Office of the Independent Blogger

Reuters ran an article today asking “How did Hillary fall so far?” by which they meant that she was the presumptive nominee at the beginning of this race, having been forecast as a successor to her husband since 2002 when it began to look clear(er) that Al Gore would not run again in 2004 and now she’s fighting for her Presidential future with a novice candidate who has precious little political background and nothing but platitudes to his name. I’ve spoken with friends who work for the Clinton campaign as well as friends who volunteer for the campaign over the last several months and most of them, even on television and in print, are critical of the media. “If the media didn’t spend so much time swooning over Senator Obama, we’d be winning!” or “If the media didn’t stifle our message, we’d have sown the nomination up by now!” but I find that excuse shallow. Howard Dean used it in 2004, too, but he lost because he spent his time campaigning against Bush inside of general election states instead of focusing on, say, the primaries and the primary primaries. Hillary, similarly, has little blame to assign the media. The truth is that they’ve run a poor campaign: they thought they’d have won it all by Super Tuesday and took a conservative approach as a result. Even worse is the angle they’ve pictured Hillary in: the candidate of experience. Experience! “Experience” does not work in the Democratic Party unless you’re the last Vice President and you haven’t had your chance yet (see: Humphrey, Mondale, Gore).

Hillary should have come out of the gates presenting an ambitious economic plan and pledging to end the Iraq War as soon as she enters the White House. It would have allowed her to focus on issues instead of “character” in the form of experience, which has been the great premise of her candidacy. “Experience! I have experience! Nobody else in the running spent eight years in the White House!” It almost reminds me of Joe Eszterhas’ hilarious characterization of Bob Dole’s 1996 run for President: “Bob Dole tells the truth! Bob Dole loves America! Character character character!” Democrats don’t like to hand things to their candidates and by basing your campaign on your ability to drive the car because you’ve driven it before and the other guy is just a kid learning — well, Democrats aren’t going to swallow that, because it’s not in any way shape or form inspiring. Can you think of another Democratic campaign not run by a Vice President which was boring like “Experience!”? McGovern promised pot, peace; Carter promised the truth and that he was the man from outside; Mondale was a sacrificial lamb and a Vice President; Dukakis pledged to make the country work and cited his experience as a “Technocrat” in Boston to do it (unfortunately the Economy went bad in his state during the race and he had the charisma of a snail crushed by tank); Clinton promised change, economy; Gore was the sitting Vice President; Kerry, lost, and ran on his ability to take Bush on because of his background as a prosecutor, “Purple Heart” winner. Hillary? Experience! Just a poor course to embark upon, and for that her advisers and her self deserve much criticism. If they win this nomination now, it’ll be a miracle.

Something else deserves consideration in addition to the bungling-and-complacent campaign they’ve run, however, and it is something that I have given thought to. Hillary isn’t particularly likeable or entertaining. She’s a brilliant woman, and I admire her very much, but I’m not sure people have ever really taken to her in an electorate. New York, perhaps; she’s been elected by healthy margins twice, but each time she was in a liberal state that loves celebrity Senators and her candidates weren’t particularly strong. Her advisers should have softened her image with more positive public relations chances, they should have given her a stronger campaign with a more concrete image of competence and change (”We will return to the days of sound economics!” rather than “We will be a steady hand as we have been here before!”) and they should have cut Barack Obama down with more force earlier. They’re trying to make up for it now, as they believe negativity to be the best weapon to use now, but it might be too late and that’s a shame.

Few candidates have won the Presidency by coasting. And these are not coasting times for anyone. Obama understands that: he’s desperately trying to sink Clinton on Tueday and he’s spending an enormous amount of money to do it. McCain certainly understands it, and his advisors do too because they’re Republicans and Republicans know how to campaign. Hillary’s not coasting anymore, but that’s because she was dropped off her flotation device and surrounded by sharks which have wounded her significantly, and now is the time to fight back.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 11:54 pm and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).