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.
Every single African American that has run for president has been labeled in some fashion a racist, they all have to denounce Farakhan, and awnser questions about patriotism, yet if you check through the history of this country even when african americans where not getting equal treatment in the USA they where still willing to fight for this country. I am a former US Air Force member served 8 1/2 years from 1994-2003. I love my country but i wonder why the Clintons have tried to pander for the black vote early in there career and now they seek to diminsh a black canidate by falling right back into first labeling him the black canidate, that didn’t work now fear mongering with farakhan, Obama has recieved no campaign fund from Farakhan trust me if he did fox would have reported it, and Barack has denounced him which in my opion is stronger than reject, but to add empasis he denounced and rejected him but yet here come the clintons turning races against races jews against blacks, hispanics against blacks its really sad. The Fox machine was quick to call the New York times article on McCain a hit job and a smear job with no facts, and I agreed with that you see I may not agree with McCains policies but i do believe he is an honorable man, Fox stop with all this fear mongering Obama was raised by his white mother and white grandparents i doubt very seriously he is a racist. I hope this Democrat nomination ends soon cause the longer this drags out the more likely a republican will be in the whitehouse again. God Bless America!
If Hillary’s campaign has been misunderstood it is because Hillary and her supporters have not communicated very well to the voters. The impression is this whole election is being held entirely for the purpose of electing the queen. These guys have blamed everyone, made every excuse in the world for Clinton being in the fix she is in; well, guess what guys, you all got her there with a whole lot of help from her nibs. She can’t run her own campaign; who wants her trying to run the country?
Here’s a clue: Everytime you badmouth the opponent, a zillion more voters in this country turn off………….to YOU. Duh! People are sick and tired of the slurs, smears, innuendo and lies. So stop whining and crying. We don’t want to hear it any more.
When it comes to the candidates that we are left to vote for, so far, namely, McCain, Hillary and Obama, it’s like having to choose between dying of an illness, an accident or suicide. Which would you prefer? The choices are horrible!! Is this the best we can do? What happened to our great leaders in Washington? I fear that they have lost their way, and they represent us, the PEOPLE! This is a sorry election, like the blind leading the blind. We have Osama Obama, a man with Islamic roots and ties, and Hillary, A.K.A. Jezabel, an overly ambicious woman who would do almost anything to get power. McCain, a democrat in republican clothing. It’s also amazing to see people deciding on the basis of race, gender and religion, who will be the next person to lead the greatest nation on the earth!
A fool says in his/her heart there is no God. I say that unless we pray like our forefathers did, and put our faith once again in their God, the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the end of our nation is really near. I can see why Jesus called us all sheep. But, there is hope, there is a Shephard, and it’s not you and it’s not me. And there really is a God, one God, and He is not you or me. Please pray people, that God raises up the right leader for this country soon or we will be punished as a nation. As the leader goes, so go the people.
The media is to blame for the problems Clinton campaign is facing just watch any media networks coverage on this election. Watch their coverage and you catch them at a Obama rally. Its time for the media to ask Obama the tough questions now that they have a chance before its too late. If not Obama is going to dig this country into the ground with his inexperience.
Whatever CHANGE you bring to your home ground, dont come messing around here. We dont care who is the next President. Just dont mess up the trade/military ties Bush/Clinton had established and is working well.
Be warned. Do not criticise our dear leader Obama. You can condemn and curse Clintons, Bushies, all everyone else. Put the blame on the Clintons, Bushies and Congress. But you cannot point your finger at Obama. He is above all of you, uneducated stooges, who belong to the OLD POLITICS.
We want CHANGE, we want HOPE. Nothing can detract us from supporting our savior! Be warned.
Hey Wayne,
When you’re talking about who’s “dummer” than who………remember…it’s “DUMBER”.
A more appropriate slogan for Hillary would be:
IT’S YOUR LIKABILITY, STUPID !
We ought to consider that our great nation is deteriorating very fast. What have we learned from the past eight years? Our president has misled the country into fictive wars and our economy is at its worst stage in our History. It is time to think for our children who might be drafted soon in the 100 Years plan that Senator McCain is proposing. Was it necessary to kill over 100 thousands innocent iraqis and plunged our economy to debt while there are thousands of homeless people in our country?. Should we avoid serious issues that our planet is facing? Is global warming a joke? is it right for the baby boomers to have worked all their life and be woried about their retirement.? We are in the middle of a recession and nobody seems to realize the seriousness of our situation. Let’s face it ! health care cost has increased so much over the years. While we are busy policing the world and sticking our nose where we should not we don’t have the infrastructure to respond to natural disasters at home (Katrina). It is time to realize that 146 educational programs have been cut to satisfy Mr Bush stimulus plan for the economy. Does anybody know that our vice president made 200 Millions last year? Who was the Ceo of Haliburton? Who have great interest for this nonsense war to never end? Who could bring this nation back together, bring our troops at home and adopt the right economic plan to put us back on track. How much deficit do we have now with China? Sincerely do you believe that Senator Clinton with her low blows is the right person for this job? How many scandals such as Whitewater has she been involved with? Why can’t she release her income tax? Is it too critical for her before Tuesday for her campain? If there is nothing to hide why can’t she come cleaned? Sincerely it is time to look at values and put away these blaming, childish games. We care for this country and repetitive low blows from Senator Clinton revealed her true face. She is desperate to win and is not focusing really on the country’s need. Let’s look at the facts, let’s take a close look on this campain Who has the right leadership ? it is not too hard to figure. Obama has the potential to bring serious change to this country and we should support him.
A concerned citizen!
Obama scares the heck out of me! He may preach hope and unity but he breeds supporters full of hate. The Hillary bashing gets so violently grotesque at times they can be viewed as nothing but mindless cult follower.
I have told my friends and family many time how frighting it was that Hillary might become president. But the level of hate that the Obama supporters spew out at every opportunity is truly terrifying.
Anyone that can get people to hate another person this much should be watch very carefully. And frankly no one seems to question with any serious intent anything he does or has done.
BTW if you think Hillary is arrogant , take close look at Michele Obama. Now that lady has a real Superiority complex.
I can’t believe I’m even thinking it, but it looks to me like Hilliary really is the lesser of two evils.