“They’re all over the ‘Hillary has 18 million voters’ bit, as if 18 million people were following her around like goslings.”
Functional Ambivalent; the “they” being the commentariat.
You gotta go read Tom’s whole post, but I can’t help excerpting this:
Listen: Obama doesn’t need her or her big money friends. He raised $300 million a hundred bucks at a time, signing up a couple of million small contributors. Lest you forget your history, that’s the kind of financial base Ronald Reagan built, that has carried Republicans to victory for 20 years. When Obama stops by to speak, lines form 10 blocks long. Hillary’s big-money loyalists aren’t going to stay out of this election. They’re not in the political money business because they think Hillary’s a doll. They’re in it because it buys them access and influence and status, and there’s not one of them who’s going to stay over at Hillary’s pity party when Obama’s rockin’ the house down the block. They go with the winner.
As for those 18 million voters, well, maybe there are a few who are going to vote for John McCain. Maybe they’re that angry. But here’s what they’re going to have to swallow: No comprehensive healthcare; war forever in Iraq; bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran; anti-abortion judges; and more tax cuts for rich people. When they go to the McCain dinners, they’re going to be seated next to people who don’t understand why we haven’t put Jesus’s image on the dollar bill.
I find a lot of that commentary to be pretty accurate. Hillary’s corporate donors aren’t going to shut off the spigot because their pony came up short. Their money many not buy the same access with the Obama camp but it will ensure their calls get through.
Hillary’s supporting electorate aren’t going to swing en masse to McCain. When their disappointment subsides and they realize a protest vote would mean support for the damaging politics and policies in place with the current administration, they’ll find something redeeming in the nominee or will stay home. A spiteful switch to support the war, the pro-life/anti-gay movement, and fiscal policies of the GOP just isn’t going to happen.