How Badly Is Hillary Sliding?
According to this report from Bloomberg, it may be very badly, indeed. A recent focus group conducted by Democratic pollster Peter Hart, the dedicated, committed Democrats attending found real problems with Hillary Clinton - ones that became more and more detailed as time went on.
When Hart pushed the group during a two-hour conversation about the strengths and weaknesses of the two candidates, a different picture emerged.
Obama, they worried, can't win the nomination; voters aren't ready for an African-American president (a point expressed most directly by the two black women participants), and he may not be sufficiently experienced.
A couple of victories in Iowa and New Hampshire would cure most of those problems.
The concerns about Clinton, 60, a New York senator, are that she is devious, calculating and, fairly or not, a divisive figure in American politics.
Those are a lot tougher to overcome.
It was revealing, too, when Hart pushed them to envision these senators as leaders of the country or, as he put it, their “boss.'' Obama, they say, would be inspirational, motivating, charismatic and compassionate. After praising Clinton's experience and intelligence, they say she would be demanding, difficult, maybe even a little scary.
Candor and authenticity were repeatedly cited. “I don't feel like I look at her and see someone who's telling me the whole truth,'' says Allison Lowrey, a 30-year-old human- resources consultant. “I'd like to see her approach a problem without the polls'' helping her make her decision, says Andrew Alebergo, a 39-year-old tanning-salon operator.
The story also reports that Bill Clinton is "bouncing off the walls" over the campaign's inability to stop the slide. I think that's probably the most telling detail. They are very worried that the wheels on the Clinton juggernaut may be starting to come off. Frankly, it will still take a lot of work for the Obama campaign to secure the nomination and the Clinton campaign would have to continue wobbling for that to happen. But a frightened campaign is more likely to make serious mistakes, isn't it? Right now, camp Clinton is looking pretty scared.
By ted goldman, Monday, 10 December , 2007 @ 1:55 pm
Neither Hillary nor Obama should defeat Rudy. However, many potential Republican voters may stay home because of Republicans failures on illegal immigration.
A large group of Republican voters will just stay at home, rather than vote.
Just ask Senator McCain as his campaign “evaporated” when he was supporting amnesty for illegal aliens.
Republicans ignore the 80% of Americans who detest the “invasion of the illegals” at their own peril.