Bob Dole’s strategists would do anything to get inside information on which states the Clintonites hope to contest and which they have already written off. Well, look no further. We figured it out: Just study the floor map of their convention.
The principle is simple: The farther from the podium a state delegation found itself, the less importance the Democrats attach to it. Some savants have suggested that Georgia is “in play” this fall, but the floor plan, which showed the poor Peach Staters up somewhere in the rafters, suggested otherwise. And from where they sat, Texas delegates shouldn’t be expecting many presidential visits between now and November. Ditto Virginia and Louisiana. Kansas is a goner. How did Democratic convention planners spell “Wyoming”? S-I-B-E-R-I-A. And Alabama? Hey, Samoa had better seats than Alabama.
How about the so-called “swing states”? Pennsylvania and Ohio held down the east and west flanks on the main floor, a sure sign that President Clinton feels they’re due for major sucking-up. Behind Pennsylvania and Ohio, in excellent seats, were the electoral Big Kahunas of New Jersey and California. Slurp-slurp.
Of course, no rules are hard and fast — not in Bill Clinton’s America. Sweetheart deals still take precedence over raw power politics. The Arkansas delegates were placed dead center, right below the podium, perhaps as a reward for the long hours they’ve put in giving depositions to Ken Starr back home.
The saddest cases are those delegations whose Democratic fealty is so certain convention planners could afford to offend them. Like puppy dogs, they keep coming back no matter how hard you kick ’em. If they had had any pride, the delegates from D.C. and Vermont would have risen up — assuming they could breathe that thin air up where they sat — and walked out. But of course they didn’t. No doubt they’re sustained by the hope that someday, somehow, they can be as important as Arkansas.
