No Quarter
Robert Novak writes about the way Clinton managed to pull out a win in New Hampshire. His explanation for the victory is rather simple: politically-speaking, the Clintons give no quarter. That is something Obama will have to learn to deal with. But Novak does not think he will be able to.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, when exit polls indicated Sen. Barack Obama would defeat Sen. Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary, there was palpable relief from many Democrats — including some avowed supporters of Clinton's presidential candidacy — that the country soon would be finished with not only the Bushes but also the Clintons. Four hours later came evidence of the political folly in underestimating the former president and his wife.
Those exit polls were so wrong because they grossly understated the female vote in New Hampshire. Had the turnout of women there, which constituted an unprecedented 57 percent of the Democratic vote, been plugged in to exit results, a two-percentage-point Clinton victory would have been forecast. The unexpected female support in turn can be attributed to the Clinton style, which may not be pretty but is effective. Hillary Clinton's tears evoked sympathy for her, and Bill Clinton's sneers generated contempt for Obama….
…The lesson of New Hampshire for Obama's campaign should be that rock-star popularity is not sufficient to take on the Clintons, who for a decade have given no quarter to their political foes. When it seemed that Obama would win in New Hampshire, the Clinton camp prepared an attack strategy against him. Since Obama is favored in the next big primary test, in South Carolina on Jan. 26, he can expect more of the same ahead.
As Novak points out, most people, including longtime Democratic insiders, thought a weepy Hillary and a press-bashing Clinton were both breathtaking mistakes. (I certainly did.) That turned out to be completely missing the point of their antics. Obama is in for a rough ride from the Clinton roller coaster.
By Maggie, Thursday, 10 January , 2008 @ 9:25 am
And, so, the Clinton used (lemon) car dealership rides on with the ignorant dem sheeple stumbling after them …
By martian, Thursday, 10 January , 2008 @ 1:09 pm
I thought the near weepy episode might give her a boost among female voters (I said so here if you recall) but I didn’t think it would work fast enough to win NH. Alas, it did. The one good thing to come out of this will be the start of a real slugfest between Hillary and Barack that could do major damage to both.
By the way, did you know that Barack Obama actually called himself Barrie Obama until he got into politics and wanted to go after the black vote? I found out by watching an interview with a former college buddy who repeatedly referred to him as “Barrie”. Apparently he was trying very hard to fit in by using a common name until it became expedient to appear black (he’s half white, too, his mother is white). People call Hillary calculating but what does that say about him? You will also notice that he always referes to himself as black and so does his campaign - even though his mother is white. You notice you never see his mother or pictures of her related to him? Is he that ashamed of his white half? And what should white supporters take from this?
By Mockin'bird, Thursday, 10 January , 2008 @ 4:00 pm
Oh, what a world!
One candidate is a crooked thug who increases her votes by crying.
Another looks like a black man, but is insufficiently black for some voters.
Yet a third Dem. candidate is concerned greatly about the poor, and the downtrodden, however he worked for a hedgefund, and has the second largest mansion in North Carolina.
This just came in:Kleenex is the official tissue of the Democrat Party.
All we need to this mix is a New York mayor or two!