Posted on 03/02/2008 5:19:00 AM PST by COUNTrecount
There was a moment toward the end of the Democratic presidential debate in Cleveland last Tuesday when it was easy to feel sorry for Hillary Clinton.
The former First Lady hadn't done much since the top of the show to endear herself to anyone who wasn't already voting for her, what with the health care hectoring and the whining about always going first and the old evil eye trick.
But as Barack Obama was talking about how Mrs. Clinton doesn't owe anyone an explanation as to why she's a worthy opponent, the sad reality of Hillary Clinton's predicament conjured a fleeting wave of sympathy.
Mrs. Clinton's careening campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination is already shaping up to be the most thoroughly autopsied in the history of modern democracy and the body's not even horizontal yet, much less cold.
While superdelegates madly plot to find a "Here's your husband, what's your hurry?" strategy for getting the Clintons to go away quietly without resorting to a stun gun and a net if she loses both Texas and Ohio March 4, the campaign forensics nuts (including yours truly), are already arguing over the COD.
Under the original Clinton campaign plan, the first week of March after Super Tuesday would have weeded out the last of the also-rans, including that silver-tongued pain-in-the-ass Obama. Mrs. Clinton would now be reminding Americans of how crumbly and corrupt and hotheaded John McCain is. Instead, she's still trying to convince Democrats that Barack Obama should be ashamed of himself.
INCONSISTENT MESSAGE
Much of the premature Monday morning strategizing about the Clinton campaign (it ain't over 'til March 5 and just maybe, if she wins somewhere, anywhere, March 4, not even then) focuses on the wildly inconsistent message, the Bill factor, the fundraising incompetence, the overspending.
But every one of those issues is really about arrogance: We don't need a message, we're running as the incumbent; we have one of the most popular presidents in history as our understudy; and we don't need little-people money, we have wealthy friends who'll buy access.
The Clinton campaign was run from right out of the gate as though it were just an unseemly formality, an inconvenient hurdle between the Clintons and their right to recapture a legacy tragically derailed by what Mrs. Clinton euphemistically called in an interview last week with a Christian broadcaster, "What happened during the '90s."
Senator Clinton and her braintrust never took Barack Obama seriously as a threat, despite all the signs after his 2004 Democratic convention speech that everyone else in Washington did. Which may mean that the one-way conversation they had with the American people about race before both New Hampshire and South Carolina was just the retail manifestation of a cherished article of faith; that many Americans wouldn't vote for a black presidential candidate.
RACIAL CODE
Maybe that's why much of what was said by Hillary and Bill in January smacked of racial code intended to remind Americans that they were seriously contemplating doing precisely that, as though it hadn't dawned on them already.
At the same time, Bill Clinton knew a star when he saw one because he'd been one himself. The former president wistfully told a New Hampshire crowd the day before the primary, "I can't make her younger, taller, male . . . there's a lot of things I can't do." In other words, not only is she no me, but if people want change so badly they're willing to vote for a black man, then we're cooked because he's got everything else going for him, too.
They never had a strategy beyond riding back into town on a wave of Clinton nostalgia, female pride in a historic first and Bush fatigue, and they never had a ground strategy beyond Super Tuesday. The flailing that has filled the vacuum since then has been so weird at times that Mrs. Clinton has looked more like Wile E. Coyote trying to outwit the Roadrunner with yet another Acme just-add-water contraption than the hare sleeping on the roadside as the tortoise coasts by.
In a different world, Hillary Clinton would have been the renegade, the change agent and the historic first. In this world, Obama decided to run for president this time. That she didn't see him coming may say more about her judgment, her experience and who she is than just about anything else she's ever done.
I factored that in : )
That's really her predicament, isn't it? Even among the Dims.
As to Obama, I think he'd be a disaster for the Nation in many ways. But, with BillyJeff, I always said I was ashamed to have a President that I wouldn't invite into my home if he pulled into the driveway.
I would never vote for him, but I just don't feel that way about Obama. It's not a personal, deep in the gut, disgusted beyond all belief, revulsion.
I was thinking about that the other day. Before this train wreck of a campaign, both Bill and Hillary commanded big advances from publishers and big fees for speeches.
I doubt that's going to continue. Now I think they've finally gone and done what I'm sure they thought was impossible: overexposed themselves to the point that America is just plain tired of them.
JC, careful what you wish for....I’ve been fighting against HRC from the early days - but now I’ve met Michelle Obama, one angry Socialist radical pushing black woman who is smarter than HRC and more determined...........heaven help us, are we in for a Twofer again?
I will bet that ole Hildabeast will try to say that the Republicans were messing with their primaries and try to throw the vote out if she looses. My interest is that she is out no matter what. We can deal with the other guy later. If I never saw Bill Clinton again, That would be fantastic!
Don’t worry it’s just part of the VRWC....GMTA and all that. :)
I think we are and Michelle really is one angry woman! She's more "Hillary" than Hillary herself!
In fact, I'm hoping that ol' Michelle will be Barack Hussein's downfall (as I think we can beat Hillary easier than we can beat Obama).
I'm not wishing for anything -- gave that up long ago. But if I did have a wish, it would be for the Hillary-Obama thing to keep rolling on right through the convention.
However, that's not going to happen. Hillary's just about all in. You can tell it's a campaign with no momentum at all, going through the motions so Hill and Bill can tell the big donors, "Hey, we tried."
Compelling point and one I will work for.
Anyone who believes that is a complete fool.
The Clinton crime and slime machine has not even gone into action yet.
The Clintons do al their fighting under cover and behind the scenes.
Anyone who is familiar with Hillary knows that she has planned, plotted, schemed, and whatever else she has had to do for this her entire life.
She is not going down without a fight.
By fight, I mean airplanes crashing, people committing suicide,dead pets being found on porches.
When these things begin happening, one can say that Hillary is getting serious.
That type of judgement could be catastrophic for this country. Not forseeing a threat to her campaign is one thing, but not recognizing terrorist threats and strategic vulnerabilities is entirely another. That said, Hillary's next step is probably being carefully crafted: undermine the next president in every way possible to position herself for another run.
Is that even legal? Obama did a cameo on SNL back in Oct. or Nov. but he didn't talk about his run for the presidency, IIRC.
Now I think they’ve finally gone and done what I’m sure they thought was impossible: overexposed themselves to the point that America is just plain tired of them.
“Meet the Depressed” on right now on the East coast.....Bob Schrum, James Carville agree that if she doesn’t win BIG in Texas and Ohio it is over.(Who will tell her is another matter).
"Campaigns" with federally-approved funding and under the direction of professional managers are deadly - both to the candidates and to our Liberty.
We have only had one serious candidate for the Presidency since 1956. That's a long time.
Who WAS Ike's campaign manager, anyway? Who was his media director? How much of a buy did he do in Iowa?
The whole system has rotted, right down to the core. If we get a candidate, much less two candidates, who are qualified to the office it's an accident.
Just look at that egotistic asshat Jimmy Carter and multiply his ego by 1000 to get an idea.
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