Will The Democrats Self Destruct Again?

This is why Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean dreams of a convincing Obama sweep in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Former Virginia Governor Doug Wilder today warned there will be riots in the streets if the candidate with the most delegates coming into the democratic convention in Denver were to lose the nomination because the party’s super delegates, made up of members of congress, governors and party leaders, were to award the nomination to the other candidate. The most likely scenario being Hillary Clinton snatching victory from Barack Obama.

“If the super delegates intervene and get in the way of it and say “Oh, no we’re going to determine what’s best, there will be chaos at the convention. If you think 1968 was bad, you watch 2008, it will be worse.”

In 1968, Vietnam war protesters gathered in Chicago and send a message to candidate Hubert Humphrey and the Democratic party. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley sent 12,000 police officers on the streets, and called in the Illinois National Guard. As the nation watched on TV, a bloody riot erupted. Police arrested over 500 people. Hundreds of police and demonstrators were injured.

If Hillary Clinton arrives at the convention with fewer states, fewer votes and fewer delegates, it would be very surprising if the she walks out as the nominee. If the picture is less clear, especially pending how the delegates votes in Michigan and Florida are distributed, the deciding vote of the super delegates would be more complicated.

The deck is stacked against Hillary right now. Since convention delegates are doled out on a proportional basis, even if she wins in big states like Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, it will be difficult to look like a clear front runner again because Obama will continue to amass delegates. If Obama has more votes, more states and is close in terms of earned delegates and then he is not he nominee, his supporters are going to feel like this year is an echo of 2000 when democrats felt like George W. Bush stole the lection from Al Gore.

Even if there aren’t any riots, the level of enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton in the general election would likely be very tepid in comparison to what Obama is generating right now.
That’s one reason why you’ve heard John McCain launching assaults at Obama. Hillary as his opponent is better than an endorsement by Rush Limbaugh.

If there were ever an election teed up for the democrats to win, this is it. Then again, so was 2004. An unpopular president who began an unpopular war with nothing but fear going for him and he won in part because the democrats over thought the race and ran someone competent on paper but not very likeable and definitely not inspiring in person.

Any of that seem familiar this time around?

“Democrats. We never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”