Fineman: What the heck happened to Hillary?

[WillyT]

What the heck happened to Hillary?


<snip>

MANCHESTER, N.H. - On Elm Street this morning, there were scores of young people lining the sidewalks waving signs at passing motorists.

All the kids and all the signs were for one candidate: Sen. Barack Obama.

Maybe it’s too early to ask, but I am going to anyway... What the heck happened to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton?

Nearly a month ago in this column I wrote that Hillary’s campaign was “teetering on the brink.” Still, I didn’t think the free fall would be this dramatic and potentially irreversible. Maybe she can pull it out, but I tend to doubt it at this point.

The saving, cautionary analogy is the near-death campaign of Walter Mondale, who survived Gary Hart’s charge in 1984. But politics doesn’t work the same way it did in those days.

The unions who saved Mondale have far less clout; the internet has and will give Obama far more resources than Hillary; and Hart – a praiseworthy figure (one of the brightest strategic minds the Democrats have ever had) – wasn’t exactly a user-friendly campaigner. He certainly was no Obama. Also, the national media of the day turned on Hart; they are unlikely to do the same to Obama.

Much of Hillary’s travail is her fault, but some of it is just bad luck and bad timing – not to mention the presence of two skilled foes in Obama and former Sen. John Edwards.

Here is my short list of reasons for her travails:

Hiring the topmost insiders
Hillary underestimated the hunger for change outside the Beltway. Nothing proved that more than the professionals she chose to run her campaign. They were brilliant, but had grown wealthy in their work and perhaps had lost a fingertip feel for the urgency and everyday fear that grips most of middle-class America these days.

Running on experience
The fact is, she doesn’t really have that much experience that is truly hands-on as an official. It was too easy for her opponents to question its validity.

Ignoring Obama
In some ways, Obama isn’t quite the outsider and systematic change agent that he claims to be. Yes he is an African-American who now calls the South Side of Chicago home – and that will always make him an outsider to some extent. In many other ways, however, he is just a new wave of what Bill and Hillary were years ago – an on-the-make, Ivy League-educated, Democratic lawyer eager to seize power in Washington. If Hillary was going to say that, she needed to have done it months ago. She did not.

Waiting too long to get specific
The Clintonistas held a conference call yesterday to point out some relevant things: that Obama’s New Hampshire co-chair was a drug-company lobbyist; that the senator had vehemently opposed the Iraq war but then voted repeatedly to fund it; that he had said he wanted to scrap the Patriot Act and start over, but then voted for it. As I listened to the conference call, I couldn’t for the life of me understand why the Clinton folks didn’t highlight these and other items much earlier. By the time they did so, it was too late. You can’t do things by half in politics; if you are going to go after an opponent you have to do it with gusto.

<snip>

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22539570/

This one is big with me:

<snip>

The Iran vote
Whoever advised Hillary to try to burnish her commander-in-chief credentials by voting to declare the Iranian Army a terrorist organization did her a deep disservice. It cost her dearly, by giving Obama a way to outflank her despite his votes for funding the war in Iraq. The fact that Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd voted against it made her vote all the more vivid, and damaging.

<snip>

:shrug:

[peacebird]

1. Gary Hart shot himself in the foot by daring the press to catch him commiting adultery

and then fooling around and getting caught on film with a little bimbo on a boat....

[PATRICK]

2. That was after

he crumbled in a simple Achilles heel assault in three words by Mondale. He DARED the press to follow him and went to that damned boat. Spectacular. Gives self-destruction a whole new dimension and he could have gone all the way.

[ljm2002]

17. And the headlines wrote themselves...

...the name of the boat was "Monkey Business".

[shadowknows69]

20. What a friggin waste too, I always liked Hart

Thanks for sticking us with "landslide of the century" Mondale, Gary.

[rodeodance]

3. Fineman--a fish swimming in water and does not know he is in the water!

[Le Taz Hot]

4. Add one more:

The backalsh from the "inevitability" label given to her by the M$M and the Democratic Party Machine. They tried so hard to shove her down our throats but her support has always been a mile wide and an inch deep. Having said that, she's certainly not out of the race by any means, but, if she finishes 3rd (not likely) in New Hampshire today, then I'd say she is in real trouble.

[WillyT]

5. Yep... There Seemed To Be A Whole Lot Of Smugness With That Inevitability Thing

Iowa definitely wiped that off their faces.

You survive the storm Ok Taz???

:shrug:

[Le Taz Hot]

6. Actually, yes.

All of the dire predictions for the Central San Joaquin Valley never materialized (thank goddess). How about you? House still standing?

[WillyT]

10. Yep... House Still Standing, But...

it was one hell of a ride!

:scared:

:hi:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

8. Don't forget the Republicans. They seemed VERY invested in the HRC "inevitability", for some reason.

[Le Taz Hot]

9. Honestly?

We could nominate Bozo the Clown and he'd still win the presidency. That's how bad off the Republicans are. There's been a sea change in this country and I think even the bloviating beltway boys are finally getting a clue as to what is happening.

[RaleighNCDUer]

13. I hope you don't really believe that.

The only sure thing in politics is that anyone believing in a sure thing is sure to be disappointed.

We don't know what may happen in the next several months. Anything from a natural disaster to a terror attack to nuking Iran could completely change the political landscape. The repukes CAN win. They could even retake congress, under the right (wrong) conditions. Scare people enough and they will vote fascism in.

Look at Hillary's inevitability. Six months ago it was easy to say "if things stay as they are, Hillary will be the nominee". Only, things NEVER stay as they are.

[riverdeep]

18. It might look that way,

but it's not. This country will still elect a Republican to high office, even though the last seven years (28, if you pay attention) have been an object lesson in what Repubs do when they have the platform, and no resistance.

Also, never underestimate the ability of the Dems to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Le Taz Hot]

22. Ok, well I can certainly agree with your

last sentence. They have a special gift for that.

[PATRICK]

24. Uh, it's the other side

that has and retains the means to reface Bozo. We put up war heroes and geniuses and saints and get trashed. And when the pendulum cuts us enough slack it is never safe or as successful as a brutal crime syndicate style. The point is taken though that we DO have everything, but we must win while beating the crooked game in order to fix the fix. Despair and overconfidence are the Bobsey twins of November defeat.
Rather than arguing, or giving up or dismissing what is to be done, let's do it all and let God sort out the GOP corpses.

[paulk]

7. at least Hillary VOTED on Kyle/Lieberman

I have yet to see a convincing reason for Obama's not even bothering. It seems to me he wants to have it both ways. How exactly does he "outflank" her on this?

And please - Howard Fineman? The guy is a first class media whore. Do some research on him.

[WillyT]

11. No More A Whore Than The Rest Of The "Mainstream" Media

And Franken used to have him on his radio show every week, and Olbermann still does.

It's just his opinion, but he makes some valid points.

You don't see any problems with the Clinton Campaign???

:shrug:

[paulk]

14. Fineman is one of the absolute worst

http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=howard+fineman

He is a bootlicker of the worst sort, who can always be counted on by the RW to do it's dirty work. The target may be Clinton now, but be assured if Obama is the nominee that Fineman will be trashing him at every opportunity. It's what he does - it's his job.

--------------


The only valid point he makes is that the HRC campaign underestimated the appeal of Obama. Or perhaps they underestimated how much of a free pass Obama would get from the media.

His take on Iran is a classic example of Fineman. He says the Obama has flanked HRC because of her support for Kyle Lieberman - but he doesn't mention that Obama NEVER EVEN VOTED ON KYLE-LIEBERMAN. Yes, it's "just" his opinion, but it's an opinion that he has completely pulled out of his ass.


--------------------------------


Seriously, this isn't a matter of partisanship - of my supporting HRC. Read up on Mr. Fineman and his cheerleading of the Iraq invasion. People do pay attention on this board to who you use in your attacks on other candidates. Using scum like Fineman to trash Hillary with hurts your credibility.

[KoKo]

12. An excellent read.....! K&R

[AlGore-08.com]

15. Here is the smoking gun in this article

Quote: "Also, the national media of the day turned on Hart; they are unlikely to do the same to Obama."

The media shouldn't "turn" on any candidate. They should be covering all of them with objectivity and actively researching their statements, policy proposals and resumes to help voters make informed choices.

And how can Fineman know whether the media is likely or unlikely to "turn" on a candidate over the course of the next eleven months? How can Fineman know that the other campaigns can't successfully develop a strategy to beat Obama? How can Fineman know that Obama won't make some major blunders or even run a terrible campaign?

He can't - - unless the press coverage has less to do with journalism than with writing fiction.

Maybe the press has finally found The Democratic Candidate whom they are willing to boost. But what guarantees does anyone have that the Press will not get bored with writing glowing coverage of Obama, or decide that they really like John McCain better, or decide that a landslide victory for anybody would be boring, so they're going to "turn" on one of the candidates to tighten the race up? What guarantee is there that once Obama is in office, they won't "turn" on him then? When the media plays favorites, there are no guarantees.

Finally, what is it about Obama that makes Fineman so certain the media will continue to cover him uncritically? Given their earlier uncritical coverage of Smirk, or their earlier uncritical coverage of Hillary Clinton's "flawless campaign", shouldn't we be more cautious before believing the media's mass judgment?

IMNSHO, in the long run, the press actively promoting a Democrat is just as dangerous as them actively promoting a Republican.

[Cha]

25. Of course they will and if

Obama's campaign are up on things then they will be ready.

[Javaman]

16. Hillary suffers from the Dungeons and Dragons stigma...

Never ever name your character Conan, you will surely die a horrible death.

Same applies here.

[Beelzebud]

19. Hillary's Nightmare on Elm Street

Sorry I couldn't resist. :D

[WillyT]

21. Oooo... Good Catch !!!

Totally missed that.

:banghead:

[YvonneCa]

23. Here's another one...

...Bush stating that she would be the next President. That would make me suspicious...and I like Hillary.