Gabor Steingart of Der Spiegel writes:
After the confetti has been shaken out of the hair and the party balloons have deflated, what is left from Tuesday's election night (more...) is a disturbing message: There is nothing to celebrate.
The winner is the loser. But the loser is not the winner. Clinton's victory was not big enough to snatch the nomination from Obama. But neither was his star power enough to woo the voters in the center.
It seems the race is jinxed: He was handed a defeat when he needed a victory, and she secured a victory when only an improbable triumph would have helped her.
Barring a miracle, Clinton's role at the Democratic Party convention in Denver in August will be limited to guest speaker. But Obama will go into the actual presidential election badly damaged.
On the night of Obama's first primary win, in the state of Iowa, this columnist wrote (more...): "(Obama) has scant hope of reaching the White House. He's too young, too inexperienced, too vague, and for many Americans, too black. His magic words about the era of change, of hope, of an America he will unite -- all that will evaporate like morning mist."...
Obama's chances of a successful run for the White House are anything but rosy. There are three reasons why his presidential run will be difficult:
First, a politician who favors social policies has a tough time in a recession. In his desperation over the persistent rejection by white working class voters, Obama has shot himself in the foot...
These people want new jobs, but they don't want new government debt. They want leadership, but Obama is only flashing his wallet.
Secondly, he is an opponent of war in a time of war. The United States is fighting a lonely and increasingly difficult war on two fronts, in Iraq and Afghanistan. He would like to finish the war quickly -- but the majority of Americans would like to win it first.
...he is a party favorite in times of dwindling party loyalty. He excites the active members of the Democratic Party, the officials, the young people and the university graduates, not to mention that part of the party -- a part which should not be underestimated -- which is to be found within newspapers and TV stations. Up to 35,000 people came to his meetings in Pennsylvania.
...the further one moves from the ranks of the true believers in the direction of the undecided -- from the left to the center, from young to old, from student to worker -- the lower the excitement over Obama. In Pennsylvania, 61 percent of older voters chose Clinton, as did 68 percent of Catholics, 65 percent of workers and over 70 percent of voters in rural areas. There, where life is hard, serious and sometimes monotonous, Obama struggles to make himself heard...
...this game is approaching its terrible end. The superdelegates, who are independent from the party base, will have to commit a political murder in the coming months. Will it be Obama or Clinton? For the party, the decision could amount to political suicide.
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Well said Dieter...well said.
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