If only Karen had posted her helpful explanation in time for the Clinton campaign to, you know, see if her “must-win state” was, er, winnable.
Supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are worried that convoluted delegate rules in Texas could water down the impact of strong support for her among Hispanic voters there, creating a new obstacle for her in the must-win presidential primary contest.
A few questions: What part of the Texas “obstacle” is “new”? And, as Walt Starr at MyDD puts it, “How can a candidate be ready on day one when she wasn’t ready for February 6?”
Jason Zengerle frames it a little more starkly:
So let me get this straight: The Clinton campaign basically decided to bank almost everything on Texas (along with Ohio), without bothering to do due diligence on the delegate apportionment procedures there? If she does wind up winning the White House, who’s the lucky aide who gets to troop into the Oval Office and deliver the shocking news to her that we’ve got troops in Iraq.
UPDATE: It gets worse:
While [the Clinton campaign advisers] were busy “discovering” the rules, however, the Obama campaign had people on the ground in Texas explaining the system, organizing precincts, and making Powerpoints. I know because I went to one of these meetings a week ago. I should have invited Mark Penn I suppose.
Publius via TNR. (Update to update: I see Elvis pointed out the Publius quote as well. Thanks!)
UPDATE: KathyR has a helpful link.