The Audacity of Hopelessness

[Barack_America]

The Audacity of Hopelessness

By FRANK RICH
Published: February 24, 2008

WHEN people one day look back at the remarkable implosion of the Hillary Clinton campaign, they may notice that it both began and ended in the long dark shadow of Iraq.

It’s not just that her candidacy’s central premise — the priceless value of “experience” — was fatally poisoned from the start by her still ill-explained vote to authorize the fiasco. Senator Clinton then compounded that 2002 misjudgment by pursuing a 2008 campaign strategy that uncannily mimicked the disastrous Bush Iraq war plan. After promising a cakewalk to the nomination — “It will be me,” Mrs. Clinton told Katie Couric in November — she was routed by an insurgency.

The Clinton camp was certain that its moneyed arsenal of political shock-and-awe would take out Barack Hussein Obama in a flash. The race would “be over by Feb. 5,” Mrs. Clinton assured George Stephanopoulos just before New Year’s. But once the Obama forces outwitted her, leaving her mission unaccomplished on Super Tuesday, there was no contingency plan. She had neither the boots on the ground nor the money to recoup.

That’s why she has been losing battle after battle by double digits in every corner of the country ever since. And no matter how much bad stuff happened, she kept to the Bush playbook, stubbornly clinging to her own Rumsfeld, her chief strategist, Mark Penn. Like his prototype, Mr. Penn is bigger on loyalty and arrogance than strategic brilliance. But he’s actually not even all that loyal. Mr. Penn, whose operation has billed several million dollars in fees to the Clinton campaign so far, has never given up his day job as chief executive of the public relations behemoth Burson-Marsteller. His top client there, Microsoft, is simultaneously engaged in a demanding campaign of its own to acquire Yahoo.

-snip-

As for countering what she sees as the empty Obama brand of hope, she offers only a chilly void: Abandon hope all ye who enter here. This must be the first presidential candidate in history to devote so much energy to preaching against optimism, against inspiring language and — talk about bizarre — against democracy itself. No sooner does Mrs. Clinton lose a state than her campaign belittles its voters as unrepresentative of the country.

So much more


Folks, "She's Come Undone"--The Guess Who
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl81co35NLY

[lapfog_1]

1. Pretty harsh... but accurate on many points. - n/t

[Barack_America]

3. Be sure to read the entire article. I was tempted to throw copyright restrictions to the wind...

...and post the whole damn thing. It is that brutally honest, and brilliant.

What might he have said if his deadline weren't before today's "events"?

[K Gardner]

11. Oh lord.. I bet he's wishing he'd held off for a day ! lol

[Barack_America]

12. It must be hard to keep up with the downward spiral that is the Clinton campaign.

Talk about momentum!!

[K Gardner]

14. You should put a warning on your post.. I opened it up and spewed my wine ! LOL

[Barack_America]

17. Lol! I'm sorry. Spilled wine is a tragedy indeed!

:patriot:

[Cha]

16. Got somethin' for next weeks

article..kinda of a continuing saga.

[MoJoWorkin]

18. Today will just give him more fodder for another piece.

She is making it so easy for him and others. It is sort of sad.

[earthlover]

2. Preaching against optimism--wierd indeed!

With an attitude like that the Mayflower would never have set sail!

[scheming daemons]

4. Ouch. Hillary's campaign as Iraqi war metaphor....

[Barack_America]

6. He touches on everything. Penn, Bill, the "Insult 40 States" strategy, etc.

And demonstrates how Hillary really got defeated by her own thoroughly cancerous campaign.

[truedelphi]

34. Hopefully the pricey campaign consultants learned from all this

A successful candidate has curb appeal if they use the words "we" and "us" and less often use the word "I"

[Cha]

15. I know...the truth stings like a

mofo. Frank Rich got about a million zingers in his wrap up of the hilary campaign so far.

This is what resonated first off..

"It’s not just that her candidacy’s central premise — the priceless value of “experience” — was fatally poisoned from the start by her still ill-explained vote to authorize the fiasco. Senator Clinton then compounded that 2002 misjudgment by pursuing a 2008 campaign strategy that uncannily mimicked the disastrous Bush Iraq war plan. After promising a cakewalk to the nomination — “It will be me,” Mrs. Clinton told Katie Couric in November — she was routed by an insurgency."

