WP, Eugene Robinson: Lessons for the Front-Runner, Hillary Clinton

[DeepModem Mom]

Lessons for the Front-Runner
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, December 7, 2007; Page A39

One assumes that Hillary Clinton and her inner circle are rethinking their new strategy of singling out Barack Obama and attacking him on issues of experience, ambition and character....Clinton was doing fine in the role of presumptive nominee -- serene of mind, generous of spirit, miles above the fray. Her authoritative voice and presidential bearing telegraphed that Obama, John Edwards and the rest of the Democratic contenders were all, essentially, just members of her supporting cast. It was only natural that they would attack her, since she was so far ahead in the polls. To respond in kind would have been beneath her. But when those polls began to tighten -- as was practically inevitable, given how big Clinton's lead has been -- the Clinton campaign made two decisions that I'm still trying to figure out. Both seem risky, if not rash, and so far neither is really working.

The first was to elevate Obama to the role of co-star. Granted, this reflects the reality of the contest -- Obama is the one who's gaining on Clinton....

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Clinton's decision to concentrate her fire on Obama threatens to turn him into the anti-Clinton. No candidate with negative ratings as high as Clinton's has an interest in signaling to voters who don't like her that there's one candidate to whom they might want to rally....

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The real clunker is the charge that Obama is possessed of unseemly ambition. In what seemed almost like a "Saturday Night Live" gag, the Clinton campaign even dug up a report that Obama wrote in kindergarten titled "I Want to Be President."...No one is going to believe that Hillary Clinton is unambitious compared with Obama or anyone else. And that's fine....The real problem is the implication that there's something specifically wrong with Obama's ambition -- that he has no right to be where he is, challenging her for the nomination. There's a suggestion that he's somehow a usurper, which allows Obama supporters to charge that Clinton, without using the word, is accusing the Illinois senator of being uppity-- which opens up a discussion about history and entitlement that I can't imagine any Democratic front-runner would welcome.

Clinton should go after Obama on substance -- his failure to propose a mandate for universal health insurance, for example -- and someone should remind her that she's still in the lead. Suggesting that the first African American with a legitimate shot at the nomination is overreaching is not the way for Clinton to stay ahead.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR2007120601965.html?nav=most_emailed

[applegrove]

1. Good analysis. Thanks for posting.

[BootinUp]

2. I agree with the author. nt

[BeyondGeography]

3. That was a very polite way of saying Hillary may have just lost the black vote

"Suggesting that the first African American with a legitimate shot at the nomination is overreaching is not the way for Clinton to stay ahead."

Thing is, she was already starting to lose it before she attacked Obama's character, with SC blacks breaking 2-to-1 against her. Her campaign's arrogance and tone-deafness is a thing of wonder to behold.