Face Off returns! Two of our writers will be posting separate pieces on a hot-button topic. You can check out both and then vote for the one that speaks to you and aligns with your views.

Today the topic is Hillary: Should she drop out?

Check out today's posts:


Denise Williams writes:

[A] reason to stay is the situation with the rules-breaking Florida and Michigan. Clinton's advocacy (albeit selfish) for these two "disenfranchised" states keeps the heat on to find an equitable solution to seating their delegates in August. Without her continued pressure on Obama and the DNC, voters in these two states may be put off enough to stay home in November or go to McCain.

Continue reading Hillary Should Stay In...

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David Knowles writes:

Last night in West Virginia, Hillary Clinton came away with an impressive 41-point win over Barack Obama. She shaved his popular vote lead by roughly 140,000 votes, and used her surrogates to continue hammer away on the point that Obama can't win with poor, undereducated white voters. The spin from Camp Clinton is that all of this matters in her race race for the nomination with Obama. But the math -- Oh, the dreaded math! -- speaks otherwise.

Continue reading Hillary Should Drop Out...

When I did a story about John McCain's release of his tax returns a few weeks ago, I somehow missed out on the glaring fact that Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain has a prenuptial agreement with second wife Cindy McCain. Well, at least she let him keep his maiden name.

From Tfitz on DailyKos:

It seems that when his totally hot, totally rich, second wife Cindy said yes to his 'big question', she also let him know that his job wasn't finished until the paperwork was done. This tough bride, whose financials are none of your damn business thank you very much, made Big John sign a prenuptial agreement. How's that again? A possible POTUS with a pre-nup?

The article goes on to talk about the implications of the pre-nup:

If marriage is sanctioned by God and valid until death does part you cute kids, why go into it with a financial escape clause; a 'golden parachute' of love? Well, the reasons for doing so are obvious and can be fully expressed in two points. Point A: 'This thing may not last and I'll be damned if I'm going to be broken hearted and broke' and Point B: 'I don't really trust this son of a bitch'. In other words, it is all about trust. In other, other words; Cindy McCain doesn't.

When I saw this story, aside from the usual guy-talk ribbing, I couldn't really see much of a point to it. I've never cared much for stories of an embarrassing, personal nature. I almost felt a little bad for McCain. But, then, while researching yesterday's story, I realized that McCain had it coming.

Here's one for our Ron Paul readers. I see you all are back and a welcome sight it is - really. No snark. We missed you.

The Web site Miss Ron Paul is doing it's latest contest for Miss Ron Paul. Apparently I'm late to this - they've been doing it for awhile. Congratulations to the past winners! So vote early and vote often. This round ends May 31. Contestant number 3 looks to be the presumptive winner. I wonder why.

I understand from my reading my colleague David Knowles' post that Congressman Paul might have a little surprise for the convention in September. I'm expecting to be there, so I'll try and meet up with Paul supporters. You will definitely be better company that the McCain supporters, I'm sure.

Oh, and I promised this great group of kids that I met after the Philly Democratic debate in April that I'd post their picture the next time I did a post on Ron Paul.

I just listened to Hillary's victory speech. As of right now she's leading 64-29%. Ouch! With numbers like that, this is the last time that West Virginia sees Barack Obama for, like, ever.

Hillary's speech was fairly unspectacular as usual, but in the first few paragraphs, I think she managed to squeeze in just about every West Virginia cliche about mountain people, going to the mountain, etc. Cringe worthy.

And then she started in with a rousing defense of why she's still in the race (remember, when you're explaining, you're losing) But she does have some valid points. She is the "strongest candidate" based on her ability to win swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. That it has been since 1916 or so since a Democrat won without West Virginia. That's true, too, but it probably has more to do with West Virginia being a marginally leaning state, and Al Gore came within 300 votes of busting that record.

Anyway, it didn't sound to me like she was quitting, or even thinking about quitting. In her quest to stay in the race, she also received some unexpected support from Obama who stated that the race wasn't over yet. Hillary should send him a thank you card.

The Obama campaign doesn't talk about it much, but will admit when pressed that they started this process knowing that there was a small, but not insignificant, segment of the population that just will not vote for an African-American.

