The Chicago Way

So far, Barack Obama has managed to win 27 of 41 state contests, and he has a commanding lead among pledged delegates.

He has also put together a content-heavy web site, given hundreds of electrifying speeches, risen to the top after more than 20 televised debates, and put together a force of ground troops that can get out the vote, get out the message, and raise Cain, cash and consciousness in equal amounts.

Not too bad for someone most Americans had not heard of a year ago, and who was dismissed as a "wanna be" just six months ago.

Barack Obama may be unbeatable at this point, for the simple reason that he is so far ahead in the delegate count that Hillary cannot catch up to him.

The so-called "super" delegates (a term used to obfuscate the creation of a non-democratic political oligarchy by the Democratic National Committee), are not going to roll Hillary's way if she does not have the elected delegates. This election will not be decided by the elite at the expense of the future of the Democratic party.

Trust me on this one. Not. Going. To. Happen.

Nor will there be a change in the previously agreed-upon issue of excluding the Florida and Michigan non-primaries from the delegate tabulation. The credentialing committee will not allow it to happen.

Again, trust me on this one. Not. Going. To. Happen.

Which is not to say the primary season ahead will be all smooth-sailing. Who thought it would be?

Politics is a blood sport, and the Office of the President is not a place for sissies and whiners.
To his enormous credit, Barack Obama has taken a fair amount of hits, but he has not pouted, nor has he tried to change the rules, nor has he thrown a crooked punch as far as I can see.

He has run a campaign of honor and integrity.

As a result, Americans are still voting with their feet and their wallets. In fact, the power of the Obama campaign is clearly growing, not shrinking.

The Obama campaign reported today that they had raised a staggering $55 million in the month of February.

The amazing part here is not that this is the the largest amount of money ever raised by a political candidate in a month, but that more than 90% of these donations were for sums of $100 or less.

Thanks to the readers of this little blog for helping make history on that score. I am happy to report we passed the $1,000 mark tonight.

And we are not alone. So far, more than 1,000,000 Americans "own" a little bit of the Obama campaign.

What's that mean? It means that "We the people," are driving the train.

Not the big oil companies, not the big military contractors, not the big drug companies.

We the people.

But of course, money is only one part of a campaign. The other is message.

Barack has a powerful, well-phrased, and substantive message.

Neither Hillary Clinton nor John McCain can beat Barack on message or money.

They cannot beat him in a fair fight.

And so, they are going to go negative.

Hillary is already there -- that's how she won in Ohio and Texas.

Throw a dead cat into a well, and just see how much good water it can poison in a week.

Campaign professionals know this. They know that "going negative" can work and that it is the only way you can win if you have no positive message, and are badly outmatched on money as well.

So if Barack's people knew that Hillary was going to go negative, how come they didn't come out swinging right away?

Simple: they couldn't. Not yet.

You see, Hillary is a woman, and whether folks will admit or not, the rules are different if you are fighting a woman.

Fair or not, a woman can call a man names, but the man cannot rise up and take a swing at her.

Fair or not, a woman can slap a man in the face, but he cannot take a swing.

Fair or not, a woman can shove a man in the chest, but he cannot take a swing.

But if she breaks a beer bottle? If she cuts him?

Well then, that's different. In that case that woman is going to get knocked to the ground, and she may not get up for some time. Some teeth may be lost. You do what you have to if it's self-defense.

So heads up. Hillary is going to see some heavy hands move her way. Mark my words.

Barack, being the cultured gentleman that he is, will probably take her down with a Judo move and a few pressure points.

It will be graceful and principled, and it will probably use her own weight against her. Don't expect to see blood or broken bones. But also, don't expect to see Hillary get up again after it starts either.

Enough is enough.

Of course this take down may not happen for a few weeks. It looks like Obama is going to win Wyoming and Mississippi without having to go into the ring with heavy hands.

But Pennsylvania will be different. And so, before the Pennsylvania dust-up begins, let me simply remind folks of how clean and restrained the Obama campaign has been up to now.

