Politics News

James William Smith asked:


Hillary Clinton had run a disciplined, mistake-free campaign for the first nine months of 2007. She had been able to portray herself as an experienced candidate for change. By contrast, the Obama campaign had an anemic nine months on the campaign trail without a clear message or momentum. Mrs. Clinton had Obama in a tough political spot.

To remain competitive in the race, Barack Obama needed to attack Mrs. Clinton as a candidate. The attack ads and negative campaigning would have left Obama open to criticism of abandoning his campaign’s primary theme of hope. It would challenge his assertion that he was a different kind of politician and it would appear to the voting public as a cynical attempt by him to get back in the race. Obama would look desperate and Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination would be inevitable.

However, Obama never had to go “negative” because Mrs. Clinton started making a series of unforced mistakes. Her political mistakes from late September through early December have allowed the Obama campaign to surge into the lead in the first voting state of Iowa. In addition Obama has moved back into contention in the state primary in New Hampshire.

Clinton started her parade of mistakes in the debate of September 26, 2007. Her handling of a hypothetical question on terrorist torture from moderator Tim Russert was inconsistent with answers she has given on that same question posed to her in the past.

The mistakes continued for Hillary in the Democratic debate of October 30, 2007. Her answer to a debate question concerning granting illegal aliens drivers licenses was incoherent. She appeared to take a position on both sides of the issue within about sixty seconds. Her performance validated her Democratic opponent’s claim that she was trying to parse her position on issues and have it both ways.

Next, Bill Clinton showed up stumping for votes for Hillary in Iowa to remind us how slick and parsing he can be. In Iowa, it was all about Bill and little about Hillary on the campaign trail. Bill even tried to convince us that he was against the Iraq war from the beginning, which is clearly not true. It sounded like Bill Clinton was running again and reminded the voting public about the fact that in electing Hillary, we would get Team Clinton back for President in the White House. This back to the future Clinton reminder to the voting public did not go over well.

Then, the voters got to see a Hillary Clinton interview with Katie Couric. This interview should have been a positive thing for Hillary. However, her poll numbers continued to drop after her appearance. In this interview, Hillary told Katie Couric that she has never contemplated losing this election. That she had not even considered the possibility that she would lose. The manner which she handle that question appeared presumptious to many voters. In fact, it fed into the negative image many people have of Hillary’s need and hunger for power. It was a continuation of the impression that she would say anything to win.

These mistakes from the Hillary Clinton campaign have helped to tighten the Democratic race for the 2008 Presidential nomination just weeks before the first vote is to be cast in Iowa. Barrack Obama clearly has the momentum in the race. Now it will be Hillary Clinton who will have to go negative to try and slow his campaign down.

For Obama to win the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008, he must win Iowa in a decisive fashion. He also must win in New Hampshire or Hillary Clinton will absorb the Iowa defeat and move on. If Obama wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton would be reeling and John Edwards would be out of the race. The Edwards vote would probably move to Obama and he would have a chance to defeat Clinton, one-on-one in the subsequent primaries. Democratic voters would certainly be questioning Hillary’s prospects as a candidate against the Republican Presidential nominee in the general election in 2008. A primary election battle between Clinton and Obama could go unresolved for weeks since Obama has the campaign war chest to contest Clinton in every primary state.

An Obama victory against Hillary Clinton is still a long shot. However, a series of unforced Hillary Clinton mistakes since September 26, 2007 have allowed Obama to remain competitive. Indeed, the result of her political mistakes have, at the very least, given Barack Obama’s campaign of hope a prayer.

James William Smith asked:


I walked into Dunkin’ Donuts two days before what would be a very close New Hampshire primary. As I was ordering my egg and cheese on a plain bagel (toasted), I glanced down at the newspaper stand near the counter. The Boston Herald had a front page headline that morning which exclaimed: “She’s So Yesterday”. The picture under the headline caption showed the face of an aging Hillary Clinton. Her picture was accompanied by an image of the vinyl record of the Beatles hit “Yesterday “.

