That Clinton Competence

[babylonsister]

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/02/18/that-clinton-competence.aspx

That Clinton Competence

You know, for a candidate who says she'll be ready on day one as president, her campaign is remarkably ill-prepared. From today's WaPo:

Supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are worried that convoluted delegate rules in Texas could water down the impact of strong support for her among Hispanic voters there, creating a new obstacle for her in the must-win presidential primary contest.

Several top Clinton strategists and fundraisers became alarmed after learning of the state's unusual provisions during a closed-door strategy meeting this month, according to one person who attended.

What Clinton aides discovered is that in certain targeted districts, such as Democratic state Sen. Juan Hinojosa's heavily Hispanic Senate district in the Rio Grande Valley, Clinton could win an overwhelming majority of votes but gain only a small edge in delegates. At the same time, a win in the more urban districts in Dallas and Houston -- where Sen. Barack Obama expects to receive significant support -- could yield three or four times as many delegates.

"What it means is, she could win the popular vote and still lose the race for delegates," Hinojosa said yesterday. "This system does not necessarily represent the opinions of the population, and that is a serious problem."

So let me get this straight: The Clinton campaign basically decided to bank almost everything on Texas (along with Ohio), without bothering to do due diligence on the delegate apportionment procedures there? If she does wind up winning the White House, who's the lucky aide who gets to troop into the Oval Office and deliver the shocking news to her that we've got troops in Iraq.

--Jason Zengerle

[Vincardog]

1. She WILL be ready on day one, It is not day one yet.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. LOL! (vlt)

that's exactly what I needed this mourning.

[polpilot]

7. Pro-War Hillary, NAFTA Bill, 'Bringing Healthcare Since 1992' Hillary...

Ready....Ready....Ready!!!!!!!!!!

[speedoo]

2. It's payback time for Hillary.

For her politically expedient IWR vote and for backstabbing Presidents Gore and Kerry, just for starters.

[pocoloco]

3. Competance??

Why is this still a question after her IWR vote??

[NC_Nurse]

4. She's making sure Barack's been through the fire too.

So that won't be an edge for her. Her campaign has used Rovean tactics ever since
he started winning. He will be as "tested" as she has been by the time the primaries over.
How kind of her. :eyes:

[route66left]

6. What an unitelligent interpretation of a WaPo story.

[babylonsister]

8. How would you interpret that? Her campaign was ill-prepared and

uninformed. Seems obvious to me.

[eleny]

9. At one time her campaign thought they had the African American vote sewn up

Perhaps they knew about this apportionment but it didn't matter until now when Obama is getting that AA vote. Could this be fake outrage?

[WolverineDG]

11. Piss poor planning if you ask me

Thinking they had the African American vote sewed up so they could ignore the Hispanic vote in South Texas (that explains more than a few things).

dg

[eleny]

12. It may just go all the way back to their thinking it would be over on Super Tuesday

[WolverineDG]

13. I think you're right

Well, it's going to be bumpy from now to 3/4, so fasten your belt! :)

dg

[eleny]

14. I think we're both spot on

Buckling up!

[caseycoon]

10. K&R n/t