Sunday, March 9, 2008

Who elected the pundits?

I'm so tired of reading and watching all of these political "experts" telling me what's going to happen in this campaign. They don't know. And the American people have done a wonderful job of proving them wrong.

After all, it was the pundits in the press who announced that Hillary Clinton was the "inevitable" Democratic candidate -- she never said that. But then suddenly Obama was "unstoppable" -- only to be stopped in Ohio and Texas. The theory I personally despise states that women ('cause you know we're all the same) will be so upset/betrayed/angry if Obama gets the nomination that we will either (a) vote for McCain, or (b) not vote at all. Of course neither of those things are true in this household, nor I'm sure, are they true across the country. That's just ridiculous, and insulting.

The last great theory I heard was that massive numbers of influential African Americans who had supported Clinton were suddenly "defecting" to the Obama camp. Except, no they're not. Today's Washington Post reports on Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who is endorsing Hillary Clinton:
Nutter's endorsement of Clinton in December seemed inconsequential at the time. After all, no one in the political world believed the race would last beyond Feb. 5, Super Tuesday.

But, as the race has gone on (and on), Pennsylvania has become more and more relevant, and Nutter has emerged as a far more central figure in the ongoing debate over whether black elected officials should line up behind Obama and his potentially history-making candidacy.

Asked how much pressure he has come under to reconsider his endorsement of Clinton, Nutter responds curtly "none" before noting: "I don't know if anyone is asking Senator Kennedy or Senator Kerry, who happen to be white, whether they are getting any pressure from their constituents for their endorsement of Senator Obama."
So, dear pundits, please quit trying to second-guess the American people. We'll only prove you wrong.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah yes - but ONLY if the voters of this THINK for themselves instead of gorging on pablum.
(feeling very cynical today - sorry)

Mauigirl said...

Well said - I wish they'd all just shut up. They're handicapping this as if it were a horse race or a football game.

Sue J said...

I just read that Tucker Carlson's getting the boot. Yay! One down, how many more to go?