Liz Smith | 05/13/2008 10:43 am
Mario Cuomo to Liz Smith: Dems Must Get Out of the Way! An Obama-Clinton Ticket Is a Thrilling Possibility
The following is the text of an e-mail, from former New York Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo, which I received this morning.
-Liz
‘Complete the Process …’
By Mario M. Cuomo
Question: Should Hillary Clinton abandon her campaign because to continue would hurt Obama’s chances in the general election?
The Obama supporters argue that strict adherence to the rules of the primary process would deny Clinton delegates from the Florida and Michigan races and that his current advantage in pledged votes is enough to make him a virtual winner, notwithstanding there are still a number of states that haven’t yet voted.
Senator Clinton responds by reminding us that strict adherence to the rules also indicates that none of the pledges count until they are given as votes at the convention. She believes she has a better chance to defeat McCain than Obama does, and it’s still possible ─ even if not likely ─ that events between now and then might convince voters she’s right.
Clinton supporters overwhelmingly continue to urge her to stay in the race and she is committed to doing so until the entire process set forth in the rules has been completed.
How will this affect the Democrats’ chances in November?
In all likelihood, most of the supporters of the unsuccessful Democratic candidate will probably vote for the winner because of their eagerness to win back the presidency, but even a loss of 10 to 15 percent of their votes could cost the Democrats a victory in a close race on November 4th. That makes poll results that indicate that 40 or 50 percent of the Clinton constituency will not vote for Obama should he be the winner something to worry about. And that number would increase if they were further aggravated by Clinton being forced out of the race by pressure from the Obama camp.
Similarly, significant numbers of Obama supporters would not vote for Hillary against McCain.

























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