Politics News

Ernie Fitzpatrick asked:


When the dust settles on this primary election cycle I think pundits and historians will mostly all agree that Bill Clinton was Hillary’s undoing. His game worked when it was him attacking them, when it was Bill versus the right wing conspiracy; however, when it is Bill versus “other Democrats” it is an abject failure. Democrats are now looking in the mirror and seeing the “Clinton myth” and it’s not a pretty picture at all. The latest Bill Clinton attack, as subtle as it was, didn’t go unnoticed!

What was the headline this past weekend from Bubba? “John McCain and Hillary Clinton love America. So wouldn’t it be great to see those two who love America vie for the presidential title? Surely you get the inference! And it is statements just like this that’s turning the Democratic party away from Hillary as much as for Obama- who is at least conciliatory in his comments.

Hillary is just barely holding on. To what?

Hillary Clinton has virtually no chance of winning. Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That The notion of the Democratic contest being a dramatic cliffhanger is a game of make-believe.means the only way she wins is if Democratic super delegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party’s most reliable constituency. Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote, which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle, and use that achievement to pressure super delegates (like Bill Richardson?), she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.

The Clinton invincibility myth is dying a slow death, and with it the Hillary Clinton campaign.

The notion of the Democratic contest being a dramatic cliffhanger is a game of make-believe.The real question is why so many people believing that she has a chance, other than pulling off some back-room shady deal? The answer has more to do with media psychology than with practical politics.

Meanwhile, Bubba’s latest comments are causing the Hillary Clinton campaign to bob and weave, saying the comments were being misinterpreted and quickly posting a clarification on its Web site. But retired Air Force Gen. Merrill McPeak said he was disappointed by the comments and compared them to those of McCarthy, the 1950s communist-hunting senator.

Hey Bill. The fat lady is walking up the steps to take the microphone.

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.

Ernie Fitzpatrick asked:


Is the Hillary Clinton campaign machine in the last throes of life? There is no mistaking a certain flailing, a lashing-out, as Hillary Clinton has become angry, mocking, and offensive in the last few days leading up to today’s Ohio debate- the 20th such debate and the LAST! Tonight is D-Day for the Hillary express. A kick off or the boot?

One such indicator of a failing campaign is the denial of any sense of reality. Harold Ickes as an example, gave the following description of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s prospects, “We’re on the way to locking this nomination down,” he said of a candidate who appears, if anything, headed in the other direction. Locking it down? Get real!

The Austin Texas debate did not help Hillary. Will Ohio tonight?

Ickes added, while played the good cop role also said, “We think we are on the verge of our next up cycle,” he reported, even suggesting the apparent impossibility that Clinton “may be running even” with Obama when all the contests are over. “This race is very close,” he judged. “This is tight as a tick.”

Someone get that man a cup of coffee and wake him up!

In case the Clinton camp missed something, Obama has won ELEVEN election contests in a row, is ahead in teh pledged delegate count, the total delegate count, and the popular vote. Granted, we have four primaries coming up next week with 400+ delegates at stake, but it’s doubtful those four will change much of the current trend if anything at all.

The Obama tsunami rolls on!

Ernie Fitzpatrick asked:


How is it that Hillary can be “ready on day one” when her campaign is in a shambles now? Since she has been running for president for eight+ years now, why is her campaign so dysfunctional? She has the democratic machine behind her, Bubba, and access to wealth and power beyond limits and yet she now finds herself in the second slot in this horse race for the democratic nomination.

And if anyone thinks she’s going to bow out, you have another think coming. She’d rather sink the party and the nation before losing. Hillary doesn’t lose! So, while Barack Obama’s campaign touts “the math” as pointing to an insurmountable delegate lead for the Illinois senator, Hillary marches on and even has the audacity to say Obama would be a good VP on her ticket!

I’m here to tell you that IF she won the nomination, and IF Obama was amicable to a VP role (and he’s not), she could not stand having him as a VP because of his popularity. Hillary will not have anyone looking good around ehre except here image in the mirror.

Rich Lowry nails it on the head when he wrote, “Hillary isn’t electrifying on the stump, her campaign is dysfunctional, and — truth be told — she’s not particularly experienced. What Hillary has is a shameless will to power, and a near lock on an old-school Democratic coalition built on working-class whites. That is enough for her to try to pry the nomination from Obama’s hands one finger at a time.”

It’s impossible for Hillary to gain enough delegates over the enxt eleven primaries to exceed Obama. So, other behind closed door methods will have to be employed. And she can do that! Obama will most likely continue to lead Clinton by about 100 pledged delegates, but won’t get enough to secure the nomination before the convention in August. Obama, and Hillary for that matter, will need superdelegates — elected officials and party officers who are free to vote for whomever they choose, Lowry notes.

Ahh, those fluid super delegates! Who knows how many each candidate has?

The super delegates won’t necessarily support the candidate with the most pledged delegates. The Washington Post spoke with 80 superdelegates who said they will support the candidate who will run the strongest campaign against Republican John McCain. And just who is going to determine who that might be? The Magnolia state gets to add it’s feelings today!

Obama has downplayed the possibility of taking the vice presidential slot, but hasn’t totally ruled it out, and until he does, doubts will remain about whether he has the stomach for what Hillary will drag him through. Hz Obama got the guts, the will, the moxy to take all that Hillary and Bubba can throw at him? We’re surely going to find out.

The Hillary Clinton campaign may be short of professionalism, but it’s not short on intimidation and pwoer brokering. Stay tuned for……….NEWS! :-)Hillary Clinton Campaign