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Below Matt blogged about Hillary Clinton's comments about the RFK assassination in June of 1968 which she made to point out that presidential primaries sometimes last into June. This is the part of what she said that will be getting all the attention and rightly so (whether she was thinking "hey, Obama could die" is just speculation however). But the other part of what she said should also be scrutinized. She said her husband didn't secure the nomination in 1992 until mid-June when he won the California primary. This is wrong. Here are the facts: 1. The 1992 primaries ended on June 2, 1992, a day earlier than this year. Several states, including California, had primaries that day. It was not mid-June. 2. According to wikipedia: "Clinton effectively won the Democratic Party's nomination after winning the New York Primary in early April." 3. Clinton's chief rival was Paul Tsongas who dropped out of the race in mid-May, 1992. 4. According to polls, Clinton led in every remaining state except California where Jerry Brown was polling well (his home state). Brown was not going to catch Clinton for the nomination in any scenario. 5. From the May 11, 1992 New York Times: "Aides to Mr. Clinton say that in most of the remaining primaries he will ignore the former Governor of California, Edmund G. Brown Jr., and will try to give voters a clearer sense of his own personality and his positions on major issues, in preparation for a general election campaign against President Bush." Summary: Hillary Clinton's reference to 1968 was accurate (that campaign was still in doubt) but tacky. Her reference to Bill's 1992 race was wrong on the facts. Like Tsongas, Hillary Clinton is not (yet) mathematically eliminated. Like Tsongas, Hillary's campaign is out of money. Unlike Tsongas, she doesn't know when it's a good time to wrap it up.
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