For Clinton and Obama, next six weeks are critical

The Christian Science Monitor

"For Clinton and Obama, next six weeks are critical"

By Ariel Sabar

March 13th, 2008

The author Ariel Sabar, of the Christian Science Monitor, has done a really solid job of writing a really balanced article that outlines the next six weeks for the Democratic party and the two candidates. There is no primary until April 22nd when the delegate rich state Pennsylvania has their primary, and between now and then might be the most important time for the two candidates.

Ms. Sabar says that both candidates will try to "mold perceptions" that they are the most likely to succeed and have the upper hand. The candidates are also trying to frame the race in their favor, for example Obama's camp is pointing out that he has won the most delegates, as well as the most states, including states that will be a "battleground" with McCain. Where the Clinton campaign is claiming that she has won all the big states and is stated as most likely to win in Pennsylvania, which would give her a large boost in delegates. The next paragraph is rather deceptivly simple in the wealth of information that it conveys, and for that reason I have decided to quote it:

Perhaps more important, analysts say, are the nearly 800 elected officials and party leaders known as superdelegates who may well tip the race; the ordinary Americans whose poll responses journalists use to gauge shifts in political momentum; and the Democratic leaders who will decide whether and how to proceed with do-overs of the primaries in Michigan and Florida, which had been stripped of their delegates because they moved up their contests in violation of party rules.

It was interesting to read the second phrase in this paragraph that mentions the role of the journalists forecasting of the election and the power they have to sway the election. It was phrased quite unassumingly!

The article is very good at avoiding any bias towards either candidate, even in subtle language that will subliminally frame a candidate a certain way. But at the end of the article the real message Ms. Sabar seems to be trying to get across is a warning to the democrats against waiting too long to decide who will be the candidate.

"The potential for one side to feel that the other has stolen the nomination is really strong right now," says Dr. Aistrup of Kansas State. "The result of that in November is that it turns a pretty strong probability of a Democratic victory into a situation where John McCain is very likely to win."