Commentary: Clinton campaign survives onslaught of Obama, media

There are many mysteries in life. Don't you often wonder how some talentless person can become a multimillionaire? Or, how about those athletes who get paid millions of dollars and can't complete a sentence?

Of all the political mysteries that swirl around the political world, my biggest one is, why the Clintons, Bill and Hillary, are so disliked by so many people.

There is no doubt that former President Clinton brought shame to the office by having an affair with an intern. He paid for his mistake by being subjected to public humiliation on the floor of the House of Representatives.

On the other hand, millions of Americans, from every walk of life, enjoyed a lot of prosperity during the eight Clinton years. In addition, Mr. Clinton made history by pushing through such things as the Family Leave Act and welfare reform.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign for the White House has energized legions of Clinton haters, including many members of the national media, who make no pretense of their dislike for the Clinton family. The Clinton phobia in the press has even extended to mean-spirited attacks on daughter Chelsea.

Ask most members of the U.S. Congress who have had personal or political dealings with either Bill Clinton or Hillary, and you will get nothing but praise. President Clinton made countless friends in the Congress with his deft personal touch and his nonpartisan approach to issues.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, like her or not, is a good representative of New York State. She was re-elected by a comfortable margin in her most recent campaign, winning over large numbers of Republicans in both upstate and downstate New York.

The lady senator knows her issues, speaks out on behalf of Iraq war veterans, seniors and 9/11 families on numerous occasions. Constituent groups lavish praise on her for her efforts on their behalf. All in all, she is highly popular with the majority of New Yorkers.

But, day after day, Mrs. Clinton is subjected to press bashing and her husband is portrayed as being an out-of-control ex- politician. The media coverage of the recent Pennsylvania primary is solid proof of the Clinton rage.

Hillary Clinton won that primary by close to 10 percentage points. Besides winning a larger percentage of blue-collar workers and women, she won in the Pennsylvania suburbs, an area that is usually fertile territory for Sen. Obama. She was inundated with a hurricane of Obama television ads and still swept the state.

If you read any paper or listened to the talking heads on television, all the chatter was about why didn't Barack Obama do better and when is "she" getting out of the race? Almost nothing was said about a woman winning a competitive battle.

All the Sunday television talk shows focus on the same question. How soon will Hillary Clinton quit the race? At this juncture, neither candidate can get to the magic 2,025 delegate level, and even after the June primary in Puerto Rico, neither one will have earned the nomination.

Media speculation about how the superdelegates will vote always contains the suggestion that the super delegates have to follow the popular vote in their home state. That, too, is a distortion.

The superdelegate system was created to give elected officials and party leaders a chance to use their experience to pick the candidate who has the best chance to win in November. They aren't supposed to go to Colorado to rubber stamp any candidate.

The intra-party fight may last another five weeks or right through August when the convention takes place. Sen. Clinton has shown she can win the battleground status but could still lose the nomination. But like her or not, she is entitled to the same level playing field that the Clinton haters have given both Barack Obama and John McCain.

Jerry Kremer, who served for 23 years in the state Assembly, is a partner in the Uniondale law firm of Ruskin Moscou Faltischek. You can reach him by e-mail at ajkremer@rmfpc.com.

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