Time to lace up the skates and cut some rhetorical figure-eights. GMA has quoted a Dem official as saying that in her desperate quest for the nomination, Hillary Clinton is down to "the Tonya Harding option." ABC senior political correspondent Jake Tapper cited the skating simile in his Good Morning America segment this morning.
JAKE TAPPER: It is mathematically possible, improbable yes, but possible for Senator Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination. What concerns Democratic officials in Washington is what Clinton will have to do to Senator Barack Obama in order for that to happen. One Democratic official told ABC News it is “the Tonya Harding option.”
Cut to clip of Harding, skating at the 1994 Olympics, as Tapper continued.
View video here.
TAPPER: The Tonya Harding option, the idea being that Clinton’s only path to the gold medal is to destroy her competitor.
Cut to ABC News political contributor Matthew Dowd: "I don’t think she has no chance, but the only way for her victory is to damage Barack Obama so much, that people feel like he is not electable. "
TAPPER: After staying away from the controversy surrounding Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright for almost two weeks, Clinton went for the jugular, for the first time personally injecting him into the race.
Cut to clip of Hillary saying: “He would not have been my pastor. You know, you don’t choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend.”
After reviewing some more incidents from the campaign trail, including a testy exchange between Hillary and reporters over her claim that her misstatement on the sniper fire in Bosnia was the first time she misspoke in 12 years, Tapper
closed on a cautionary note.
TAPPER: A good lesson for both Democrats, regardless of which one is Nancy Kerrigan and which one is Tonya Harding: it was a third skater that went on to win that gold medal, and I suppose to extend this metaphor, Oksana Baiul [shown here] would be John McCain, Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO: Always like a good Oksana Baiul reference, thank you very much Jake Tapper.
OK, have at it. But you’re going to have to do better than suggest that if Hillary loses, she can always stage a celebrity boxing match with Lindsay Lohan.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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There is no Bottom to the MSM
March 26, 2008 - 09:48 ET by allanfBoy these MSM types really want Hillary out of the race. Doesn't sound like they have much faith in the Democratic Party process. A Tonya Harding analogy. That is even low by the very low standards of the MSM.
Now for some reality. The Democratic Presidential nomination is in the hands of the Democratic Party bosses and Clintion just needs to pound Obama enough to make him less paletable to voters.
She can say to the party faithful, that she is doing nothing that John McCain and other "evil" Republicans would not do in the general election cycle. Better to do it now and vet the candidate.
She can also argue that on the merits, there is not much separation between the two candidates.
Hillary Clinton won Florida by 300,000 votes. If Forida is included in the the poplular vote totals, Obama's 700,000 popular vote lead is cut dramatically. If Florida and Michigan are included in the totals, Obama's popular vote lead is just 87,000 votes.
After the upcoming primaries, Hillary will probably have the popular vote lead when Florida and Michigan are included and perhaps with just Florida included. Florida hosted a substantial primary with 1.7 million Democrat voters participating. Obama, Clinton and Edwards were all on the ballot and their campaigns were in high gear in anticipation of "Super Tuesday" the next week. Voters in Florida were very much engaged.
Hillary will be able to make an impressive case to the delegates that she deserves the nomination. The popular vote totals will be razor thin once Florida is included The pledged delegate difference, particularly if Florida is included will also be marginal.
Even if the Florida delegation is not seated, she can make the case that if the 1.7 million Floridia Democrats are included in the totals, there is little difference in popular vote or delegate count. Next she can argue that she is more electable than Obama.
It will be interesting to watch. Reports of her political demise though are premature.
Why on earth would she conceed?
Hillary's chickens are coming home to roost
March 26, 2008 - 09:28 ET by DelsaOnce Hillary lost so badly early and fell behind, when not expecting it, she said something like, "we have to knee cap this guy?"
Her plan is force super delegates to vote for her or else. It is ALL about the Clinton's!
Forget the country or their party. Personally, I like watching the Balkinized Democrats rolling around in the mud. It is great fun. The sum of all their parts aka "chickens" have come home to roost. Too good.
