Karl Rove, now a political analyst and contributor for Fox News, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal, believes the Democratic nomination will go to Sen. Barack Obama, but Rove is amazed that Obama can’t put Hillary Clinton away.
“It’s awfully close,” he told the cast of "Fox & Friends" this morning on the Fox News Channel, “and yet, he can’t put it away,” Rove says.
“I think what [Obama] saw in Oregon was the rumor that the polls were closing, and that‘s why he spent most of last weekend in Oregon rather than going on the offensive and trying to take away something in Kentucky,” Rove says.
“It’s like, he only gets 30 percent of the vote in Kentucky, but feels compelled to go to Oregon. And even then, in that state, which is full of granola eaters and Birkenstock wearers, he gets 58 percent of the vote, and she gets 42 percent.”
Rove added, “The problems that Barack Obama has with working class voters are real, and they’re not going away. It’s cultural. They view him as an elitist — as somebody who’s condescending and doesn’t share their values.”
Also, in Rove’s opinion, “Obama should not have gone to Iowa last night and said, ‘I’ve got a majority of the elected delegates.’ Let somebody else do that. He should have focused on substance, not try to say, ‘[look at me], I’m ahead.’”
In analyzing the Democratic Party’s chances to reclaim the White House in November, Rove has been doing a lot of math these past couple of months. One tough question, he says, remains in settling the debate on whether or not to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations.
The issue will ultimately be settled by the Democratic National Committee, when its Credentials Committee meets next Saturday to making a final ruling on the heated dispute.
Does Clinton have a chance at seating some of those delegates?
“She might have a chance with the committee,” Rove says, “because it’s set up in a certain way where she has a lot of friends on the committee.”
The Credentials Committee is composed of almost 190 members, 25 of them appointed by DNC Chairman Howard Dean; the rest are split between the two candidates based on the percent of delegates each has won.
“So, in all likelihood, what will happen is, the Obama delegates and the 25 Dean delegates will decide whether or not they are going to seat any or all of the Florida and Michigan delegates,” Rove says.
“To me, this is one of the most amazing things. Obama is up by about 170 delegates over Clinton, but that gap would close by about 55 delegates if they seat Florida and Michigan. Why doesn’t Obama just simply step forward and say, ‘Look, I know they violated the rules, but we also made a mistake by having the death penalty. The Republicans allow that if you violate the rules, you get half your delegates. So, why don’t we just go ahead and seat the delegations? I’m comfortable.’”
That scenario, however, would mean that Obama could lose the popular vote, which would support Clinton’s long-standing argument that she should be the nominee.
“No, she’s ahead in the popular vote if you include them, but what happens if you then try to add in the caucus states that are not included in the popular vote total?” he asked.
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