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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 3)

Normal, Okla.: Do you see a realistic path to the nomination for Clinton? If not, why do you believe that she should stay in the race?

John Dickerson: I don't have a belief I'm expressing. It's up to her.

Is there a way she can win? Yes, the superdelegates can vote for her. Is this going to happen? It's a slim slim shot that depends on a lot of things going her way and the process by which she pulls it off could make the nomination not worth having.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: Can you explain the media's hostility toward the superdelegates? I fail to understand this popular idea that "superdelegates should vote in accordance with the results of the popular vote." Do people fail to understand that primary politics are not (and are not supposed to be) democratic affairs, but instead are the results of a private party deciding who its leader will be?

The time for the people's opinion is November; party primaries are for party members, and the superdelegates are longtime, devoted party members who presumably have more information than the typical uneducated (about the issues/candidates) voter at large. As an aside, my opinions on this also put me in the camp that strongly opposes open primaries. I feel that if you're going to vote for someone in a primary, you at least need to be committed sufficiently to the party to properly register.

John Dickerson: You're right on the rules, but there are lots of Democrats who don't like those rules and don't think they are fair.

_______________________

Raleigh, N.C.: Do you think it is possible for the Democratic Party to come up with a solution to assigning the Florida and Michigan delegates that would please both campaigns and pass the "smell test" (as in something smells fishy) with Democratic voters? If so, what are some possible solutions to assigning these delegates that would fulfill the criteria above?

John Dickerson: I'm not sure what solution would meet your criteria. Clinton wants the delegates now with no do-over. Obama doesn't want them seated under the "voting" that took place before and no do-over.

_______________________

Washington: Those who call for candidates to drop out of the race so to make the nominating process easier are acting inappropriately. As long as a candidate is appealing to some portion of the population and wants to keep going, they should stay in the race to let the voters who support them have their say at the polls—and prevent the appearance of a false mandate for the eventual winner.

A president who is fooled into believing that the rank-and-file of his party support him unconditionally because he had no opposition after the early primaries probably will adopt a more unilateral style than one who knows that for a significant number of his party's supporters, he was their second or third choice.

John Dickerson: Interesting notion. This is a version of the argument that Obama is actually helped by a long primary. As a reporter, anything that tests candidates is something I like, not because it gives me stories (I'd be happy to take a little rest) but because it tests them in a way I think is useful. We learn more about them and how they act under pressure which isn't a horrible way to figure out whether they can handle the big job.

_______________________

Maryland: Geez, all the talk about how there's no need for the primary to end ... how about, historically, most of us never even got to vote in a primary, as the decisions were made before it got to our states? Weren't we disenfranchised, to use Sen. Clinton's favorite word? No one cared then, they just followed the math. The Clintons will bully their way back to the White House, just watch.

John Dickerson: But in earlier primaries there wasn't a great sign that the losers in previous contests had supporters in those later states, was there?

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Detroit: It is very interesting that there were very few "when should he quit" articles abour Huckabee, but media types have been running "when should she quit" articles abour Sen. Clinton for the better part of two months. Are reporters that excited by the prospect of Sen. Obama getting the nomination?

John Dickerson: There were a few such Huckabee stories but there was less chatter among party officials that it might do any harm to the Party which gives these stories some energy on the Democratic side.

_______________________

Reston, Va.: You're the guy who asks the president all the tough questions, right? Are you going to get a chance to do that before he heads back to Crawford, or is it all presidential campaign from here on out?

John Dickerson: I'd love to talk to the president again. He has not called on me in a press conference since April 2004, so I imagine it'll have to be in person.

_______________________

John Dickerson: Okay I'm off. Thanks very much for joining me and for reading the article. I'm off to make the deadline for my next one. Thanks!

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