Rush Limbaugh had done a somewhat similar story on Hillary Clinton several weeks ago. He had questioned whether people in this society would vote for an aging woman for President who had wrinkles in a culture of perfect faces and slim and tight figures. At the time I figured that coming from Rush Limbaugh, this was an attack from the right of the political spectrum on Hillary Clinton. Now I am beginning to think that he may have been on to something.

However, when I read that newspaper headline, I realized the trouble the Clinton presidential campaign is in against the much younger candidate, Barack Obama. In fact, these tabloid political attacks on her may now have reached the point of making the entire “Boomer” generation a potential thing of the past.

This has touched a little too close to home with me. I never thought I would say this but allow me to give the Hillary Clinton campaign some unsolicited advice in order for her to capture the younger voter of today from Barack Obama. Here is my ten point (tongue somewhat in cheek) makeover for candidate Hillary Clinton, a person whom the Boston Herald newspaper refers to as “So Yesterday”.

1. Get your husband (Bill Clinton) off of the campaign trail. He talks mostly about himself. He never received 50% of the vote in any election he has won. The two Presidents for the price of one approach makes people uncomfortable. The back to the future approach does not work. He looks like a relic and makes you both look like yesterday’s news. Have him advise you quietly behind the scenes. He can be heard but not seen.

2. Keep your smiling daughter (Chelsea) on the campaign trail. She makes you look like a good mother. She reminds voters that you could be the first female elected President. She makes you look less programmed and more human.

3. Look and act like a real person. Everything in your campaign appears scripted. All your responses look like they are measured and calculated to appeal to the latest poll numbers. Those spontaneous tears the other day may have been the reason for your margin of victory in New Hampshire. However you can’t expect to cry the day before the next primary election and have it work again.

4. Hope that you win the Democratic primary and run against Republican Fred Thompson in the fall. He is so “last week” while you are only “so yesterday“. I don’t think you will have to worry about winning the youth vote in that general election.

5. Stop running primarily on the issue of your experience. The voters are furious at politicians in Washington D. C. They think that things “inside the beltway” are broken and need to be fixed. Today’s voters are mentally storming the gates of their government. They don’t want someone to tell them they are an insider and know how it runs. The point is that they don’t like how it runs.

6. Really embrace the issue of change. Create a plan to change the government. The plan should be bold. The plan should mention the first 100 days and what you would do as the first female President. Don’t consult polls. Tell us what you honestly want to do. A politician that does that would certainly represent real change.

7. Insist that Barrack Obama tell everyone what he would change. What does his plan consist of anyway? We have heard much about “hope” and “change.” We have not heard many details. If you do not make him outline his plan, you can bet the Republicans in the general election will do so instead.

8. Stop using the phrase ” I have the battle scars to prove it” in reference to your experience in the 1990s with Universal Healthcare. It makes you sound like you should be honored with a pancake breakfast at the local war veterans post.

9. Say WIFI , Bluetooth, Xbox and GPS often. It doesn’t matter that you may not know what these terms mean. Just make sure you say them. Also, make sure you watch plasma and HDTV and have an Ipod. Do not mention the Beatles, Cher, Mary Tyler Moore, or Woodstock at any time.

10. Keep your chin up (don’t let it sag). Hold your head high (don’t worry about face lifts) and stop exercising to the Richard Simmons show every morning on those VCR tapes. We use DVD players now and Richard Simmons is “totally yesterday.”

If you do all these things, you still may not win this election. However, your campaign would feature a forward-looking real person, who has energy and who addresses the voters’ desire for real change. You could even transform yourself into the new age candidate of “today”.

At the very least, with this type of makeover, the newspapers would never again show you under the tabloid headline: “She’s So Yesterday”. For a Baby Boomer, that is fast becoming an important victory in itself.