Going sharply negative in PA is a big mistake for Hillary, but is she

[cali]

too desperate and too tone deaf to figure it out?

Sure, going negative helped her with voters in OH, but it didn't help
her with Super Delegates. At all. In fact, it hurt her. And if she goes the kitchen sink route in PA, it'll hurt her with them again. They're just as important as the voters, so she's facing a conumdrum.
She won't get the SDs without winning the voters, and she may well be
unable to get enough voters without attacking the hell out of Obama.

She's walking a tight rope. It'll be interesting seeing how she navigates it. To date, her performances have been less than stellar, because unlike her husband and unlike Barack, Hillary is not a natural.

[FrenchieCat]

1. She's not going negative.......she's Bluffing!

[cali]

8. I don't think so

'm sure the Clinton campaign is planning something and hoping their
finger prints aren't all over it.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Hillary's campaign is the political equivalent of Anna Nicole Smith.

Slow motion train wreck.

[Hepburn]

4. ..........

Diet Coke spew on keyboard! You owe me! :rofl:

[backscatter712]

19. or Tanya Harding.

They have about the same temperament.

[PoliticalAmazon]

40. ...equivalent of Brittney Spears. n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

3. The closing of the gap in PA polls hasn't been illustrative to her...

...that going negative is detrimental. I'm not sure anything will help at this point.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. She has already started with the negative ads in PA. n/t

[Yael]

7. Fortunately, I haven't seen any yet

What is Senator Tonya going after now? Patriotism?

[SaveOurDemocracy]

14. I guess you skipped Skinner's thread.

Senator Tonya? This helps YOUR candidate, how?

edit for typo

[BumRushDaShow]

24. Oil companies.

I haven't had the TV on to see if it's a TV ad but yesterday I started hearing her ads on the radio supposedly debunking Obama's claims about accepting PAC money, which is B.S.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/09/obama-camp-wont-pull-oil_n_95880.html

[Yael]

26. Lovely

:eyes:

[BumRushDaShow]

29. I understand that he has an answer ad out but I haven't heard it yet. n/t

[Yael]

6. She doesn't know how to lose

Have you ever seen someone in a social situation where they aren't comfortable in their own skin? They accidentally dig themselves into a hole (likely with an off the cuff remark) and because they don't know how to get out of that uncomfortable feeling, they instinctively keep digging?

Thats Hillary. She is in a hole and rather than try to work her way out of it, she is going to keep digging because that is her instinct.

[NightWatcher]

9. she will crash and burn throwing shit as she goes down

graceful, never
desperate, yep

[roguevalley]

39. Penn in my opinion is going to change the game. If she doesn't

win by 20+ points, the SD's will turn on her. She will look sad trying to stay in and turn off more people. It will be all over but the shouting if the race isn't hugely in her favor.

[shellgame26]

10. Face it. Going negative is just who she is

After so many months of seeing the real Hillaries, one has to conclude that her campaign is the way it is because of her and her alone.

[earthlover]

16. The truth is....HILLARY is negative!!!

For once, she is showing her true self!

[AllentownJake]

11. This is the Fun part

Remember.

Her internal polling numbers must be scaring her. Generally when your ahead you stay positive so you can seem above the fray, the person who is behind generally throws the haymakers to target the weak supporters of the other side.

She saw something she didn't like so she fired off an early shot...on radio...probably because she had already locked in her ad buys for the 5 new ads she's running.

[DemGa]

12. What's the "sharply negative" attack?

The Obama campaign does character assassination -- constantly calling Clinton a liar. It's the very LOWEST tactic, and it's coming from Obama. How does it compare?

"Obama Camp Memo on Clinton “Misleading” Voters"

http://thepage.time.com/obama-camp-memo-on-clinton-misleading-voters/

[BlueIdaho]

15. Bosnia... If the foo shits

wear it.

[DemGa]

18. They smeared Al Gore as a liar too in 2000

and it was a Democrat behind it that time too. Character assassination: Very low-down indeed.

http://ariannaonline.huffingtonpost.com/columns/column.php?id=228

[AllentownJake]

22. Do you have this

stored in a word document so you can paste it anytime someone questions the Godess of Peace's integrity?

[pocoloco]

17. Wah Wah Wah Wah

Which is worse in your world??

Calling someone out for telling a lie....or

telling a big one???

