What Happened?
I’m not counting Senator Clinton totally out of the race as yet, but as of now, it’s not looking too good for her. I have been wondering when did Senator Clinton’s campaign begin to fail? Was is when President Clinton took the stage on her behalf? Was it her message? Was it her judgment? When did her campaign begin to falter?
posted by pissed off patricia at 1:55 AM
35 Comments:
I'm not sure it's so much that she altered as that Obama overtook her and rocketed ahead. In a way that's worse for her, because there's not too much you can do when somebody else is simply a better candidate.
However, there was one critical point where she stumbled- her initial plan was to wrap things up on Super Tuesday, and there was apparently no alternate plan for hard campaigning after that date, nor much money left, since all her focus and budgeting was set at that one date.
That turns out to have been a major miscalculation, and it took her campaign far too long to get up, dust itself off, and come up with more money and an alternate plan. By the time they gt going again, Obama had rung up a score of wins.
"altered" = "faltered".
What colonel colonel said... I think that he just took her by surprise and did he take!
That said, her immediate reaction was not good, which says something about reacting on her feet and it went downhill from there.
A confluence of forces in the end.
The problem I've had with the Clinton campaign so far has been that of attitude. It seems like she's conducted herself as if she is entitled to the nomination and her candidacy is inevitable. Then you factor in her support of the war in Iraq and it gets very tough to get behind her.
"This state doesn't matter."
"Firewalls."
"Yabba dabba doo."
Attitude about sums it up.
When she rubber stamped the Bush Regime's Agenda. When she took her Coronation for granted. When she relied on her buddies in the Military Industrial Complex to fund her campaign. When she launched her gutter politics against Sen. Obama headed by her Slick Willy.
Now she is left with mocking her opponent and his supporters, with her "enough with the rallys and big speeches". She has become a pathetic figure. I would feel sorry for her, except there is a whole world that deserves more empathy than her. Like the families of the million Iraqi's slaughtered in an Illegal and Immoral War she helped create.
Good Riddance Hillary. I'll leave Forgiveness to your Victims and God.
Peace.
She didn't so much falter but was out campaigned. Obama's message is resonating with the public and hers not so much. It is still tight but I think Obama has the momentum and I am not sure there is enough runway for HRC to get airborne again.
When I was in Austin I went to a coffee house and they were trying to take a vote to see where Austin stands on Hillary v. Obama. They were selling H and O cookies. You want Obama you buy an O cookie. You like Hillary you get an H.
Well, there were very few H cookies left and there were lots of O cookies. I know this is not a scientific poll--but it seems as reliable as anything we hear on the news.
all of the above is CORRECT
out campaigned, attitude, poor planning, coronation, change vs experience, inevitability -- they are all right
but one thing they got me. DYNASTY -- we are tired of 2 families running the show around here --- i REALLY think that 28 years of bush or clinton in the white house (going back to 1980) is enough.......
another 8 just looked so unappetizing.
PLUS -- hillary clinton may be one of the most polarizing figures in american history, for many reasons - valid or not -- and that is a big problem when trying to govern a nation that is more and more ungovernable.
when she got overtly negative- she started to tank. they had been even- and both sides had done some underhanded things- but nothing out of the ordinary. she and bill played the race card and things started getting sleazy. although, i have to say- i am glad folks aren't letting her or mccain off the hook- what with their apologizing for folks in their campaigns doing stuff and whatnot. i have always hated putting the blame on someone else. but i really think- as was said above- attitude and being out campaigned by a positive message has done her in. folks don't want experience they want change. they don't want business as usual- they want hope. she can't give those things.
I think it began to fall apart for her when she did that interview where she said she didn't even think about not winning the nomination because that was out of the question--or something like that.
It seems like from that point on, she ran into all sorts of media criticism and her campaign started floundering.
It's a shame really because she is a bright person and I think she would bring a lot to the table.
Of course Barack's not so bad either.
