Clinton Rules versus Obama Rules

Those of us who support Hillary—and make no mistake, the numbers are substantial, or there wouldn’t be all this squabbling over delegates and the disenfranchisement of Florida—have noticed a certain imbalance not only in the media’s coverage of Hillary, but also within attitudes currently prevalent among many of our fellow Dems.

This perceptive blogger has looked carefully at current trends to articulate the following prevailing principles.

On the one hand, there are:

The Clinton Rules (TCR)

TCR 1.0. If anything bad happens to the Democrats in this campaign, it can and should be blamed on Hillary Clinton.

TCR 2.0. Every statement of any supporter or surrogate of Hillary Clinton is a reflection of Hillary Clinton’s personal views or directives.

* COROLLARY to TCR 2.0: Statements by any supporter or surrogate of Hillary Clinton that might cast her in poor light are most definitely a reflection of Hillary Clinton’s personal views or directives – regardless of whether she distances herself from those statements, supporters or surrogates.

TCR 3.0. If Hillary Clinton gets the nomination (through her evil machinations) and loses, it will be the fault of Hillary Clinton and her supporters.

TCR 4.0. Any votes that Hillary Clinton receives from Independents and Republicans are due to their interest in preventing Sen. Obama? from becoming the Democratic nominee and defeating Sen. John McCain.? After all, the GOP wants to run against Hillary Clinton in the Fall! [added, thanks to reader Wasab]

TCR 5.0. If Hillary Clinton attempts to work the completely screwed up primary system to her advantage, it represents vote-stealing and cheating. [added, thanks to reader Dawn]

Once you know The Clinton Rules, it is easy to derive….

B. The Obama Rules (TOR)

TOR 1.0. If anything good happens to the Democrats in this campaign, it can and should be attributed to Sen. Barack Obama.

* COROLLARY to TOR 1.0: All the good stuff that has happened and will happen is because of Obama’s unifying and positive campaign of change and his brilliant 50-state strategy (the resounding success of which is evident from the fact that he has so far already won in states with 193 electoral votes, while Clinton has only won in states with 263 electoral votes).

TOR 2.0. NOT every statement of any prominent supporter or surrogate of Barack Obama is a reflection of Barack Obama’s personal views or directives.

* COROLLARY to TOR 2.0: Statements by any supporter or surrogate of Barack Obama’s that may cast him in poor light, are most definitely NOT a reflection of Barack Obama’s personal views or directives – regardless of whether he distances himself from those statements or supporters or surrogates.

TOR 3.0. If Sen. Obama gets the nomination and loses, it will be the fault of Hillary Clinton and her supporters.

TCR 4.0. Any votes that Sen. Obama receives from Independents and Republicans are a result of his uplifting and positive campaign of hope, change and unity and his incredible coattails – and not because they are just becoming Democrats for a day. After all, isn’t it ridiculous that Democrats alone are allowed to pick the Democratic nominee? [added, thanks to reader Wasab]

TCR 5.0. If Sen. Obama attempts to work the completely screwed up primary system to his advantage, it represents hope, optimism and change and a reflection of the will of the people. [added, thanks to reader Dawn] (The Left Coaster; emphasis added)

I’d say that this is a fairly accurate reflection of what has been happening to date. Whether it will continue remains to be seen.

Readers who have noticed additional imbalances are invited to chip in.