Small C
January 8th, 2008Hillary Clinton was interrupted during a speech yesterday by two hecklers holding an “Iron my shirt!” sign and chanting the same. It doesn’t make any difference to the overall race for the White House but I liked the way she handled it, declaring them the remnants of sexism, “alive and well” and then talking about how she’s looking to break through the highest glass ceiling in running for President. Must say, I enjoy the episode immensely because it is so deliciously absurd one must wonder what sort of thought process someone uses to decide that chanting “Iron my shirt!” at a candidate for President will be a good idea. Probably just some loser kids looking for jollies.
Here is an article in the Wall Street Journal about what all suspect is her imminent defeat in New Hampshire and the corresponding political scramble it is believed to foreshadow. Losing New Hampshire, big, people believe will cost her Nevada and they’re considering concession in South Carolina. These sorts of losses aren’t fatal by themselves but they likely illustrate a trend for Obama and a serious drop in Clinton’s heartrate. If Clinton loses this nomination, people will blame all sorts of factors for it and they’re already starting to. For my money, we’ve got the reason today, in the article.
Despite raising more than $100 million, Sen. Clinton also faces financial worries as contributions have begun to slacken. But she vows to fight on: Her campaign will pivot to focus more heavily on “Super Tuesday” Feb. 5, when 21 states vote. “We are going all the way to the convention,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said.
Still, the maneuverings marked an extraordinary turn, and underscored the power of small, early-voting states to scramble all bets — especially in a year when the states’ contests are so closely scheduled. Sen. Clinton until now continued to hold wide leads in national polls; a new Gallup poll has her slipping into a dead heat. Her original campaign strategy, aimed at positioning her as the inevitable nominee who would capture the early states and wrap up the nomination before February, is now in shambles.
[…campaign pollster Mark Penn…]has long been a target of Democrats who complain of arrogance within the Clinton camp. His detractors seized on his authorship of a campaign memo — though other campaign officials agreed to it — that went out to the media Saturday, as reporters, candidates and their contingents had de-camped after Iowa’s caucuses to New Hampshire. “Where’s the Bounce?” it asked in a headline, over news of a poll that suggested Sen. Obama had gotten little lift from his Hawkeye State victory. But the next day, a succession of new polls documented that he had bounced way over Sen. Clinton — spawning guffaws among those recalling the previous day’s memo.
Can you believe that arrogance? Worse is the strategy: “we are the frontrunners. Let’s position ourselves as such.” Nobody on this Earth has ever gotten to where they are by simply coasting, by declaring victory and leaving it at that as if others are obligated to accept it without question or equivocation. That might be what undoes Hillary Clinton, and I’d be furious with myself and Mark Penn for accepting conventional wisdom and conservative political strategy if I were her. (Small c conservative, not “C”onservative.)