Frontloading

When Hillary Clinton made the comments about RFK's assassination in June the point she attempted to make was that battles for the Democratic Presidential nomination can go on as late as June, and since it is now May, it is premature to ask her to step down.

I understand that politicians often assume that the general public does not get their clever little tricks, and they are right more than I wish they were. But, the fact is, the nomination process is much different than in the past. That is, because of the vast amounts of "front loading" done by states to move their primary election up, so they may have more of an effect on the selection of the next president. This very process is what led to the Democrats not counting the votes from Michigan and Florida and led the Republicans to only allow the Florida results to count for half of their normal delegate total.

In the example of the RFK's and her husband's win in California, Sen. Clinton states this did not happen until June. That is true, but she fails to remind us that California's primary this year was in February. In 1992, Super Tuesday was March 10, in 2008 it was February 5. By this time in 1992, 10 contests remained, including aforementioned California and Ohio. Now, in 2008, all that remains are Montana, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico. In other words, the primary season is based on when states hold their individual primaries in each particular year, not when they held them in other years.

Bottom Line: I know it must be hard to admit you will not be president when you were basically the final 3 for consideration. Also, I admire Sen. Clinton for allowing the primary contests to continue throughout the process so voters actually have a choice. But the choice has been made, and the voters have chosen Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee for President. If she wants to continue to campaign through the final 3 primaries, that is fine, but she should do it respectfully.

Rabbit