I've heard all of the above as explanations, too. I would add, that as a woman, Hillary can sound too much the bully when she "gets tough." A man has an easier time pulling toughness off. Fair or not, I think it's so.
Also, PoP, I'm going to attempt to plant a link, and excuse me, please, if my code fails. This article is interesting. It's called "The Boomers Had Their Day. Make Way for the Millennials." By Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais; Washington Post
Sunday, February 3, 2008 I'd be interested to hear your take.
Here in SC, where Bill started the race-baiting. It looked like he was running her campaign, instead of her.
At least, that was when I made up my mind.
All of the above explanations seem right to me. I don't think it was one thing that brought her campaign down, but a combination of bad advice, hubris, and miscalculation.
She started too early. They all did.
I think she has too much baggage.
She's an insider and probably doesn't really offer much change from the "insider status quo".
America is ready for REAL change... and it's not going to come from Hillaryious (©2008 Targa) :)
Probably.
I think it was one of the right wing talking heads that NPR has been interviewing who said this morning that Hillary is on a job interview while Barak is on a date.
I have no idea what she is like personally, but publicly she does not radiate warmth, charm or charisma. I think that as a woman, she feels that above all she must appear competent to be president in what are perceived as dangerous times. She’s had to be all business which leaves no room for displays of vision and humanity.
I took advantage of (Texas) early voting this morning and pulled the Obama lever even though I really think Clinton is better prepared to be president. I want to see some progress in the next four years—health care, deficit and debt reduction, a return to multilateral foreign policy—and I think as much as the GOP hates Clinton, the atmosphere would be too toxic for anything to be accomplished.
I hope I haven’t underestimated the racial baggage we will be carrying into the voting booth in November.
when she listened to the "professional" campaign jerks instead of listening to her heart.
i'm scheduled to play a hillary fund raiser next saturday and have seen the attitude shift in the organizers from a "raise money for the general" to a "retire debts incurred" focus.
shame. she's better than she performed.
When did her campaign begin to fail?
IMHO it was in 2002 when she voted to give the "War With Iraq" hand-grenade to the monkey.
Then she compounded that mistake just last year by voting to give the monkey another hand-grenade named "Kyl-Lieberman."
Most of us don't just want a president that would know how to use the hand-grenade themselves and under what circumstances. Clinton clearly foots this bill.
We also want a president with judgement to know that primates should not be allowed near explosives.
She voted for the war.
It's all about that, for myself and many. I mean, really.
How the hell did so many of us non-politicians think it was wrong/bullshit, while the bumbling idiots who rubber-stamped it believed it was the right thing to do??? i know, we all make mistakes, but this mistake will haunt us all for a long time. she needs to go away, with her betty davis eyes.
Zilla linked the article that I think is as good a reason as any that Obama caught Clinton and passed her by. I also think that the media overhyped her "inevitability" based on absolutely nothing but their own news directors, then was happy to claim she was getting beaten when the actual voting started--but both times it was just media spin. I don't think she ever had the huge leads the media claimed she did. I think it was always going to be a tight race, and now--for various reasons including the Gen Y/Gen X factor, Obama is leading.
For me, it was the non-stop media hyping of Hillary as the annointed nominee. I believe it was Chris Matthews who started to get my dander up with this over a year ago. He just kept harping on Hillary & Giuli as the inevitable nominees. But Americans have become smarter consumers. We know when something is being pushed so hard, it is time for a good hard 2nd look. If it wasn't for New Hampshire, I think her campaign would've giulianied very early. Because as people started looking more closely, they remembered all the horrid baggage this woman comes with. Rightly or wrongly, she carries that weight. It's not that she can't win in november, it's that she will have the toughest time against McC, and we all know that in a close election, the repubs somehow manage to win. And then when we looked around, lo & behold, there were 2 other very viable candidates (Obama and Edwards), one of whom had the campaign chops to get the votes.
I second what Colonel Colonel said.
and, the press did her no good when it just kept on assuming she was the heir presumptive.
and Bill really did a number on her, too. I've often wondered if he did it on purpose or accidentally-on-purpose.
