To read the entire article, click here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If the super-delegates would choose an alternative to both candidates it would be removing the power of the voter and would be no better than Republicans stealing elections. I have been a democrat all of my life but this primary is making me want to switch to independent. Our political system has stopped working for the average American and started working only for business. We need to take it back and empower the voters.