Thread: LONDON TIMES ON HILLARY

LONDON TIMES

14 December 2007

A Chilly Christmas at Camp Clinton

It seems hardly a day passes now without the Hillary campaign having to sack some aide or other for making an "unauthorised" attack on Barack Obama.

Bill Clinton, I'm told, is screaming abuse at strategists over the missteps they have taken in recent weeks.

She is having to organise hasty conference calls to reassure the rest of her staff that they are not all about to be chucked out on their ears into the snow.

Hillary has seen Obama take the lead in Iowa and, according to the most recent polls, nudge ahead of her in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

And worst of all, she must know all this has been mostly of her own making. Obama has had to do little more than keep a steady ship, although he deserves credit for resisting the siren calls from the media a few months ago urging him to go more sharply negative against the (then) frontrunner.

By contrast, it has been Hillary who at the first sign of danger started wildly throwing punches and - this is the really damaging bit - failing to connect.

It destroyed any image of calm serenity from a candidate once seen as inevitable, undermined her key campaign message of being experienced in making the right decisions and cool in the line of fire, while reinforcing the impression of many voters that she has a vicious streak. Her latest advert featuring her mother, saying that she really is terribly nice, probably won't change that.

One problem, according to a well-placed supporter, is the public face of the people around her. Many of the same figures did sterling work for Bill, an all too human character whose course needed to be steadied from time to time - or whose exposed flank(s) needed protecting.

Hillary's problem is not lack of discipline or defensive ability. Instead, it is that too many voters perceive wrongly there is not a real person in there - or at least not a very warm one. When Howard Wolfson went on TV to spew out further allegations about Obama's finances, he looked glib and nasty in equal measure. When Mark Penn tried to suggest the decision to highlight what Obama had written in Kintergarten had been intended as "a joke" he appeared shifty, calculating (existing negatives) and even a bit ridiculous (a new negative).

None of this, of course is to suggest Hillary is dead. Together with her husband, she has been written off too many times before. The Clintons are at their most dangerous when they are on the ropes.

But I wouldn't especially want to be at Chappaqua for Christmas. Especially if she is holding the carving knife.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/uselecti ... hrist.html

But I wouldn't especially want to be at Chappaqua for Christmas. Especially if she is holding the carving knife.

THE OLD SAYING IS,"YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW".

Presidents:
Bush Sr.
Bill Clinton
Bush Jr.
?? Hillary Clinton--I don't think so

The Bush's proved "family dynasty presidents" have no place in American government and Bill Clinton did enough damage to America to equal two presidencies. No more Bushs, no more Clintons.

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."