I think it is when Monica had her man and she stood by and said nothing. what kind of woman does that! with the world to see! Only kidding I am in agreement with what has been said already
Two weak moments.
1.The 5 million dollar loan was bad press.
2.After she lost in Virginia, she did not concentrate on Wisconsin, instead shifting to Texas, ignoring people that might have voted for her.
I'm pretty sure it was right after I sent her money. Kiss of death, I tell you. Don't go to Vegas with me, either.
I think it's a combination of all of the above. And in my mind, it's her inability to project one consistent, steady persona to the public. The public likes her when she's inclusive and warm, as she was at the end of the previous debate with Obama and she was cheered. Immediately after that she switched to attack mode. People do not want a dual personality for president. I don't know who I'd be getting if I voted for Hillary. Obama has been consistent with the same message from day one. It's all about advertising and staying on message. If you change your campaign with every ad you don't get a brand personality! And let's face it, these people are brands.
The war, the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war,the war, the war...
...Oh, and she was chosen to be the democratic candidate before the rest of us got a chance to vote.
I think it is all about the above...and that Obama has been consistant...consistantly....We have seen too many sides of her...and also as Bill began saying Stuff ( ie Fairy tale ) and being argumentative, it was disturbing, I think people began to ask- HOW involved will Bill be in the WH.....??? ANd about her Iraq Vote- she didn't just Vote- she gave Speechs back in 2002,and 2003.....and she NEVER apologized or admitted being wrong....that would have changed everything....
Obama comes off as Real,and once people heard his story that made a difference....and also the way she wrote off people state by state....esp with SC....it was scary- WHO would she write off once she was the Candidate ???
where I live the way she wrote off the Black Americans- has really really hurt her....she has made almost NO visits to urban areas in ohio....and it has been noted....and sorely felt....( and NAFTA is another WHOLE problem)
and lastly....yes the WAR...period.
I second Enigma4Ever, and add this: the electibility issue. Many Democrats and Independents alike will get out of their deathbeds, if necessary, to vote against Hillary Clinton. She's that polarizing. We can't risk losing the White House this time by nominating a candidate who is so divisive.
What about your stupid dead dog?
She was doomed from the beginning. Honestly, claiming 35 years of political experience was a colossal mistake. It all but solidifies her as a member of the "old guard", something voters seem to want to abandon.
RHM
I think it's the media. No matter what Hillary does, they paint her as the "evil bitch". I mean really.
She could walk on water in high heels, and the media would find a problem with her. They hate her, and it annoys the crap out of me.
I do not want to reiterate the estute comments that everyone else has put here, as much as report somehting strange that I have noticed. I have had mixed feeling between the two candidates (I was a wishful Kucinicher) and have been talking to people about their opinions on Obama and Clinton lately.
It has been in children that I have seen the most surprising support for Obama. I know they cannot vote, but my two youngest go to an elementary school with a pretty liberal parent base (and Austin tends towards that, anyway,) and my son reported that every single person in his class voted for Obama in his school's mock election, with a ballot box and everything. I think that is, on the one hand, reflecting what the parents are saying to their kids and the kid's impressions based on the media, on the other.
And then, I have talked to some teenagers and one I have known since she was two is volunteering and working her ass of to get him elected and all of the teenagers who I have talked to who give a hoot about politics are for Obama as well. Every. Single. One.
I am strongly feeling that when I find C. and O. to not be so different policy-wise (and perhaps leaning toward Obama there, but really wanting to support Clinton in my woman heart,) it is for my children I elect a president even more than for myself and whether it be artificial or not, young people do see Obama as a presidential candidate who will usher in a time of change. I am starting to think that not only do (a majority of) people want that (change,) but that the whole thing symbolically actually has some power that just might bring it about (maybe not from what Obama does, but from what people expect Obama to do.
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Tell that Chinese spammer to get lost!
Ugh.
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