It’s the Campaign, Stupid: Clinton Ground Game Under Fire
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama arrive on stage for a debate Tuesday at Cleveland State University in Ohio, their last debate before the crucial March 4 primaries. (AP Photo)
The political team that famously used the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” to vault to victory in 1992 could be in need of a new mantra 15 years later: It’s the campaign, stupid.
Hillary Clinton has slipped from “inevitable” front-runner to second fiddle over the past two months, and political observers have chimed in with their take on what went wrong: No plan for after Super Tuesday. A poor caucus strategy. Her husband.
Leon Panetta, former White House chief of staff to Bill Clinton, is the latest Clinton loyalist to come out and criticize the campaign. And he suggests the problem was all of the above.
“It seems to me like they rolled the dice on Super Tuesday, thinking that would end it,” Panetta told The New York Observer. “And when it didn’t end it, they didn’t have a plan. And when it came to the caucus states, they did have a plan — which was to ignore them. I think those were serious mistakes.”
Since Feb. 5, when Barack Obama and Clinton ended the 22-state Super Tuesday marathon in a near-draw in terms of delegates, Obama has seized the lead in fundraising, contests won and total delegates. Clinton now is depending on a big comeback in the Ohio and Texas primaries next Tuesday, March 4, to turn the ship around.
Panetta put much of the blame on Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn, comparing him to an old-school operative like Karl Rove who is “all about dividing people into smaller groups rather than taking the broader approach that was needed.”
He said Obama captured the desire for change in Washington, and that the call for such change was underestimated.
He also spoke cautiously about his former boss, according to the Observer, saying that Bill Clinton sometimes has “quick reactions to things” and that it’s the job of his staff to prepare him and allow him to let off steam before entering the public arena.
The former president caused a stir before the South Carolina primary by calling Obama’s opposition to the Iraq war a “fairy tale.” He also snapped at reporters on occasion.
Clinton’s superdelegates — party officials and insiders who go to the August convention free to support either candidate, regardless of their states’ primary and caucus results — have started to cross over.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that one of Clinton’s high-profile superdelegate supporters, Georgia Rep. John Lewis, is formally switching his support to Obama. That was reported in The New York Times nearly two weeks ago, but a Lewis spokesman said at the time that the decision was not final. After some confusion over what the onetime civil rights leader would do, the Georgia congressman told the Journal-Constitution that “Barack Obama has tapped into something that is extraordinary.” He cited his Atlanta district’s preference for Obama in his decision to switch loyalties.
North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, an ally of Bill Clinton, also endorsed Obama Wednesday, citing his record on trade.
Clinton’s own campaign has started to talk with more candor about her possibilities if she doesn’t carry Ohio and Texas on Tuesday.
“If she wins those, we then go on to April 22 in Pennsylvania,” Clinton campaign national chairman Terry McAuliffe told a business group in Madison, Wis. “If we don’t, then she has to make a decision on what she’s going to do.”
Bill Clinton has made similar comments.
An article in The New York Times said Clinton is throwing the “kitchen sink” at Obama to regain her footing.
She was on the offensive Tuesday night in Cleveland at their final debate before March 4. Clinton challenged Obama on his commitment to providing universal health care and ending the war in Iraq since he was elected to the U.S. Senate. She also complained that she was frequently the first candidate asked a question by debate moderators, suggesting she feels she has been unfairly targeted by the media.
Democratic strategist and FOX News contributor Susan Estrich said the candidates ended the debate where they started.
“Whoever you were for going in, won,” she said. “There was no knockout punch and, frankly, Hillary could use a knockout punch.”
Polls show Clinton is leading in Ohio but losing ground quickly to Obama, who already has taken the lead in some Texas polls.
A Rasmussen poll taken Monday of 862 likely voters in Ohio showed Clinton with a 5-point lead over Obama, 48 to 43 percent. That’s down from a 14-point lead over the Illinois senator in a similar Rasmussen poll taken Feb. 13.
Bill Clinton told a crowd of 1,000 supporters in Fort Worth, Texas, Tuesday that the polls are up in the air.
“It is a tough election and the polls go back and forth and the Gallup polls say Hillary picked up 6 points in the last three days nationwide. It’s going back and forth, back and forth,” he said.
The latest Gallup tracking poll at the time showed the candidates tied at 46 percent each. But an updated poll from Sunday through Tuesday showed Obama with 48 percent to Clinton’s 43 percent.
Penn and Clinton spokesman Phil Singer released a memo Tuesday saying they’ve developed a campaign schedule “that demonstrates and underscores Hillary’s strength and experience on the national security front and in her approach to solving our economic challenges.”
They said the campaign has 41,000 volunteers on the ground in Texas and 26,000 in Ohio. Surrogates, including Bill Clinton and their daughter Chelsea, are traveling across both states, as the New York senator schedules addresses on child poverty, veteran issues and the economy.
Penn told the Observer that the campaign strategy has been misunderstood.
“The campaign has been about big goals, health care, ending the Iraq war, new energy, the future,” he told the newspaper. “There was a misunderstanding that this campaign was about small things. It never was. If anything, the Obama campaign has microtargeted constituencies.”
Click here to read the article about Leon Panetta in The New York Observer.
FOX News’ Shushannah Walshe and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It seems that the REPUBLICAN and the DEMOCRATIC PARTIES will be the doing the same come this NOVEMBER. One hand holding their nose and the other hand puller the lever.
Watch the Democrats tear each other apart. It will make it easier for the Republican’s 2nd choice to beat the Democrat’s 1st choice. More SCORCHED EARTH… by Billary is all we need at this moment. If she is not going to win, make sure that Obama has no chance either.
