Inflexibly Inept
Dick Morris continues to bash Hillary Clinton as he has been doing for quite some time. Today, he points out that the Clintons both are completely unable to do anything but continue to press a failed strategy. This is inflexible ineptness at its very worst.
And why do the Clintons persist in running a negative campaign even when they can't find anything to be negative about? Alienating voters with their abrasive attacks without attracting them with their content, they throw pitty-pat punches accusing Obama one day of plagiarism for borrowing speech lines from his close and consenting friend and the next day for accurately describing Hillary's healthcare plan as requiring sanctions to make those who do not wish to sign up do so against their will (albeit for policies Mrs. Clinton deems to be "affordable").
If you are going to pay the price of going negative, throw real punches. Hit Obama with big negatives. You take the backlash for going negative in order to pass the lethal message on to the voters. But if you don't have any negatives to throw and your detectives have, indeed, come up empty, then stop trying to go negative. Stop alienating people to no purpose.
But as obvious as these observations are, they seem to be lost on Bill and Hillary and the geniuses who are running her campaign. Despite defeat after defeat, we still hear about experience and still get a daily dose of so-what attacks on Obama.
The deeper reality of this campaign is that Obama has shown, by his incredible skill in the way he is waging it, an ability to handle himself and a talent for the demands of center stage that show, experienced or not, he is better able to be president than the inept Hillary.
Frankly, I continue to be amazed at just how awful the Clinton campaign has been. Her use again last night of the super-duper Saturday Night Live skit strategy shows a complete inability to come up with anything that works. My prediction: Clinton will get stomped in Ohio and Texas. I don't think she will be able to rescue herself at this point.
By Mockinbird, Wednesday, 27 February , 2008 @ 12:22 pm
Perhaps if she tweeked her message in speeches to: Free Market Capitalism is the best path to prosperity. A high fence, a wide gate, and a big welcome. Your health, your healthcare, and your healthcare coverage is best handled by you yourself-afterall, you’re intelligent enough to look after yourselves.
By martian, Wednesday, 27 February , 2008 @ 1:07 pm
I think the problem is that the Clintons and their entire staff never expected to have to actually campaign. She was, after all, the "inevitable" candidate. They never expected any serious oppostion and never prepared for it. When Obama actually mounted a challenge to her inevitableness, they were caught flat-footed. Now they are flailing in the dark trying to figure out how to repond. In a way I think this shows what kind of president and Commander in Chief she would have been - one who would run around like a headless chicken at the first serious stumbling block!
By crosspatch, Wednesday, 27 February , 2008 @ 3:46 pm
Hillary’s problem is that her bag man is in jail. She doesn’t have the money she used to be able to throw around to keep people on board. For example, other politicians would play nice with the Clinton’s so their campaigns could be hooked into the Clinton fund raising machine. That machine is dead now. Now that the money is gone, nobody really cares about the Clintons.
By halfacarafe, Wednesday, 27 February , 2008 @ 8:20 pm
The only place BHO is vulnerable is by Mrs. Clinton bringing up his shady connections such as Rezko. The last thing Mrs. Clinton should bring up is shady connections. I still think she will angle for the Supreme Court.
By NortonPete, Wednesday, 27 February , 2008 @ 8:44 pm
I agree with martian.