Obama to declare victory on May 20th

[7,052,770]

Obama should probably wait until he has 2025 for sure.  Not that he won't end up getting it, but he doesn't need the negative news story of declaring he has it when he technically doesn't yet.

[Lunar]

Obama should probably wait until he has 2025 for sure.  Not that he won't end up getting it, but he doesn't need the negative news story of declaring he has it when he technically doesn't yet.

McCain declared victory before Mississippi, right?

The news cycle wouldn't be that brutal.  I think every pundit will have decided by the 20th.  "Obama declares victory when only at 2019!" isn't that catchy of a headline and newspapers are out there to make cash money.  I can'y imagine that the media or the supers would be THAT hard on him.

[Beet]

Obama should probably wait until he has 2025 for sure.  Not that he won't end up getting it, but he doesn't need the negative news story of declaring he has it when he technically doesn't yet.

McCain declared victory before Mississippi, right?

The news cycle wouldn't be that brutal.  I think every pundit will have decided by the 20th.  "Obama declares victory when only at 2019!" isn't that catchy of a headline and newspapers are out there to make cash money.  I can'y imagine that the media or the supers would be THAT hard on him.

Right, this is one of those things (like the Florida primary result) that the media can play a big role in framing. Either it's "Obama tries to declare victory but he doesn't have enough delegates and Hillary is not conceding" which looks bad for him, or "Obama declares victory and Hillary is being petulant by not conceding" which is more likely.

I've just thought of one more possible reason for this announcement... to distract the media and superdelegates from what could possibly be a very large, 30-40 point Clinton win in Kentucky. The Obama camp wants the media and superdelegates talking about "Has Obama won already or hasn't he?" instead of "West Virginia & Kentucky" in late March.

[Democratic Hawk]

I strongly caution against Obama declaring victory until the last primary, at the earliest; unless, of course, he has the magic 2025 before then. He risks antagonising the Clinton base; the vast majority of which he needs to win in November

IMO, May 20 would be premature

Dave

[Eraserhead]

Obama should probably wait until he has 2025 for sure.  Not that he won't end up getting it, but he doesn't need the negative news story of declaring he has it when he technically doesn't yet.

When will you endorse, Harry?

[Democratic Hawk]

If I were Obama I'd let Michigan and Florida be seated, allow Clinton to have her wins in Kentucky, West Virginia and Puerto Rico, sit back and enjoy the ride. He is STILL going to get the nomination, might as well act the bigger person and look better for the General Election.

Michigan and Florida delegates should be seated, even if those penality imposed primaries weren't conducted on a level playing field . The Michigan proposal to split its delegation 69 to 59 is reasonable enough, IMO. Florida's can be allocated as per the result of the primary

I just don't see any other way of overcoming any wounds that would undoubtedly persist in MI and FL should nothing be done and I've been critical of the DNC from the start, as well as what I consider to be retrospective opportunism on the part of Clinton, who knew the rules as much as anybody else

Dave

[Flying Dog]

If I were Obama I'd let Michigan and Florida be seated, allow Clinton to have her wins in Kentucky, West Virginia and Puerto Rico, sit back and enjoy the ride. He is STILL going to get the nomination, might as well act the bigger person and look better for the General Election.

I just don't see any other way of overcoming any wounds that would undoubtedly persist in MI and FL should nothing be done and I've been critical of the DNC from the start, as well as what I consider to be retrospective opportunism on the part of Clinton, who knew the rules as much as anybody else

Dave

I, for one, can attest to the fact that most Michiganders don't care much either way. This issue is being way overblown my the media and Clinton/Obama campaigns. Seat them, don't seat them, it won't matter much in November.