Running just below the surface in the campaign and in the media, is the undercurrent of racism still to be found in pockets around the country - rural, urban and suburban. While Senator Obama's message is inclusive and pan-racial, the workers on the ground have felt the sting that the campaign itself does not wish to highlight and the media has mostly ignored.

The Washington Post today has some harsh stories of field workers, phone bankers and surrogates having doors slammed in their faces, being called the most derogatory of racial terms and physically threatened.

Victoria Switzer, a retired social studies teacher, was on phone-bank duty one night during the Pennsylvania primary campaign. One night was all she could take: "It wasn't pretty." She made 60 calls to prospective voters in Susquehanna County, her home county, which is 98 percent white. The responses were dispiriting. One caller, Switzer remembers, said he couldn't possibly vote for Obama and concluded: "Hang that darky from a tree!"

Documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, said she, too, came across "a lot of racism" when campaigning for Obama in Pennsylvania. One Pittsburgh union organizer told her he would not vote for Obama because he is black, and a white voter, she said, offered this frank reason for not backing Obama: "White people look out for white people, and black people look out for black people."

This Page Left Intentionally Blank

That line is what we in the biz call a logical fallacy. As logical fallacies go, it's pretty innocuous, even comical. I picture an apoplectic bureaucrat somewhere screaming into the face of the 987th person to come to the window and ask, "What's wrong with my Driver's Manual?"

A far more dangerous logical fallacy is all the rage now, and it has a lot to do with intentionally blank pages. The press has given John McCain a free ride for years now, and as a result, 45% of Hillary Clinton's supporters have something like this to say:

If Hillary Clinton doesn't win, I will vote for McCain in November.

It is a happy accident that David Knowles wrote about this phenomenon earlier today, unbeknownst to me. This serves as an excellent companion to that story.

Now, I understand disappointment, and a certain amount of bitterness toward an opponent in a hard-fought contest, but this makes about as much sense as rooting for the Red Sox if the Yankees lose, unless you're Rudy Giuliani, or saying that if you can't have your favorite flavor of ice cream, you'll take cyanide instead.

My theory is that many of these voters have the same general idea about McCain that the rest of America does, that he's a free-thinking, maverick moderate who even leans to the left here and there, a great down-the-middle choice. Let's test that theory out. This poll is for Hillary Clinton supporters only. Take it, and then read on.

My prediction two weeks ago on Indiana and North Carolina proved to be total folly, today's foretelling will likely prove to be superfluous.

Today West Virginia Democrats cast their votes in a primary. They have 28 delegates.

Hillary Clinton will win West Virginia. And with a comfortable margin (8-10 points).

But it won't matter.

It appeared on a lonely street corner in Chicago: a stenciled silhouette of Barack Obama holding a microphone that connects to the United States. Immediately one wonders, What does it mean?

We can assume that this graffiti, somewhere on the streets of his hometown, is a gesture of support for Senator Obama. But it's hard to deny the bleak effect it has on the viewer.

Obama stands on a street corner--one hand holding a microphone, the other hand pleading--while on the other side hovers the United States, streaked with dripping paint. The only link between the Senator and his country is a long, meandering wire that he seems one step away from tripping over.

The raw loneliness is also marked by the image's physical disconnectedness. A passerby on one side of the street only sees Obama speaking to a rally, while someone on the other side sees nothing but the U.S. floating from a frail string. Only a person turning the corner or standing on the other side of the street sees the complete image. Even then, the street corner's three-dimensional divide is hard to ignore.

But, what about the image itself? Is the Illinois senator and probable Democratic presidential nominee speaking to us or through us? Is the fate of our nation inexplicably linked to this agent of change, or are we simply the vehicle or amplifier for his personal message and ambitions?

B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.

First Read's Domenico Montanaro makes a good point about why things aren't looking good for Hillary Clinton even though she'll win big in West Virginia today. The problem? Numbers:

Obama has now picked up 25 (with Romer would be 26) [superdelegates] this past week. That's more delegates than Clinton will net out of the West Virginia's 28 delegates at stake. And if Obama rolls out four more, he'd have gained more superdelegates in the past week than there are delegates at stake in West Virginia.

First Read is apparently sorely in need of a copy-editor, but the inference is a valid one. With the superdelegates now going over to Obama in droves, the remaining delegates that Clinton will net from West Virginia and Kentucky will be all but negated. Even James Carville seems to know the end is nigh.