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When To Hold 'Em, When To Fold 'EmJohn Dickerson takes readers' questions on the candidate's decision to quit or fight on.


Posted Monday, April 7, 2008, at 6:21 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

John Dickerson: I agree and it seems most everyone else does too. The point of the piece though was to look at how this moment will come for any candidate who must, some day, face that deciding moment.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: What role does the Credentials Committee play at the Democratic National Convention—and is this a committee that could manipulate the outcome if it wanted to? For instance, I believe seated delegates vote on seating challenged delegates, so the manner in which challenges are accepted, heard and voted upon and then accepted or rejected could alter the final delegate count toward one candidate or another. How much leeway does the Credentials Committee have in possibly creating such a scenario?

John Dickerson: It's a great question. The rules are very complicated. The committee could vote this summer when it meets on FL and MI. Or, it could meet at the convention to make the call. The committee is made up of members selected by Howard Dean and a far larger body made up of delegates divided up roughly based on primary and caucus performance. If it gets this far it'll be a nightmare.

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Montgomery Village, Md.: Thank you for your excellent and reflective article. When the time comes for Sen. Clinton to decide that her long-term career aspirations are better served by abandoning her presidential campaign this year, will she be the one one who puts the question on the table, or will it be someone else? If it is not her, then will it be anyone other than her husband?

John Dickerson: This is the tension. When you get up every day to fight and are convinced it is that quality that serves you best in life, how do you possibly pull the plug on your own campaign? I think it's a dawning realization kicked off probably by a trusted source. That might be her husband or one of her close aides from over the years.

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Washington: What does it mean to "quit"? Is there necesarily a bright line for quitting? If Clinton's money dried up, could she reduce campaigning to a minimum without admitting that she had lost—just her and Bill and an old RV on the road for two months—and claim "it worked for McCain"? Or does a campaign that won't cripple her gravitas as a senator require some minimum amount of cash? Could she declare a "suspension" or "temporary halt" while still trying to hold onto her pledged delegates? Can a candidate announce the formation of a "quitting exploratory committee"?

John Dickerson: She could do any of those things but she'd probably take a biger credibility hit than she'd want to. Dragging it out too far sours people against any future run she might want to launch.

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Bow, N.H.: Good piece yesterday, thank you for that. As to Clinton, didn't she really lose this race (at least as to pledged delegates) last November and December when she failed to plan (as Obama did) for a long race? Where were the people to tell her that after Iowa or after Super Tuesday? Also, where is the logic in this—she is being told to leave the race just like any other (male) candidate would be, but precisely because she is being treated like any other (male) candidate, this is somehow sexist?

John Dickerson: This is certainly a view the Obama folks would agree with. I think it's reasonable though for Clinton supporters to say though that since the superdelegate rules were put in place to balance against the overheated passions of the voters it's okay for Clinton to play by those rules. She's not cheating, as some might argue, by trying to win this way. Sexism charges are a tricky thing. That it was white men with white hair telling the only woman to drop out certainly didn't add clarity to the situation.

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St. Paul, Minn.: Hi John—thanks for taking my question and for your great reporting. If it were Republicans involved in the intense fight for the nomination—let's say it was McCain and Giuliani, for instance—would anything be different? In other words, is the fact that the race is still unresolved a "Democratic Party" problem?

John Dickerson: It's not a Democratica Party problem other than the fact that the Party nominating process, with its FL and MI nightmare this year, is so complicated it seems it might have been cooked up at a bar late one night. When I talked to Sen. Alexander about his run in 1996 he said that Newt Gingrich called for him to drop out for the good of the party just as Alexander thought he was getting going.

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Detroit: In regard to "how does a presidential candidate decide to switch off his or her frantic determination to win," it is hard when one feels that one is preordained to be president, rather than that it is the right of voters to determine this. Here in Michigan, Hillary Clinton wants her "delegates" even though most Democratic candidates had their names removed from the ballot once the National Democratic Committee decided that such delegates would not be seated after Michigan moved up its primary. Many Obama supporters consequently never voted in Michigan. This "scorched earth" approach to politics has been around for decades. (Even with Gore having gotten the national popular vote, Bush in 2000 did not want a recount in Florida, nor did the Supreme Court.) Some candidates are not attuned to what voters are saying, and only listen to their own desires.

John Dickerson: That may be so, but the political instinct— fight for every vote runs pretty deep with every candidate.

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Norman, Okla.: Why do people really seek this office/position? As I recall, the pay is rather poor considering all the responsibility. Is it the post-presidency that they really seek? Is it the position of power that's the focus?

John Dickerson: We've learned from the Clinton tax returns that post-presidencies can be lucrative. People want to be president for a lot of different reasons. They want to make a difference, they want the power and they want to feel productive in their chosen field.

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Scio, Ore.: I was always taught that it was bad sportsmanship to quit in the middle of a race—even if you have to walk to the finish line, it's the sign of a winner to do so. I can't really say what that says about people who tell you to get out. Perhaps those people have set such low standards for their selves that quitting and giving up is a way of life for them, and acceptable. Thats a real shame!

John Dickerson: It is bad sportsmanship though I suppose there's some other sports analogy here, perhaps from chess, where players concede when it's obvious they can't win. Of course, it's not as obvious that Clinton should bow out as some Obama supporters would like to argue. If it were all easy street, the Obama team wouldn't be working so hard to pound Clinton into the topsoil.

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