Posted on 02/24/2008 3:59:20 AM PST by fweingart
No matter the office or the candidates, all campaigns usually arrive at a moment of clarity. The cotton-candy clouds of confusion part and we suddenly see that one person is connecting with voters and looks better suited for the job.
That moment is upon us in the Democratic race for President, and for backers of Hillary Clinton, it is not a pretty picture.
Although she is desperate for a big win, Clinton has frittered away almost three weeks in astonishingly trivial pursuits. It's as though her computer blew a fuse after Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 and she doesn't know what to do. Or who she wants to be.
Internal campaign feuds are becoming public, she is running low on cash and the message changes as often as Hillary's pantsuits.
One day the media is blamed for letting Obama off easily and the next day voters are accused of being fooled by his charisma. Bill Clinton is Mr. Everything one day and Mr. Invisible the next.
Most revealing is that Hillary herself now seems determined to aim low, a conclusion that was painfully obvious at Thursday's Texas debate. In a showdown she had to win, she bet the night on a cheap attack that Obama plagiarized some of his speeches and thus has a disqualifying character defect.
To say the logic is a stretch doesn't do it justice. No surprise then that Obama swatted the charge away, but she couldn't let go. "It's not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox," she said in a rehearsed line that will have no imitators at the Oscars.
It's hard to imagine a more un-presidential moment at such a critical time. It qualifies as a case of political malpractice that neither she nor her aides realized how petty the attack would sound.
Even before the Texas audience booed and groaned, it was clear the issue wasn't working. Her campaign first tried it in the days before the Wisconsin primary on Feb. 19 - a contest that seemed close until Obama won by 17 points.
Proving you can fool some of the people all the time, some Clinton insiders reportedly argued she did better among late-deciders and therefore, the plagiarism charge would pay off if they kept banging on it. So it became the campaign's Big Idea.
No wonder some donors are grumbling about how she has blown through a ton of dough with little to show for it. For $110 million, this is all they get?
The small-bore thinking also claimed another casualty in Texas. Her strong support for a border fence, which she first articulated in an interview with me in April 2006, was dumped overboard in a rank pander for Latino votes.
"We need to review this," she said Thursday. "There may be places where a physical barrier is appropriate." Before the flip-flop, there was no "may be."
Echoing her claim that she was "misled" into voting for the Iraq war, she even said although she voted for the fence, the "Bush administration has gone off the deep end" in actually building it. Who knew?
Obama, who, like Clinton, voted for the fence and champions a path to legalization for those already here, at least had the courage to say we must do something to stop the "influx" of illegal workers.
That's the position Clinton used to have, before she started running for President. It's odd, but, in seeking the highest office in the land, she apparently believes the low road is the path to victory.
History says it's a bad bet. So while she still has time, she might want to brush up on the wise advice attributed to architect Daniel Burnham: "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood ... aim high in hope and work."
Both of these candidates as so seriously flawed that they completely lost. Hillary was lost from the day she was born, while Obama is just plain un-American and dangerous to this nation's health.
She’s gone bipolar. Sweet and gracious at the debate, then a rabid badger over some stale pamphlet.
Nine more days, folks, and I think we can break out the holiday champagne.
Ooooh. That’s gonna leave a mark.
I would like to know who filled her head that she could be a “leader”. I see nothing in her demeanor that people find appealing. Over 50% of all voters think of her as a bitch not a leader.
I believe it shows how shallow the democrat party truly is. Any Tom, Dick, or Harry could have done what Hussein Obaaaama has done.
The real fear here is that the dumbed down electorate will now attach themselves to his coattails with no idea of his vision for the USA.
Wake up, it is socialism at its very nature and liberal fascism at best. This empty suit is is on a collision course with Americas destruction in mind....
Sure to take its place beside...
mistakes you can Kleenex
And even the smartest woman in the world apparently can't remember; "Brevity is the soul of wit."
Ii always say Republicans don’t win Presidential elections, Democrats LOSE them. Every time. They could win or come close with just an average white guy.
Americans in the general, will have trouble voting for a black man period. Dem males have a BIG problem with women, especially a white woman in power. They will vote for ANY man against that in the primary.
“It’s hard to imagine a more un-presidential moment at such a critical time. It qualifies as a case of political malpractice”
Seems there’s a lot of that going around lately.
Hopefully the people of this country know better. It would be worth 4 years of “President Barry Obama” if in exchange the Clinton machine is so crushed, so politically damaged that it can never be a force in National politics again.
Unbelievable! She attacked Bush on immigration; All three presidential candidates and the current president have nearly the same policy toward illegal invaders.
Hillary is not even close to being the politician her husband is, In the debate where were the comments or questions about his and his wife’s pride in the country, questions about rendezvous’ in the back of limos, questions about conversing with our enemies while extending illegal forays into Pakistan, where is the question “ how would you deal with Cuba?” she dropped the ball.
kind of like when you get sick off a flu shot
Im confident Obama will win though and in 8 yrs, pubbie nads will be just as atrophied - our disgust for mcinsane barely registering with them
The Shrill and Angry Nurse Ratchet we all new was inside, has reemerged the last couple of days.
It isn't pretty, but Peggy Noonan raises a great question, can she exit gracefully, or will she got out really ugly.
Don't be so sure. His messianic appeal is exactly what the dumbed down electorate is looking for. His "American Idol" appeal is shallow but convincing enough for those who identify with his victim diatribes. His grandiose solutions are nothing more that an emotional appeal devoid of any substance.
Frightening even more is the complicity of the msm to support this less that qualified individual for the most important job in the world. Never before have we been on the precipice of implemented destruction as we are now. His vision as depicted in his current policies with result in nothing short of economic bankruptcy, social injustice and removal of tranditional values of this great country. This person is extremely dangerous and not in the best interest of this nation....
In a single word.....Cacophonous!
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