Where Did Hillary’s Mojo Go?
According to this Michael McAuliff article in the NY Daily News, that’s essentially the question Clintonistas are asking right now. Based on this paragraph, I’d say that Mr. McAuliff captures the state of the race perfectly:
Top Clinton strategist Mark Penn doesn’t own up to his candidate suffering a dip, but he admits it’s been tougher of late.
“The opponents went negative, and that created a new dynamic and a different set of headlines,” Penn said.
The new dynamic emerged at the debate in Philadelphia two weeks ago, but didn’t just spring from sharp criticism by her opponents. Clinton stumbled by offering fuzzy answers to some questions and refusing to take a stance on Gov. Spitzer’s license plan for illegal immigrants.
Then Camp Clinton’s damage control backfired as she was pounded for suggesting the “boys” ganged up on her. And Bill Clinton brought more scorn when he said the attempt to get an answer out of his wife on licenses verged on John Kerry Swift Boat territory.
Now Penn and company plan to stick to the high road, talking about Clinton’s strength, experience and vision for America, fund-raising at a torrid rate and deploying Bill Clinton more.
As I wrote here, Hillary tried triangulating on an issue that demands clear, concise answers. Hillary couldn’t help herself because her plan is to sound authoritatively vague. It’s impossible to predict when this cycle will end but it’s clear that Hillary has given the GOP nominee great fodder for the general election.
Another thing that’s clear is that the vaunted Clinton War Room isn’t hitting on all cylinders like it did in 1992. That said, they were working with Bill, who was a better candidate than Hillary ever will be. Bill Clinton ran at a time when the world didn’t seem like as threatening a place as we’re living in now. The Soviet Union had collapsed. We’d defeated Saddam. The world looked relatively placid.
That’s history. We’re now locked in a fight against determined jihadists who want to destroy Western civilization and establish a worldwide caliphate. Iran is threatening to develop nuclear missiles. Pakistan’s government is on the verge of collapsing.
Here’s the Clinton counteroffensive:
They’re also launching counterattacks, calling her opponents mudslingers.
“I think it’s sinking in to the electorate that people who had pledges to not attack Democrats were abandoning those pledges,” Penn said.
That’s pathetic. There’s no way that anyone believed there wouldn’t be a few rounds of comparing Hillary’s positions with their own. This is just a derivative of the ‘poor little Missus’ defense.
If I were consulting John Edwards or Barack Obama, I’d issue a press release saying something like this:
“Sen. Clinton refused to give just one answer to a question about our nation’s security. Instead, she attempted to have it both ways. In the end, she was evasive because she wants to be all things to all people.
“It’s time for Sen. Clinton to stop relying on focus-grouped answers. It’s time for Sen. Clinton to speak from the heart and tell the American people what she really believes.”
For that matter, I’d recommend that the Republican nominee issue that response when the next Clinton Panderfest opportunity presents itself. If there’s anything we can be sure of, it’s that the Clintons are expert panderers.
Technorati Tags: Hillary, Bill Clinton, Pandering, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Clinton War Room, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog