| Of course, we may get lucky, but that's not really "a plan". With Clinton bouncing back tonight in NH, it's plausible that she and Obama will go round after round, with neither scoring a knockout. Imagine next that Michigan's "primary" results in a Clinton landslide on January 15, caused mainly because the opposition will be confused and splintered by the available options. I don't know whether that will happen, but it may. The consequence might be that Michigan's would-be delegation would prove critical to forming a majority. Not at the Convention, most likely, but during the wheeling and dealing phase that leads up to it, as the two sides struggle to assemble a majority. If this comes to pass, the fight will be between Clinton's effort to seat Michigan, and Obama's struggle to uphold the DNC sanctions. One side extending pseudo-grace and forgiveness to our transgressions, while the other side asks in pseudo-good-faith, why he should be punished for complying with the DNC's rules and following their instructions. I suppose any fight would would involve a recommendation by the Rules Committee to reverse the already imposed sanctions, probably also affecting the status of Florida. I won't develop this fantasy any further - it might play out in many different ways, most of which wouldn't cause an actual disaster. In the same way that the probability Nader would divert enough votes in a marginal state to let the Republicans steal the election was - well - miniscule. Or deferring track maintenance only rarely causes derailments, and most of those aren't all that serious. Practically not worth worrying about - unless it happens, of course. My question is: is there some reason this can't happen? Are we reduced to hoping the train won't leave the track? That the matter is decided without reference to our delegation? I always feel the first job of managers is to anticipate and avoid outright disaster. Fine-tuning the operations and innovating are good, but they come after survival. Is there something else between us and disaster, besides Mark Brewer's lucky streak? |
