"Could we possibly have a nominee who hasn't won any of the significant states -- outside of Illinois? That raises some serious questions about Sen. Obama."
I don't even know where to begin. Good luck winning over any superdelegates from insignificant states like (quoting Markos): "Colorado, Missouri, Washington, Minnesota, Virginia, Maryland, Maine, Delaware, Iowa, and Connecticut," etc.
In the general election, there's no reason why Senator Obama wouldn't win California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. None what so ever. He'd be the sole Democrat running against Senator McCain in the general. Why wouldn't he win the Clinton primary states? Furthermore, Obama wouldn't just win these "states that count," he'd also have a strong shot at winning traditionally red states like South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and -- possibly -- Kansas.
Then there's this bit of Mark Penn genius in the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Penn yesterday released a memo saying that Mrs. Clinton leads in the "three largest, delegate-rich states remaining: Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania." He noted that they have 492 delegates, or 64% of the remaining total Mrs. Clinton needs for the nomination.
Unless the WSJ garbled the details of the memo, Penn is suggesting that Senator Clinton will somehow receive all 492 delegates -- 100% of the vote in all three states. Which is impossible.
UPDATE: What's the Kathy Bates line from Primary Colors? "Yes, I will destroy this village in order to save it."
NEW YORK TIMES: With every delegate precious, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers also made it clear that they were prepared to take a number of potentially incendiary steps to build up Mrs. Clinton’s count. Top among these, her aides said, is pressing for Democrats to seat the disputed delegations from Florida and Michigan, who held their primaries in January in defiance of a Democratic Party rules.
First, Senator Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan due to the party mandate. And second... three words: President John McCain. I would obviously still vote for Senator Clinton if she won this way, but that stuff I've written about supporting her during the general would no longer apply, I think. Senator Clinton, if she does this, will destroy the Democratic village and hand the Oval Office to John McCain.
But at least the Clintons will have "won" the nomination. There's that, at least.