How A Primary Ends By Super Tuesday. Explanation Required From Clinton Supporters. [View All]

[gcomeau]

To set the context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HexrafhffJc (Skip to the last 45 seconds for the statement of interest, quoted below)

I have a campaign that is poised and ready for the long term. We are competing everywhere through February 5th. We have staff in many states. We have built organizations in many states...

... I'm in it for the long run. It's not going to be a very long run, it'll be over by February 5th. - Hillary Clinton, Dec 30 2007

Now, there is no arguing this point. Clinton expected this nomination contest to be wrapped up by February 5th. Well, that's nothing new, we've all know that forever. But here's the point I'd like to cover this time around:

I want ANY Clinton supporter to come in here and tell me HOW she expected it to be over, in a manner that stays consistent with the arguments now being made for why we should still consider her to have any hope in hell of winning the nomination, and why nobody should be expecting her to get out of the race.

Here's a little help to get people started:

Total states voting by February 5th: 28. (30 if you count Michigan/Florida)
Total number of Pledged Delegates up for grabs by February 5th: 1275 (1531.5 if you count Michigan/Florida half delegations)

So, explain to me why it was she expected the race to be OVER by February 5th? What was supposed to end it? What did Hillary think a candidate not just might, but almost certainly WOULD have achieved at that point in the race that would end the process and leave us with a nominee?

Was it because she expected to be the established front runner by then and the other Democratic candidates would put the interests of the party first and get the hell out of her way and let her focus on the Republicans in the GE rather than playing spoiler in a race they were clearly losing even though she had definitely absolutely NOT clinched the number of delegates necessary to cross the nomination threshold? Because we've been given the clear impression that the Clinton campaign these days considers that kind of thinking undemocratic and wrong. Declaring a presumptive nominee before they cross that threshold isn't how THE RULES say the nominee is chosen. Trying to let a front runner get on with their GE campaigning before all 50 states have voted is disenfranchising voters in those last states. So how WAS she expecting the campaign to end then?

I want to see any Clinton supporter explain this to me without throwing out every single argument they make for why Clinton is still justified in continuing her campaign in the manner she has chosen.