The Internal Polls Within the Clinton Camp Must Be Terrible As They Now Talk Up the Next Contests.

[David Zephyr]

Wow! How bad must it be at the Clinton Campaign to already have their operatives going on television calling for debates on Fox News and talking up the next round of primaries.

I actually feel sorry for them seeing them wave this obvious white flag in the middle of the voting here on Super Tuesday.

Their internals must show a complete melt-down.

I guess since they can't say "Jesse Jackson won Super Tuesday" that this is the best they can do. Start pointing to the future primaries to get the focus off of the rout that is going to happen.

I had figured it would be a close contest nationally tonight until this transparent ploy by Mark Penn and the Clinton operatives.

At least we know that Obama must be doing great. I like that.

[Bluerthanblue]

1. don't go counting your eggs just yet-

it is far from over.

:hi:

peace~

[mathewsleep]

4. it's "don't count your chickens before they're hatched"

and "don't put all your eggs in one basket."

not to be a dick or anything. it is still way to early to see who's in the lead.

[Bluerthanblue]

what 's a chicken who hasn't hatched?

and which came first?

:P

You can be a dick if you like, I'm the daughter of one- :+

just funnin with ya-

:hi:

peace~

[Sulawesi]

14. Phylogenetically, the egg came first, but the first "chicken egg" came before

the first chicken. The former is an empirical fact, the latter is logically true.

[mathewsleep]

22. you just blew my mind.

[Sulawesi]

34. Maybe I should be president!

[Whisp]

5. so true, because we know who counts those eggs.

:(

[thereismore]

7. Especially don't go counting THEIR eggs. They aren't showing us their cards. nt

[CreekDog]

20. What's this thread about? I forget.

:rofl:

[loveangelc]

2. this could be a trick to lower expectations...but I somewhat feel the same way :/

[David Zephyr]

12. This is one of the oddest ploys I've seen. And coming from Mark Penn himself? They are in trouble.

It may turn out to be a very big night for Barack after all.

[CreekDog]

21. Penn should be fired for malpractice

That he hasn't been suggests the problem is higher up.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. Posts like your always immediately precede a massive Clinton victory

:rofl:

[ClintonTyree]

27. They may know....

that they have Obama by the short hairs and want to deliver the knockout punch quickly. :shrug: That is a distinct possibility in my book. When you have him down, finish him off. Don't wait around and let him regroup. Go for the jugular.

[hisownpetard]

45. Go for the jugular? I'd rather go for the Rethugular.

[scheming daemons]

36. When has there BEEN a massive Clinton "victory"?

There hasn't been a single state yet where she's won more delegates than Obama.

She won NH by less than 3%. She won Nevada by 5%. In both cases, she failed to get more delegates than Obama.

The only "MASSIVE" victory in this campaign so far has been in SC.

Remember... Florida and Michigan were 0-0 ties.



ALL THAT MATTERS is the delegates... that's the only scoreboard that "counts" toward the nomination.

[Big Blue Marble]

6. I think it means they think it will be close.

And what it really means is they are running out of money. They know that Obama

can beat them in the coming weeks with advertising. The only way that they can compete
is with the free coverage of debates. It sounds a little desperate, but smart. They think
she is a better debater so they want to meet in her playpen.

[John Q. Citizen]

8. That does seem a little strange. One would think they might wait until tomorrow,

unless their tomorrow is looking worse than their today.

[snappyturtle]

10. Interesting idea. n/t

[David Zephyr]

11. Strange would be the word, John Q. Citizen.

I've never, in all my years, seen anything like this. It must really be looking bad to have them rushing out to divert the attention from today's Super contest to those up the road.

My cautious nature tells me that it will be close, but these actions by the Clinton Campaign are eyebrow raising. I think they know they are facing a bad, long night.

[TexasObserver]

9. They're certainly sounding as if their internals are BAD

By this time of the day, they've got a pretty clear picture of how the voting is going. If they're already trying to promote debates on Fox News and talk about the campaign in March and April, they're clearly trying to soften the blow of tonight's results.

The best thing for the party would be a resounding knock out punch that puts the Clinton campaign down and out.

[David Zephyr]

13. The Texas Observer.

As a young, anti-war progressive in Texas in the 1960's, the Texas Observer was practically the Bible to me. You have a great moniker here. I agree with your comments, too.

[TexasObserver]

40. Yes, the Observer has been around a long time.

It's an institution, and a great one.

[Coexist]

17. I remember doing GOTV calling at Dem HQ here on election day in '04

and there was a little curtained off room, with a large rolling chalkboard in it (the kind from my old Jr. High School).

On that board were results coming in from somewhere - and we weren't allowed to see them.

I was so hopeful - and then someone came out looking like he'd just been kicked in the gut.

And I knew.

Even though the news didn't get them, or weren't reporting them, somehow the party got them - I don't know if they were exit polls or actual results, but it we were still calling people to remember to vote, and the party leaders knew our county was lost.

It was not a good feeling.

[David Zephyr]

24. Your story is the real deal.

I've been there, too. FLDem5. It's the exit polls.

Mark Penn calling for more debates this afternoon and the faux bravura and challenge to go on Fox would have me really feeling bad if I were a Clinton supporter.

[TexasObserver]

41. In the old days, we sat in a smoke filled room, with phone calls

coming in from all the county seats, keeping the totals before they made it official. We usually knew the outcome a few hours before they were official.

That was before cell phones, all land lines.

[Coexist]

43. so do you agree with the hypothesis that Clinton's team is in panic mode?

Polls begin closing in 1.5 hours.

[TexasObserver]

44. the fact that they are saying what they're saying ...

seems to indicate they have bad news they are trying to minimize

[CreekDog]

23. What are internals anyway? How are they gauging this stuff?

Are they checking with their on the ground people regarding turnout in certain areas that favor one or the other?

[David Zephyr]

25. Exit polls and their own late polling.

Campaigns also have people at the polls and call back to HQ with who have voted at various times during the day. Because they know by phone polling how those voters lean, they can also use this as a marker as to how they are doing.

[TexasObserver]

42. the campaigns always have their own pollsters, and they're called

"internals"

You always know where you're weak and where you're strong. You know that you have to have a certain percentage out of a certain county, and a certain gross number of votes, or you're in trouble.

[K Gardner]

15. And this is all EERILY reminiscent of NH. Down to the polls and tears and lowered

expectations. Don't be fooled by the Clintons or the media.

[loveangelc]

18. yeah I agree, but if theyre already wanting to push this, it makes me wonder...

[City Lights]

49. That was my first thought too.

Everyone had Obama winning by a large margin in NH and look how that turned out.

[Sulawesi]

16. I am trying to keep my expectations realistic and threads like this don't help.

[loveangelc]

19. lol me too.

[David Zephyr]

26. I understand.

I was braced for a close contest and still am, but this is clearly a sign of desperation by the Clintons to now be trying to already switch the attention away from tonight's results and to the contests that are yet to come.

I'm sorry if I've added to your apprehension, but you can really blame Mark Penn and Terry McAullife and their campaign.

[Sulawesi]

33. I really didn't mean to criticize your post, sorry, but I dont want to get too excited

and then have New Hampshire happen...

[David Zephyr]

52. Sulawesi, my thread is making me a nervous wreck.

But we must keep the audacity of hope. :hi:

[Bullet1987]

28. Exactly...I won't start getting excited until 6:00 and the returns start rolling in...

[anamandujano]

29. Did you expect everyone to shut up on super tuesday?

I just read Obama gave a lengthy interview on Faux this morning. Doesn't that scare you that he's not confident about today?

Everyone else is running their mouths. Why should Hillary's people be different?

Neither of them is going to drop out after today.

The best thing Hillary's people can do is keep saying is the word "debate." She excels, he does not (to put it mildly.)

[Tatiana]

30. Anything less than a decisive victory for Hillary is a loss.

I think she can still win today, but it will be close. And for her, that is a loss because of the huge national and state leads she has squandered (20-30% nearly everywhere except Illinois).

Many people (including myself) were attracted to her candidacy because she began this race as a winner - a technically perfect campaign, building coalitions across various demographics. Even if people liked Obama or Edwards, they didn't have that aura around their campaigns that said "WINNER!" But now, that air of invincibility is nearly gone. If we get into April, with no clear winner apparent, I'd have to say the advantage in momentum swings to Obama.

[nels25]

53. You may have a bit of a point

remember Hillary was supposed to be the inevitable candidate with an easy path to the nomination.