The Obama campaign has not gone out with ads mentioning :

• Hillary's mysterious winnings from cattle futures trading


• The "Travelgate" firings


• Whitewater


• The disappearing files from the Rose Law firm


• Hillary' supposed "shock" at Paula Jones, Genifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, et. al.


• The selling of the Lincoln bedroom to donors


• Hillary's secret health reform meetings with corporate lobbyists


• The mysterious money laundering by Buddhist temple donors


• The funneling of money to Clinton from the Indonesian Lippo Group


• The transfer and sale of military technology to China after donations from Johnny Chung


• The pardon of Marc Rich


• The pardon of Puerto Rican terrorists


• Hillary's ongoing failure to release her current financial statements and tax records
  
  

All of these issues may be fair game, but Obama is probably too tailored and buttoned-down to use most of them.

And, in truth, he may not need to.

The Clinton campaign is so poorly grounded and off-balance, that even the simplest question may leave them reeling to a fall.

While the pro-Hillary folks like to whine that she has been treated harshly, quite the opposite is true; her assertions remain almost entirely unexamined in part because Obama has been so incredibly gentle and gentleman-like in his dealings with her.

But enough is enough.

For example, Hillary claims foreign policy experience. Really? What experience is that?

In my book, eating cucumber sandwiches with other presidential wives while touring elementary schools in foreign lands is not foreign policy experience, and neither is giving a speech about female empowerment. Sorry.

So let's get down to brass tacks. Did Hillary ever attend a National Security Council meeting, even once? What treaty did she negotiate? What arms deal? What trade package?

Name one time she was ever sent to deliver a stern warning to anyone, anywhere, about anything.

"No" and "none" is the answer to all these questions.

She also claims vast political experience. Again, when was that?

The only experience I recall is that while Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas, she will busy bill-padding at the Rose law firm while working on the Whitewater land scheme.

Of course, if she wants to tell us about her efforts pushing health care reform, that's a "success" I am sure we all want to hear a lot more about.

But before we listen to the lecture, maybe she could first call over and have the secret papers taken out from under lock and key to be distributed to the press?

Hillary is also eager to tell us about what a great manager she is.

Really? News to me. The front page story in The Washington Post yesterday morning was about how her campaign is in complete turmoil.

And if she's such a great manager, how come she had to loan her own campaign $5 million last month?

I'm just saying ....

And speaking of that $5 million loan, where did that money come from?

Considering how often the Hillary and Bill Clinton have laundered money from foreign donors (see Buddhist temple donors, Lippo group, Johnny Chung, and the Clinton Foundation stories, above), a little accounting here might be in order.

Of course, you have to be careful. Women of a certain age (i.e. those who lived through the shoulder-pad era) are very sensitive about Hillary. Ask too many questions, and Hillary is sure to play the victim card.

She may even cry.

Obama knows this, so he has been slow to fire back. When he has done anything, it has generally been little more than a blocking move.

He has pulled every punch, knowing that until the public sees the broken beer bottle raised to cut him in the face, any hard blow will be called "foul," and she will trot out the same "victim" card she uses at every turn.

But the game is coming to the last round, and now folks can see the broken beer bottle in her hand. She slashed with it just before Texas and Ohio, but now says "Wait, wait, I intend to put it down ... in a few minutes."

Right. Watch the feet. Watch the hands. Words mean nothing. Especially with a Clinton.

And be aware that she does not really intend to put it down -- she intends to hand it over to John McCain.

It's hard to know the exact timing of what will happen next, but Hillary herself brags that she's a fighter, so you can guess the direct and tenor. And I can assure you how it will end.

And so I remind you now, before it all goes down, that Obama has held back a long time. Remember that he was insulted. He was slapped. He was pushed in the chest.

Remember that he did not start this fight and did not escalate it, and so don't fault him for ending it when it finally comes time to do that.

Remember that he showed incredible restrain for a very long time.

But when push comes to shove, there is a place for heavy hands.

And Obama's is a nothing if not a Chicago politician. And in Chicago they know how to swing the lead.

As Sean Connery explained to Kevin Costner in that great movie, The Untouchables:

"He sends one of yours to the hospital .... you send one of his to the morgue.

That's the Chicago Way!"

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