Obama Plays the "Electable" Card

With Bill Clinton playing the race card against him, Barack Obama has come up with a card of his own - electability:

DENVER (AP) - Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday said rival Hillary Rodham Clinton is too polarizing to win the presidency and she has taken positions shared by President Bush and Republican candidate John McCain for political expediency.

Obama depicted Clinton as a calculating, poll-tested divisive figure who will only inspire greater partisan divisions as she sides with Republicans on issues like trade, the role of lobbyists in politics and national security. At the same time, he elevated McCain, fresh off victory in Florida's crucial primary, as the likely Republican nominee.

"Democrats will win in November and build a majority in Congress not by nominating a candidate who will unite the other party against us, but by choosing one who can unite this country around a movement for change," Obama said, speaking as rival John Edwards was pulling out of the race in New Orleans, leaving a Clinton-Obama fight for the Democratic nomination.

The prevailing wisdom among some of the conservative writers that I read is that Obama against anybody in the GOP is almost a sure win for Obama. Clinton, on the other hand, is a very polarizing figure and therefore somebody that John McCain could beat. Mitt Romney probably couldn't beat anybody.

If Democrats really want to win in November, they better pay attention to what Obama is saying.