Joe Biden
March 26, 2008 - 09:34 ET by P.J. GladnickI swear I didn't pull a Joe Biden on you, Mark. I was working on my blog when you posted yours. However, I did update my blog with an explanation that I was leaving it up because this metaphor was being analyzed more from the origins POV.
Why am I first Gladnick in a hundred generations of Gladnicks to post a NB blog almost simultaneously with another NB blog on the same general topic?
This Story is So Rich
March 26, 2008 - 09:38 ET by allanfPJ, this story is so rich, and the comment so over the top, it deserves at least two blog posts.
Tonya Harding Option Origins
March 26, 2008 - 10:04 ET by P.J. GladnickLike I said before, I went into the origins of that Tonya Harding Option metaphor. It turns out that neither Jake Tapper nor the Democrat official were the first to use it. The first known Tonya Harding metaphor sighting was on March 8 with a post in the Vibe blog about the "Tonya Harding Route" as a metaphor for suggesting that Obama needed to kneecap Bill Clinton. Also your humble correspondent came up with a new metaphor to describe Hillary's probable end game.
p.s. I just heard ANOTHER commentator on MSNBC use the Tonya Harding Option metaphor. Maybe we need to hold a funeral party on the "Scorched Earth" metaphor.
Tonya Harding/Pantsuit Clinton
March 26, 2008 - 14:08 ET by fitzfongYeah, I see plenty of similarities...
Both are gritty, unattractive performers with limited talent but super high ambition.
Both believe(d) they are/were entitled to something that most observers didn't/don't want them to have...and both would therefore do anything to get what they want.
Both married sleazy thugs who changed their last names...and both looked at the the sleazy thugs as the "masterminds" of their campaigns.
Both have been frustrated at having to chase prettier opposition in the primaries...and have determined that the prettier opposition needed to be "taken out" by any means necessary.
The prettier primary opponents were temporarily able to mask their own inner-ugliness because Tonya/Hillary were/are such fascinating cartoon villains.
Both have used tears and threats of lawsuits to advance their campaigns beyond their proper limitations.
Both have been known to throw lamps and/or hubcaps at people when they don't get their own ways.
Roll the credits...
Tonya Harding - Hillary "Pantsuit" Clinton
Jeff Gillooly (Stone) - William Jefferson (Blythe) Clinton
Nancy Kerrigan - Barack Obama
Shawn Eckardt - Mark Penn
Shane Stant - your choice...Fast Eddie Rendell, Geraldine Ferraro or Howard Wolfson
Oksana Baiul - John McCain
Jerry Solomon - Oprah Winfrey
Wow, that's interesting...
March 26, 2008 - 14:13 ET by sarcasmoThe only part that's a bit disturbing is when you made young Ms. Baiul John McCain...Not a good visual there! :)
JMR
A corruption-story the TV media will-not cover.
Fitz
March 26, 2008 - 14:20 ET by candanceI disagree on one point:
The prettier primary opponents were temporarily able to mask their own inner-ugliness
Nancy Kerrigan never struck me as having any inner ugliness to hide. She's always come off as a really nice person.
Have you forgotten her
March 26, 2008 - 14:33 ET by fitzfongHave you forgotten her ungracious reaction to winning the silver medal at the Olympics? Or her subsequent pout-fest at DisneyWorld? Or the fact that she started dating her agent...while he was still married?
She almost made Tonya Harding sympathetic.
ah fitz
March 26, 2008 - 14:35 ET by candanceI was about 10 years old when the whole Tonya/Nancy thing happened so all I remember was watching them skate....
Wow. That certainly dates
March 26, 2008 - 14:45 ET by fitzfongWow. That certainly dates me. I was actually born on the same day as Tonya Harding. Scary.
I love ice-skating, watched
March 26, 2008 - 14:51 ET by bigtimerI love ice-skating, watched it religiously back then, your summation of the Harding/Kerrigan episode is absolutely correct...the whole thing was despicable...by both of them.
Ages me too....lol!
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill