How could she screw this up?

[dommyluc]

I am a loyal Democrat. I have voted for my party since 1974, when I turned 18 while living in Chicago (and if you've grown up in Chicago, you live and breathe politics!) I will admit from the outset that I am an Obama supporter - I am not some masquerading concern troll.
But in 2007 I saw Hillary as an insurmountable candidate against every other Dem and every other Republican.
What happened?
She had the name recognition.
She had the history.
She had the media spin of inevitability.
The Republicans were going around saying that they couldn't wait to run against her, but Dems always knew that was a crock at the time. When she was at her peak last year no Repub in his (and I say "his" because it will probably be a long, long time before we see a female Repub presidential candidate) would want to wage a campaign against her.
Now she cannot even pay her bills. She has burned so many bridges to the base of this party in order to win the primaries and driven up her negatives to a worrisome (at least to her campaign, I hope) levels. How could she keep these idiotic campaign managers, who have taken all of her money (I'm talking about you, Mark Penn!) while driving her further from the nomination. Any working person who performed that badly would be fired immediately, but she keeps them on the payroll. If she runs a primary campaign this badly, how can we expect her to make any gains against the Republican machine that will be solidified in their hatred against her? And how can she possibly win back the loyal Dems she has offended and lost? Her campaign machine has been an unmitigated disaster. How could she hire these people in the first place, these people who are so out of touch with the reality of the American political situation as it stands right now? Are they so seduced by the memories of the Clinton days of the '90s that they can't see that this country has changed?
I would like to hear input about this. If Hillary can drive a loyal Dem like me away, what is she doing wrong?

[galaxy21]

1. I think it was her Iraq vote

It will probably go down as her biggest mistake. It turned off a lot of people.


If she had voted no in 2002, I have no doubt she'd be the nominee.

[ps1074]

6. I think you are right

It was the vote for the war and not saying she was sorry for it when the campaign started.

All she needed to do was say "I am sorry for my vote, please forgive me, we all make mistakes" and the race would have been over before it started.

[galaxy21]

10. The problem is part of her image is how smart she is

So, she couldn't say 'I was wrong.'

[Voice for Peace]

20. I think a lot of people might have forgiven her Iraq vote if she hadn't been running

a Republican-type campaign. Obama is capitalizing on that now, and it's a good approach for him. People ARE sick of Washington insiders, DC politics, nasty spin and games. This is where she has really blown it, in my opinion, is that she doesn't seem to understand what real change means.

[Tesha]

27. It wasn't just that she voted on the wrong side.

For me, it was *DEFINITELY* her Iraq War vote . And it
wasn't just that she voted on the wrong side.

Before that vote, I was a Hillary supporter. Mr. Tesha
and I made a substantial financial contributionto her in
2000 to help put her into the Senate. We expected big things
from her up to and, yes, including being the first woman to
win the Presidency.

But with her IWR vote, she changed all that. Before the
resolution, millions of people around the world knew an
attack on Iraq was a bad idea, for reasons that are all
too evident today, and we all spoke out publicly against
an attack. So while one might claim that Hillary just didn't
know the facts before she voted, I believe that would be
disingenuous; Hillary is a smart woman, she must have been
able to see these same problem that we were all raising.
And she'd been exposed to the Republican lie machine so
she should have known that Bush and his surrogates were
most likely lying about both the need for war and the
likelihood of success after the war.

So the only reason I can conclude for her vote was that
she made a coldly calculated political decision. If she
voted for the war (and don't hand me any malarky about
her vote not being a vote "for war"; everyone knew war
would come once the IWR was passed), then after the war
went well, she'd have paved her road to the White House.
And we who objected would get a hearty "So what!" from her.
The alternative would be to vote against the IWR and have
the Vast Right Wing Noise machine brand her a wimpy woman.
So she voted for the war.

Only the war didn't go well. The incompetents in the Bush
Administration did their usual incompetent job and botched
everything they touched. And so her calculation back-fired.
But because she'd made her calculation in the face of obvious
evidence even before the war that authorizing the IWR was
a bad choice, she couldn't back away from her vote.

Having failed in this vote, she should have never run for
President. But she believed a hearty "So what!" would let
her slide by.

Surprise: It didn't.

Tesha

[olkaz]

2. This is a huge point, yet gets ignored.

If Hillary were to govern the way she's ran her campaign, we'd be in some serious trouble.

Obama's campaign has beaten some seriously long odds. It's worth noting.

[galaxy21]

3. I don't think good campaign= good presidency

Obama just paid better people to do the job, than she did.


That said, we've seen he copes with pressure better, that's for sure.So, his conduct during the campaign means he'd probably be a better president.

[olkaz]

5. It's not a direct correlation

But it does indicate **something**.

It indicates that Clinton thought that she was the nominee already last year, and thought she could coast into this thing.

It indicates that Obama had the ability to find the best people to run the best campaign. Picking the right people for the job is a talent.

I mean, honestly, campaigns do provide some insight into the work ethic and motives of the candidate.

[galaxy21]

7. Maybe people just wanted an anti hillary candidate

If Obama hadn't been around, it could have been Edwards.

[olkaz]

9. Oh, if only.

Edwards was my first pick. I really wish that was the case right now.

If that is really true (anti-Clinton bloc), that's a huge indictment.

[electropop]

21. "Obama just paid better people" - in other words, selected and retained

better people. Who you hire has a lot to do with how you lead. For Hillary, hiring Penn was foolish; retaining him is insane. And that tells me a lot about Hillary.

[liberalla]

4. She certainly has made some bad decisions.

It does not inspire confidence.
Welcome to DU! :hi:

[lisa58]

8. she just assumed too much...

...and everyone around her did as well.

It's not a lot different than the Bush bubble we are so aware of.

[baldguy]

11. The nom was hers to lose. And she did.

[Evergreen Emerald]

12. People who HATE her for EVERY breath she takes

People who were taken in by the right-wing re-definition of her and cannot see reality for what it is.

SHE did not DO this. WE did.

[galaxy21]

14. We forced her not a plan after Feb 5th?

We forced her to lie about Bosnia?

We forced her to but her loyal -but incompetent- best freind in charge?

We forced her to hire Mark Penn and pay him an insane amount of money for doing nothing?

We forced her to assume she was inevitable?

[dmr]

19. You are so very wrong, and insulting.

There was a time I admired and respected Hillary. The only people who re-defined Hillary for me were Hillary and Bill Clinton. This has happened over the last few years.

I don't listen to Republicans. I don't listen to those over-paid pundits on TV, either. I do watch, listen and read very closely. I do my own thinking.

This country is full of people just like me. Sick of the nonsense. Sick of fabrications, trickery, and sense of entitlement. Sick of the condescending rhetoric and excuses.

I'm an Edwards person. When the primary whittled down to the last two candidates, I put my past feelings aside and was willing to give them both a fair shot. Obama and Hillary defined themselves.

I now support Obama.

[electropop]

23. I don't see her as the Right Wing sees her: I see her as part of the RW.

She wears a velvet glove, that's all.

[Tesha]

29. Go read my Reply #27 above.

I don't Hate Hillary; I hate the politics that she has
positioned herself as representing, and I won't support
that politics in any way, shape, or form.

Tesha

[Shae]

31. That's ridiculous

That is ridiculous EE, and after reading your opinion, I serious question your ability to look at this thing objectively.
When Clinton ran for the senate in 2000, that was one race I REALLY wanted to see succeed (and I'm not from New York.) I haven't been thrilled with some of her votes since then, but two months ago, I still liked Hillary Clinton.
Now I can barely stand the sight of her. If she comes on TV, I hit the mute button. I no longer want to hear anything she has to say.

My opinion of her has nothing to do with rightwingers and everything to do with her.

When she said that Obama wasn't a muslim "as far as I know," my opinion of her dropped. She knew damned well that he wasn't a muslim, but she wanted to leave a little bit of doubt for people who really weren't sure.

When she said that she and McCain were electable and Obama was just a speech, my opinion of her dropped again.

When she twisted the facts of the Florida and Michigan primaries to make it look like she was trying to be their champion and Obama wanted only to "disenfranchise" them, my opinion of her seriously plummeted. That, to me, was more dishonest than the Bosnia lie. She is a person who twists the words of her opponents to demonize them, to give innocent words a nefarious meaning that was never intended.

She is dishonest to the core. She is the say-anything-do-anything-to-win candidate.
It was her words, her actions, her choices that shaped my feelings about her. Her alone.

[guruoo]

32. Defended Clintons from the Gingrich-Starr-Rove attacks, then used those same attacks against

them.

[berni_mccoy]

13. COMPLETE. LACK. OF. JUDGEMENT.

Iraq War Vote.
Bankruptcy Bill.
Wallmart Board of Directors.
Race-baiting Campaign Tactics.
Taking too long to correct racial attacks from campaign members.
Paying Mark Penn over $100,000 PER DAY for a FAILED CAMPAIGN.

[Orsino]

15. Washington fatigue.

I don't think it's coincidental that the leading candidate has spent the least time in Washington. In 2008, a member of Congress ought to be citing "experience" very quietly; it's a lousy platform on which to run.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

16. In answer to your last question: everything.

[Taxmyth]

17. Drawing from the left

The Clinton's are not seen as Liberals by those that consider themselves as Liberals. They are seen as centrists by the bulk of the Democratic Party and that is probably a fair assumption. As the other candidates with more Liberal credentials fell by the wayside they gravitated away from their chosen candidates towards the only candidate that was not a Clinton. Senator Obama is really no more Liberal than Senator Clinton but he is not a Clinton. The fact that he is part African American assists with this drawing power but the main draw is he is not a Clinton.

The Liberal wing of the Democratic Party is not the overwhelming base of the Party. But they are the most vocal and tend to be younger and computer literate. As a result, younger voters who are also computer literate have been drawn into the Support Obama campaign. They are energetic and have the time to spend at Caucuses and campaigning and typing on Internet websites like this one. The TRUE base of the Democratic Party spends it's days working and trying to provide for their families and really do not have the time (or money to spare) to get out and support Senator Clinton.

These are generalizations only, there are those that support Senator Obama that do not fit these given characteristics but they are most certainly in the minority of Senator Obama supporters.

The sad fact is, Senator Obama is no more Liberal than Senator Clinton. Should he be the nominee and have ANYTHING negative stick to him that's thrown by the GOP, he will probably lose some of that support as some of his younger supporters will be turned off to the political process in modern day America. Senator Clinton will lose very few of her supporters as these are generally people who have been Democratic Party supporters for many years and know what happens. Even worse, should Senator Obama become President and his supporters see just how Liberal he is NOT, he will lose even more supporters.

Only my opinion of course, but based on years of experience.

[Diamond Dog]

18. The left-wing of the Democratic Party *is* the base.

If by 'base' you mean those activist members who keep the Party from morphing into a GOP me-tooer, then yes, we're owed this election.

[Taxmyth]

22. Sorry DD

but the base of the Democratic Party is decidedly blue collar and/or middle class and decidedly centrist. Their views ARE further left than the Republican Party which is why Liberals gravitated there after they discovered that a Liberal Party stood no chance at being elected to National Offices. The Democratic Party will remain centrist also, or risk losing votes to moderate Republicans. Both extremes of both political Parties in America are extremely vocal and at times may seem to constitute the majority but in reality the bulk of American voters will reject the extremists.

If Senator Obama can define himself as a moderate then he stands a better than even chance at being elected President but if he is seen as a member of the left wing extremists and his supporters continue to assist in that definition, he stands very little real chance of being President. McCain is actually seen as a moderate Republican outside of the message boards and that makes him a formidable opponent in the general election.

[scheming daemons]

24. You're finally seeing what type of person she really is....

...

You've been transferring your love of Bill onto her. But she's no Bill Clinton.


Hell... HE's no Bill Clinton anymore.

[NJmaverick]

25. While she is a good Senator, she is a terrible executive

She clearly lacks the judgement and ability to run a major enterprise like a campaign with a 100 million dollar plus budget.

[AlinPA]

26. She went negative in her campaign. She lied. She exagerrated. ...and

5/5 people in my family switched from her to Obama (in PA).

[uponit7771]

28. Obama raised TONS of money BEFORE he declared, she & her campaign ignored him

[noel711]

30. She missed several opportunities to be presidential...

I want to state first and foremost I was (am?) an Edwards supporter.
When he stepped back my heart was broken.

So I weighed my options, and with an open mind listened, watched,
and carefully considered...

And saw a few things that helped me decide...

Remember the debate, where at the end, Hillary said:
"I am honored to be on stage with Sen. Obama."
And the crowd went crazy.

She continued: "NO matter what happens, we'll all be fine,
because we want what is best for this nation. We will work
together..." (or something like that).

I was IMPRESSED! She almost sold me that night.
I thought :THIS is leadership! This is my girl!

Later I learned those words were JOhn Edwards...

Remember when the Jeremiah Wright crap hit the fan?
She could have stood up, and told the world that she and Bill
knew REv. Wright (and shown the photos); that the pastor was there
for prayer support when the Monica scandal broke. That Rev. WRight was
a remarkable person and leader; as all leaders do he said some inflammatory
things that were taken out of context. We need to stop flailing this issue
because it's not right. She could have stopped it then and there.
And she would have looked presidential.

At the last debate, when those loons from ABC were throwing all
the issues at Obama, she could have take a momemt to say to them:
This is a debate of the issues. These gossipy things have been discussed
ad nauseum. Enough. Let's get to the real reason we are here. But no.
She jumped right in. sAdly, NOt presidential.

I grieve the fact that as a woman in her demographic, I would
have been proud to vote for a woman president.
But, as a thinking woman, I can't trust someone who doesn't do the
right thing when the situation demands it.

I'm so sorry; yes, there are times I feel sorry for her,
because of what could have been...

[Erin Elizabeth]

33. You silly person.

Any good Clinton supporter will tell you she's done nothing wrong. YOU must have done something wrong. Maybe you are horribly sexist, that's probably it. You are afraid of a strong woman, you like women to be weak, that's it! It was your fault, you see.

:sarcasm: