Hillary's Brand takes a hit when she denounces "Activists who Vote in Caucuses."

[KoKo]

Obama and Clinton: Hillary's Campaign Had No Plan "B"

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG

Mark Karlin,


Modern politics has a lot to do with brand awareness and identity. That is why Nixon was able to come back in 1968 and win the presidency, after losing to JFK in 1960 and losing the governorship of California a couple of years later. Our national political leaders are -- in our over-marketed society -- brands. Brand Clinton has as close to a 100% recognition factor in the United States as a name can get. And most people have decided one way or another about how they feel toward brand Clinton.

Obama, on the other hand, had to launch a whole new brand. He stayed disciplined to his message -- even when in tight spots -- and has run a modern, highly effective national campaign against an opponent who has been campaigning with her husband and on her own for some 30 years. That Obama is sweeping primary after primary and eating into Clinton's fixed base of support makes it extremely difficult for Clinton to claim that she can run a more effective campaign.

Thirdly, the Democrats have for decades been looking to expand their base and break out of the Red State, Blue State gridlock. Obama, whatever one thinks of his narrative, has shown that he can pull in Independent and Republican voters and expand the Democratic voter base, particularly among young people (who are not just supporting him, but showing up at caucuses and to vote.) Clinton has won the delegates that she has based on a fixed voter base of traditional Democratic support. Party leaders and superdelegates want someone who can pull in new voters and expand the party's power through coattails. Obama has shown that he can do that.

Perhaps, Hillary Clinton, who rarely makes a gaffe and is an enthusiastic and well-honed campaigner, finally revealed one of the key reasons that the Clinton campaign is faltering. As we noted in another blog, when asked her reaction to Obama winning so many states over the weekend (including Maine, where once she was way ahead, as she had been in most states), Clinton responded that caucuses aren't representative because everyone knows that they are dominated by "activists." Such an attitude is so self-destructive to a party as to be almost suicidal. Any campaign wants to energize activists, not dampen them down. It was the first major mistake that we have heard from Clinton this campaign. It could have just been a way of trying to explain away the worrisome problem of losing so many states by such wide margins. But caucuses are the most transparent forms of democracy, in which people are the ballots. Her statement revealed a certain hubris about grassroots campaigning and bringing in new voters. In essence, the Clinton campaign against Obama would rather rely on a fixed base of "New Deal" coalition voters than expand the numbers of people in that base.



http://www.buzzflash.com/

[papau]

1. Hillary can lose the Starbucks vote by the leisure class of wealthy or college or self employed

or student

ans still win the general

[Occam Bandage]

4. So was it the under-$50k Starbucks vote that went for Obama last night?

[IDemo]

18. this poster has been a one-tune jukebox on that theme

Needs to come up with some new material.

[TwilightGardener]

5. You realize how insulting that is. Obama won the under-$50,000 vote yesterday.

[PassingFair]

14. But she can't lose them AND the

....birkenstock wearing, lefty liberals, tree-huggers,
AND 55% of male voters AND the anti-Iraq war BASE
of the democratic party,


...and still win the general.

OR the primary.

[IDemo]

2. Wow

Activists tend to be those who are intellectually and emotionally invested enough in the process to make their participation valuable. Instead of digesting just enough news bites and campaign rhetoric to feel justified in casting a ballot (or, just voting the straight ticket), they actually investigate the issues and candidates on their own merits. I frankly wish that many who don't have at least a tiny bit of the activist spirit would refrain from voting.

[NashVegas]

20. What Do You Wish More?

That those who aren't activists weren't voting, or those who aren't Republicans and independents weren't voting?

[TwilightGardener]

3. I'm to the point where I feel that even if she wins, she doesn't deserve to.

She's made some dangerously stupid excuses for losing, has shown little grace in defeat, and her management of her campaign and staff bespeaks of a woman who's not as effective at leadership and bureacracy as she's painted herself.

[Occam Bandage]

6. I'm kinda getting there too. While I like her as a person and a politician, she's possibly the

least competent campaigner (Giuliani and Thompson aside, of course) of this campaign.

[Bullet1987]

13. I agree Weinerdoggie

[ORDem]

7. Maybe she rarely makes a gaffe, because husband Bill

can make them for her. SC was really the turning point in this primary, don't you think?

[blm]

10. Kennedy, Kerry have been far more noble and effective spokesmen for Obama than Bill has been

for Hillary.

[Meshuga]

15. SC turned a lot of people off

Including me. I think she'd be in a better position now if it weren't for Bill. My perception is that he fucked it up for her. She looks so much more appealing when she runs positive and focus on her strengths, being a knowledgeable candidate who knows and is confident about her plans.

[Armstead]

8. Her caucus excuse is a cop-out

There is no reason Clinton could not have been just as aggressive in recruiting her own supporters to go out to caucuses. She has her own share of "actrivists."

And the "My supporters have to work" meme is ridiculous. Many peoe who may appreciate cappucinos also have jobs and committments, and many are financially struggling too.

[Occam Bandage]

9. Plus, "my supporters have to work" really sounds silly. Are we really suggesting that half your

entire support base in each caucus state was on the evening shift that night, Hillary?

[donsu]

11. she didn't denounce them. just acknowledged them as a fact

nt

[jmg257]

12. Translated - "I screwed Up. So did my campaign. And now we are losing big time".

Clinton responded that caucuses aren't representative because everyone knows that they are dominated by "activists."

[Meshuga]

16. That was mistake #2

Mistake #1 was unleashing Bill who turned a lot of people off. This was mistake #2 because these activists are needed if she actually wins the nomination. It's pretty hard for these activists to be passionate about HRC and be energized when she speaks this way.

But this mistake is worse than the first since it will be carried if she wins the nomination. Mistake #1 already "paid its dividends" by helping Obama be in the position he is in today. That's my two cents.

[David Zephyr]

17. Kicking up.

A very good read.

[NashVegas]

19. While The Column's Premise (No Plan B) Is a Good Point, He Loses Me With the Finer Points

First, 1968 was a tumultuous year that left Democrats divided and in disarray; students were protesting; there was amazing social upheaval in the works; that's what made Nixon's "brand" look good.

Secondly, the paragraph you have in bold, look at it. Consider, for a moment, that's Obama's campaign has been slapping Democrats & liberals for a month: who in the press calling him to account for that, the way Hillary is being slammed for a statement that's IMO true?