Carter, Gore to Usher Clinton Out of the Race

The Scotsman has a story that might not have been laugh-out-loud funny three or four days ago:

DEMOCRAT grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore are being lined-up to deliver the coup de grâce to Hillary Clinton and end her campaign to become president. Falling poll numbers and a string of high-profile blunders have convinced party elders that she must now bow out of the primary race.

Clearly, the purported Gore/Carter strategy has been overtaken by events in the last few days. With Obama having insulted half the U.S. population, Senator Clinton has no reason to get out of the race while things are still sorting themselves out. Here’s the punchline:

An appeal by both men for Democrats to unite behind Clinton’s rival, Barack Obama, would have a powerful effect, and insiders say it is a question of when, rather than if, they act.

Assuming the report is accurate, Gore and Carter won’t act until it’s clear that a mass of the superdelegates will follow their lead. And as long as those superdelegates see a reason to doubt Obama’s electability — doubts exacerbated by Obama’s recent comments — they’re likely to keep their powder dry. Of course, the Feiler Faster thesis might come to Obama’s aid here. By the time of the Pennsylvania primary, just 8 days from now, ‘Redneck-Gate’ might seem like old news. And we’ve already seen that the Democratic elite tends to agree with Obama’s assessment of rural voters. If he avoids a crushing blow there, they may convince themselves that no real damage has been done — and the Hillary death watch could be back on.

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