Are the Clintons Planning a Coup?

The Democratic National Convention is getting ready to start today in Denver. This is suppose to be Obama's shining moment.

But some think that the Clintons have been working hard to stage a coup. Consider the arguments made in this article published in the Canadian Free Press:

• Camp Clinton convinced Camp Obama to help liquidate her campaign debts.

• Camp Clinton convinced Camp Obama to call for Florida and Michigan voters to be counted. It’s the right thing to do, of course. But had it already been done, Hillary would already be the nominee.

• Camp Clinton convinces Camp Obama to agree to a floor vote at the convention when all the cameras will be rolling. What if Clinton wins on the floor?

• Camp Clinton removes Obama supporter John Edwards from the equation, along with his scheduled convention speaking spot, on the basis that he is now a known lying cheater. But Bill Clinton (also a known lying cheater) is the headliner of the convention, and he’s not an Obama supporter at all.

• Barockstar tanks on national TV only days before the convention and his campaign staff is sent out to do damage control, leaving the super-delegates gasping in a holy crap moment, with the sudden realization that this empty suit is in no way ready for the big show. Only a promise to make a VP announcement this week can get his failed TV appearance off the front pages.

• Meanwhile, Camp Clinton is mobilizing millions of NObama minions and staging a convention coup in which Hillary can ride in on silver steed to save the party from complete implosion on an international stage…

Even James Carville, Dick Morris and Oliver Stone combined, could not have written this script any better. All we need is a second gunman on the grassy knoll. Howard Dean maybe?

The fact that millions of Democrat voters were intentionally disenfranchised by their own party in the primaries leaves the chosen one the prime target of too many in-house enemies. And nobody in American politics is better at organizing, mobilizing and exploiting in-house enemies than the Clintons.

Now, I'll be the first to tell you that I do not trust the Clintons, but I would be very surprised if she tries to pull off a coup at the DNC. I think she will rally her troops behind Obama (at least publicly).

Here is my reasoning:

• Hillary knew she was not going to get the VP position. No surprise there; Obama is not going to stick her second in command because he does not trust her (that pic above is worth a thousand words).

• Hillary's campaign is still $23 million in the hole (including $13 million she lent of her own money) and she needs Obama's key supporters to help her erase those debts.
  

• Obama needed a pitbull to help him fend off the Republican smear campaign. He got Joe Biden, arguably the most feared and fearless politician in Washington. Biden can be a loose cannon, but he will make mince meat of Mitt Romney and McCain in the debates.
  

• Who cares about Saddleback? I mean do you honestly think that the majority of white Evangelical Christians are going to vote for Obama? His answers to difficult moral questions were nuanced and well reasoned. The mere fact that he showed up there was a victory.
  

• If Hillary attempts a coup, there will be hell to pay and she will never be forgiven. This will virtually ensure a McCain victory and will throw the Democrats off for another eight years. McCain is actually hoping that Hillary will attempt something and he is openly courting her constituents in television ads like this one that started today.

In my opinion, the Camp Clinton is acting like a bunch of sore losers. Obama is too academic and he doesn't like the dirty politics that goes on in presidential elections. But this is exactly why he chose Joe Biden as his running mate. He needs the scrapper from Scranton who isn't afraid to speak his mind.

I personally do not care much about these party conventions. They are essentially love fests and polls mean nothing after these events. The key will be the debates where I expect both Obama and Biden to shine.