Does not look like it is going be like that.

They maybe be feeling in need of alka seltzer at this moment in time.

Guess we will see later on tonight.

GOBAMA.

No insult meant to Hillary:7

[anamandujano]

57. Nice try but with all the money, the high profile endorsements

and the rabid MSM touting him as the second coming, no one can think of Obama as an underdog.

Hillary just has to hold her own. It ain't over 'til it's over no matter how wildly you all spin.

[Tellurian]

31. David... these Primaries will be going on for the next month..

So, I don't know what you're thinking about white flags and such...

wishful thinking, maybe?

[David Zephyr]

38. OMG. Tellurian, they put a pod under your bed last night, too?

[Tellurian]

50. boo-hoo..! sniffle,,, wah!

:rofl:

[David Zephyr]

51. That's my Tellurian.

OK, I won't worry about the pods. But do check under your bed tonight. ;-)

[milkyway]

32. It is odd. Why take a gamble like a Fox debate unless you are behind? Why piss people

off unless exit polls show you to be in bad shape and you need to change the story. They know how us lefties in the netroots will react to Fox. WTF?

[Coexist]

58. more importantly - John Edwards would SLAM the idea of debating on Fox

if Hillary wants Edwards voters, why would she do this?

[TheDeathadder]

35. She Talking About The Next Contests

Because the Primary will go on past today and the race still needs to be run. Obama is also talking the next contests. Is he also in trouble?

[Onlooker]

37. Of course they want debates; Clinton is better at it than Obama

I don't think you can read anything into this. The Clinton campaign knows that even in the best case they're not going to finish Obama off. No matter how it goes, it will be close and neither one will drop out.

[Yael]

39. I had that same thought earlier

The comment about weekly debates -- and accepting Faux news invite -- I just shook my head and said, "the internals must be worse than bad".

I honestly think we are all going to be VERY suprised tonight by an Obama rout.

[rjx]

46. I didn't want to get my hopes up

seeing what Faux was reporting and not have it be true.

BUT

Maybe Obama really is kicking ass in my state of California ?!?!?! I hope so!

http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/02/05/poll-obama-ahead-of-clinton-in-california-romney-over-mccain/

POLL: OBAMA AHEAD OF CLINTON IN CALIFORNIA, ROMNEY OVER MCCAIN

"The poll showed Obama held a comfortable lead over Clinton, with a 49 percent support to Clinton’s 36 percent, a major turnaround in a matter of days in a state that holds more than one fifth of the delegates candidates are seeking to win the nomination."

===

Clinton agrees to debate on Fox
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/02/clinton-agrees.html

Clinton Challenges Obama to a Debate a Week
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/02/05/clinton_challenges_obama_to_a.html

Clinton Agrees to Fox-Hosted Debate
http://www.nysun.com/article/70772

Clinton agrees to Feb. 28 debate in Houston
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5515009.html

[grantcart]

55. and most of all Hillary stayed in Ca for 3 days while Obama was v

visiting 8 states. They are terrified of a CA loss given that the Clintons have been so closely tied here.

[Skwmom]

47. They might be trying to drive up her sympathy vote. Many polls are still

open, especially in CA.

[rjx]

48. Good point

Could also be that they don't think Obama will kick their ass, just that its still going to be close after Tuesday is all said and done. I hope its because Obama is kicking her ass ;)

[H2O Man]

54. This is not

what they had anticipated.

[Samantha]

56. I thought that was why she was overcome with emotion last night

Mark Penn's internal polling told her today would be a disappointing day.

I am not being critical of Hillary's show of emotion; to tell you the truth, I don't understand how any of these candidates withstand the stress of the demands of the campaign. But I do believe if she thought at the end of today, she would prevail, it must come as a personal shock that the pace from hereon out will be even more of a dog fight, and it will go on for at least eight more weeks.

[rodeodance]

59. What a smart women=--proposing to debate--She is great at it.

[Faygo Kid]

61. Someday one of your posts will contain text. Not in my lifetime, but someday.

Your endless headline only posts remind me of the old Far Side cartoon where one amoeba says to another, "Stimulus, response, stimulus, response, don't you ever THINK?"

Pretty much sums it up, rodeodance.

[Kittycat]

60. No jinxing. CA is open for a while yet.