[earthlover]

20. Hillary IS a liar....sniper gate is just one illustration....

Maybe she is born into a family of liars....she says her mother said she was named after Hillary the Everest Climber, although he climbed Everest several years after her birth. Either she is blaming her mother for her lie....or maybe her mother IS a liar. Again, I am only using what Hillary said about her mother as a reference.... If her mother is a liar, and she is a liar....one big happy family.....

[DemGa]

21. You can use that tactic on anyone --

But realize it most certainly is a campaign tactic -- the dirtiest.

[AllentownJake]

23. No

The dirtiest campaign tactic is having your surrogates bring up a Pastor after the issue has been dealt with to question whether or not the other candidate hates white people.

[Hawkeye-X]

32. Why not? It's true - Hillary is a liar.

We've shown evidence after evidence, facts after facts proving that Hillary cannot be trusted.

So you pull the memo outta your ass in hopes of a deflection? Weak.

Hawkeye-X

[DemGa]

35. It's proof of a coordinated effort to smear Clinton as a liar --

coming from the Obama CAMPAIGN. You provide nothing but a circular argument -- and proven nothing. Now that -- is weak.

DemGa

[Infinite Hope]

13. What's her negative message? These posts always neglect to share that info with us. n/t

[SaveOurDemocracy]

25. I guess they're waiting for for the other bookbag to drop??

The next BIG ... FillInTheBlankGate!! :tinfoilhat:

[BumRushDaShow]

27. She is currently confusing bundled individual contributions with PAC contributions.

in a negative radio ad by neglecting to mention (distorting) the difference. She also inserted the 2005 Energy Bill vote issue into the ad, with the same nonsensical argument mentioned in this March article - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/03/11/2008-03-11_hillary_clinton_hits_barack_obama_over_e.html , leaving out the fact that oil companies were to be taxed.

[Infinite Hope]

31. Yeah, I heard about the oil company one...she's really grasping for straws there. n/t

[cali]

28. try actually reading

I clearly said *IF* she goes she goes sharply negative in PA- not that she has already done so.

[Infinite Hope]

33. A few things...

1)Your harsh tone has me suspicious you assumed I was a Hillary supporter criticizing you. In fact, I'm an Obama supporter.
2)Your entry title says "is" which is present tense and leads to the assumption you're saying she "is" using the tactic.
3)When you said "if" you were speaking of "if she throws the kitchen sink..." She could have already been going negative in a single ad without it rising to the level of "throwing the kitchen sink" which implies an all-out assault like she did before Ohio and Texas. Your "if" statement seemed to be a warning against a wider negative strategy.

So your post let me to the conclusion that she has *started* engaging in negative advertising, but not rising to the level of the hypothetical Pennsylvania kitchen sink strategy you spoke of.

...completely rational conclusions for a person to draw who, unlike you, doesn't already know with certainty what you're thinking.

;-)Cheers.

[knixphan]

30. boomerang sink

A Clinton invention.

[PseudoIntellect]

34. As long as she goes negative like in OH, it helps her in the eyes of the public.

Like a Hillary supporter said in another thread, America loves a good comeback story more than it hates negative campaigns and politicians. That might very well be the narrative if she wins, no matter what the margin >__<

[John Q. Citizen]

36. Actually, it hurts her in the eyes of the public. The game is to make it hurt her opponent more.

This is why McCain suddenly rose in the polls against both Obama and Hill exactly corresponding with Hills increased attackes in Ohio and Texas.

Hill runs the risk of helping McCain in GE if she keeps going negative, and she is driving up her own negatives at the same time.

Her stratedgy of attempting to cast Obama as somehow "unelectable" hasn't exhibited lasting success. Which is why Obama is leading.

[yodermon]

37. I'll take it further. ONLY SD's matter. She even says as much in interviews.

She certainly shouldn't be tailoring her campaign or (heaven forbid) spending *money* on campaigning for the popular vote, when it's only the SD's who can decide it for her.

Ah, well.

[liberaldem4ever]

38. Why is it so hard for her to just be honest?

It is possible to run a campaign with a reasonable amount of honesty-why does her campaign think it helps her to be dishonest? It's not negative to point out the differences that you have with your opponent, but it is to twist what he says and say it is something else. That is what bothers me so much about Hillary's campaign. Why doesn't she think that her ideas are good enough to run on their own? I know that she is a very smart person, but I want a President who when they talk to the American people you can believe that they are telling the truth. Is that asking too much? I am so sick to death of having a dishonest president!