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

24. "its moneyed arsenal of political shock-and-awe would take out Barack Hussein Obama"

Excerpt

The Clinton camp was certain that its moneyed arsenal of political shock-and-awe would take out Barack Hussein Obama in a flash.
The race would “be over by Feb. 5,” Mrs. Clinton assured George Stephanopoulos just before New Year’s. But once the Obama forces outwitted her, leaving her mission unaccomplished on Super Tuesday, there was no contingency plan. She had neither the boots on the ground nor the money to recoup.

[scheming daemons]

5. You left out the MONEY QUOTE in that article....

"But it’s the Clinton strategists, not the Obama voters, who drank the Kool-Aid. The Obama campaign is not a vaporous cult; it’s a lean and mean political machine that gets the job done. The Clinton camp has been the slacker in this race, more words than action, and its candidate’s message, for all its purported high-mindedness, was and is self-immolating."


OUCH OUCH OUCH.

[Barack_America]

7. That is a beauty.

And copyright restrictions are a bitch. ;)

[TheDoorbellRang]

30. That was my favorite part too.

That bears repeating...even plagiarizing!

"But it’s the Clinton strategists, not the Obama voters, who drank the Kool-Aid. The Obama campaign is not a vaporous cult; it’s a lean and mean political machine that gets the job done. The Clinton camp has been the slacker in this race, more words than action, and its candidate’s message, for all its purported high-mindedness, was and is self-immolating."


OUCH OUCH OUCH.

[DUyellow]

8. works for me

[JimGinPA]

9. He Plagiarised Me!!!

I used this line the other day, "latte-drinking Teamsters".



:grr:

[Barack_America]

10. Are you a "latte=drinking Teamser"?

Lol. I like it! (and apparently so did Rich)

[JimGinPA]

13. LOL, No I Just Made That Point When I OP'd The Teamster Endorsement...

It was just after that ugly intro for Hilly.


:rofl:

[apocalypsehow]

19. Excellent article, and oh so true.

:thumbsup:

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

20. Ouch, I am listening to the song "She's Come Undone" right now

great song. but sad to see this.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

23. Obama blew her doors off, the campaign that is

[Political Heretic]

21. Tag for reading once I get to work

[Cha]

22. It's the whole hilary campaign layed out

in stark blunt terms..a master piece of a wrapup, so far.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

25. OMG Rich linked to this "devilish" video of Hillary's Inner Tracy Flick

OMG this is a scream!!!! Its not long, you must watch it

Hillary's Inner Tracy Flick
Don't you just hate when some upstart comes along and threatens your best-laid plans? We were struck by how well one of Reese Witherspoon's monologues from the film Election fits the narrative of Campaign 2008.
http://slatev.com/player.html?id=1377935786

[K Gardner]

26. !!!!!! Absolutely hilarious !!!

[Barack_America]

28. Lol! That is good!

:rofl:

Who will be playing Matthew Broderick's part? Al Gore?

[TexasObserver]

27. "She's Come Undone"--The Guess Who

good song

good group

good call

[FrenchieCat]

29. She didn't know what she was headed for........

Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb...and too many people and not enough eyes to see.

Too late.

Good song!

[Barack_America]

31. Thanks. I started humming it as I was reading through the threads here tonight.

Seemed appropriate.

[ShadowLiberal]

32. Harsh, but definitely true for the most part

There's no way around it, Hillary has run a terrible campaign, and that's why she's losing.

[KittyWampus]

33. good article.

[truedelphi]

35. She insulted all corners of America when her team derided:

"latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust-fund babies"

Most people in affluent areas fall into at least three of those four categories. Even the folks in those areas that are not that affluent. And them's that's got no Prius would surelylike one.

Perhaps this is next: Obama supporters "are shoe wearing, beverage drinking, comfort loving TV watchers who occassionally enjoy a walk on the beach."

Damn those swbdclTVwwoeawotb's! Damn them to hell.