You silly children. The only people who think Hilliary did good last night must not have “really” been watchingl
If not for the first commercial break, I think Hilliary would have totaly lost it. She was on the brink of exploding, I was on the edge of my seat waiting. But, msnbc saw it and gave her a break.
America Is Ready
Obama 08
How long after her campaign closes do you think a divorce will be filed? You have to figure that Bill is only hanging around because he is obligated to do so. Maybe there is even a promise that a bigger chunk of the marital estate will go to Bill if he hangs in there until the campaign is won or declared dead.
There is no way Bill is going to spend his remaining days with her. No way.
America needs principle that for-father brought to us. Freedom, Family, Pro-Life, Strong Army which made America prosper!! Don’t you remember?
Are you going to give Democrats chance to destroy America. I can’t imagine either Clinton or Obama Hussein will be commander of America..
Think and Study what they are talking about by using your brain but do not fall into those fake faces of two!!
I’m scare of TWO CRAZY WOMAN and HUSSEIN.
Republicans should take all the votes.. Be more educated …Think America.
Jackie - Did you really watch the debate last night or someone told you about the debate? Did you see the Ms.”Meet me in Texas” or “Meet in Ohio” get to so red and angry when at the world last night. She wanted to set the tone for the debate that she started to do from last Saturday. As Barack, Hillary’s move was all tactical over the last couple of days….find an issue and then POUNCE.
Hillary always like to act like the “smartest kid in the class.” Well…NewsFlash, another kid jus move into town and is in her class and his name is Barack Obama. Additionally, he is smarter and more likable than Hillary.
Famous qoutes from the debate:
“You helped to drive the bus into the ditch…”
“Well, I reject and denounce if that is what you want” (In response to Hillary very unfortunate picking….)
I have know doubt that she is a brilliant women, but if you graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law, became the Editor of the Harvard Law Review and wrote a book while just in college (and for the record by himself, no ghost writers, you must have some smarts also.
The obama-nade is a stale, boring, and tasteless draught! The media is tough and rough on Hillary. Society is still punishing her. Hillary Clinton is full of valid plans and Solutions to help the poor and the middle class of this country. I don’t know about you but I am sick of the George Bush Economics. I’m sick of the George Bush - Everything. Hillary is the best choice for President. She is passionate about people and the quality of American lives. Obama is all about himself. All he is interested in is making history. He wants to be the First African-American President. I want an AMERICAN President - Not just a WOMAN or a BLACK Person. How is Obama going to improve the lives of Blue Collar workers, the elderly, children, Single Mothers, Single Fathers???? So many struggling Families are counting on someone to FIGHT for their causes. Thank goodness the questions were presented to Hillary first in the debates because she obviously is the only candidate that is capable of answering them anyway. All Obama can do is agree with her or expound on what she has already made clear. It has been suggested that Obama created his ‘Health Care Plan’ based upon Hillary’s plan that she has been working to accomplish for Years. I really don’t believe Obama has done any work himself or had the first original idea. He seems more of a guy that just wants to lay back and wear the right suit. He wants to let somebody else do the work while he basks in the glory. When he is asked about how he would react to hypothetical situations regarding Pakistan, Terrorists, and other Foreign Policy issues - he is totally stumped or he just wants to bomb everybody. I’m proud to say that Hillary is my choice for Commander in Chief. Anybody Remember the work she did in Northern Ireland? How about her work in Kosovo? She made mistakes in the past - mostly due to the foibles of her lame husband. Society often makes women pay for the crimes of their husbands. I haven’t heard Obama say the first thing about Stem Cell research. What about sick children and sick babies and sick people that could be getting well if Research could resume. You Hillary-haters and Obama supporters may want to rethink your choice. At least do the RESEARCH on the guy! Promises don’t put money in the bank or get our kids home from IRAQ and Afghanistan.
Obama supporters should give Hillary a great big hand of applause and thanks for having turned negative on Obama and so given him an inkling of what he’s going to encounter from the Republicans. I think Hillary has performed a heroic act of self-sacrifice so as to help Obama’s chances, for she obviously knows that her own chances were over a long time ago.
Hillary has shown that a woman can compete on the national stage, and this will be helpful for the next woman who gives it a shot. But it has been clear for a long while that Hillary’s “qualifications” were totally bogus (like all her experience since college, 35 years, which would qualify around 100 million Americans for the job) and her own personality and personal “charms” were not suited to the presidency. In addition, she has no leadership skills or management competence, for hers has been the worst-run campaign since Carter invaded Iran.
Hey boy’s & girl’s
America Is Ready
Obama 08
America and the media are being snowed under by a slick-talking, charismatic personality whose speeches provide no window to his viewpoints, character, or a clear-cut plan on how he plans to “change” the country. Obama has become a media darling because he offers drama and good ratings. Open your eyes, people! Obama’s naivete and lack of experience and knowledge of key issues that affect all Americans both here and abroad is being cleverly disguised by his persona and empty messages of hope and change. Go beyond it and you will find a man who offers no substance on how he plans to lead the country.
Arrogance and poor planning doomed the Clinton campaign, and now it is too little, too late for her. At least the nation has a better idea of what makes Clinton tick and there is no hiding her agenda.
I do not agree with what either of them stand for regarding the issues that matter to me, so you will not see me voting for either of these Democrats in the primary.
Unfortunately, I don’t trust either Ms Clinton, or M. Obama
(Do you realize his initials are B.O. What does THAT remind you of?)