Reading the mind of a superdelegate

America Wants to Know is very busy and doesn't have a lot of time to waste.

So when the Sunday New York Times ran a story about the angst of the Democratic party's superdelegates as they ponder the choice between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, we made a phone call to our in-house mind reader and asked him this question:

What are the superdelegates thinking?

Mirko the Magnificent Mind Reader came right over with a suitcase full of crystals and and a bottle of Slivovitz.

Hey, whatever works.

"I see fear," Mirko said, when he had set up his gear on the coffee table. "There is profound fear."

"Fear that the Democratic party will be torn apart by a bloodletting fight between the candidates?" we asked.

Mirko squinted. "No," he said, "Fear of job loss." Then he fell silent and poured two shots of Slivovitz.

"So the issue is the economy," we volunteered, declining the plum brandy. (We have a strict policy here at America Wants to Know: nothing above 80 proof before lunch.)

"No," Mirko said. "The issue is job loss. The Democratic party's superdelegates are mostly elected officials. They're thinking about their jobs. They want to be re-elected. They don't want to lose to their Republican challengers."

"What else do you see?" we asked.

"Nothing else," Mirko said. He moved the crystals around on the table and squinted again. "That's all they're thinking. They don't want to lose their jobs in November."

"But what does that mean?" we asked. "What does that tell us about which candidate they'll finally decide to support?"

Mirko drained the second shot of Slivovitz. "You don't need a mind reader for this," he said. "They're going to support the candidate who is most likely to draw energized Democrats to the polls in November, and least likely to draw energized Republicans. They're going to support Barack Obama." He packed the crystals back into the suitcase and snapped the latches shut.

"Thanks, Mirko," we said. "You've certainly saved us a lot of time."

"Child's play," he muttered. "Call me when you need a mind reader."


Copyright 2008

.