Booman Tribune

Hillary: Live And Let Die

by Zandar1
Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:00:22 PM EST

Yesterday I talked about how Clinton's surrogates were pressing the attack on Obama over being "snubbed" for Veep and McSame's boys and the Village Idiots were following suit.

Today as the convention opens the attacks from Clinton surrogates are officially getting worse. Howard Wolfson brings the Big Dog into the fight.

There is still work to do on the Bill Clinton front. He feels like the Obama campaign ran against and systematically dismissed his administration's accomplishments. And he feels like he was painted as a racist during the primary process.

Senator Obama would go a long way towards healing these wounds if he were to specifically praise the accomplishments of the Clinton presidency in a line or two during his speech on Thursday. That should be painless---he isn't running against the Clinton legacy anymore, and it would probably be a good idea to remind voters that the last time Democrats were in charge of the White House, we had peace and prosperity. Similarly, he could thank President Clinton for all of the work he did throughout his life to bridge the divides in our country. This is a cause near and dear to the president's heart.

President Clinton has his part to play as well. He needs to offer a strong argument in favor of Barack Obama's candidacy on Wednesday night, and remind everyone why he is one of the most gifted campaigners in our generation between now and November.

What both Clintons say about Senator Obama--and what Senator Obama says about both of them during this week--can go a long way towards tamping down whatever disunity still exists between the two camps and their supporters. And more importantly, it will encourage Senator Clinton's supporters to vote for Senator Obama.

The Clinton versus Obama storyline is irresistible to the press corps--and the McCain campaign. It is incumbent on both sides in Denver to do what they can to tamp that down.

Of course, it hasn't occured to Wolfson in the least that his column (in The New Republic no less) is feeding the press corps and McCain exactly what they want to hear, and he's saying that the fault lies not with the Clintons but with Obama.

Obama hurt the Big Dog's feelings.  Bill's not a racist, Obama needs to take that back and soon or the message is clear:  Hillary voters won't back him.  The Clintons have chosen Live And Let Die.

The Clinton camp continues to officially deny the story, but they are saying and doing nothing to contain Clinton insiders from spreading tales that the Clintons are secretly pissed at Obama.

The irony of Howard Wolfson saying that both camps need to "tamp down" the fight he himself is goading on is rich indeed.  But this has been par for the course since the announcement of Biden this weekend.  The press is indeed "eating it up".

As Democrats arrived here Sunday for a convention intended to promote party unity, mistrust and resentments continued to boil among top associates of presumptive nominee Barack Obama and his defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

One flashpoint is the assigned speech topic for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention theme is "Securing America's Future." The night's speakers will argue that Obama would be a more effective commander in chief than his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

The former president is disappointed, associates said, because he is eager to speak about the economy and more broadly about Democratic ideas -- emphasizing the contrast between the Bush years and his own record in the 1990s.

This is an especially sore point for Bill Clinton, people close to him say, because among many grievances he has about the campaign Obama waged against his wife is a belief that the candidate poor-mouthed the political and policy successes of his two terms.

Some senior Democrats close to Obama, meanwhile, made clear in not-for-attribution comments that they were equally irked at the Clinton operation. Nearly three months after Hillary Clinton conceded defeat in the nomination contest, these Obama partisans complained, her team continues to act like she and Bill Clinton hold leverage.

Make no mistake, the Village will make sure the message from Denver is all about Bill and Hillary, not Obama's positive message.  The Clinton camp is doing nothing...NOTHING...to stop the damage here that will continue long after the last balloon drops in Denver.

The Village too is quick to blame Obama for the rift as well, and goes straight back to the whole nature of the Obama camp being uppity and presumptuous.  "How DARE that boy go after Bill!"

The Clintons are playing us for fools.  Plan 2012 is in full effect right now, and unless Obama stands up to the Clintons and calls them out, he will lose in November.  The neglect to round up Clinton surrogates and to stop the "voters on behalf of Hillary" on the attack is a conscious choice on the part of Bill and Hillary.  They could stop them if they wanted to.  They refuse to do so at every turn, proclaiming only unity.

They will continue to proclaim unity right up until McSame ends up in the White House.  Then the campaign for 2012 begins in earnest as the Clinton folks turn on Obama like a pack of animals.

When will Obama call the Clintons out, before or after America is saddled with a McSame presidency?

Cross-posted at ZVTS.



Display:
for a very good look inside the campaign dynamics and strategies, especially the losing one, l highly recommend roger simon's latest at polotico:
RELENTLESS: How Barack Obama Outsmarted Hillary Clinton.

a few excerpts:

She [clinton] planned to put together a great campaign team, a Dream Team. It did not turn out that way, however.

One Clinton campaign staffer said that Mike Henry, the deputy campaign manager, stalked around Clinton headquarters in Ballston, Va., with a baseball bat in his hand.

Another said Solis Doyle stayed in her office watching soap operas and refused to return the phone calls of governors, members of Congress and Bill Clinton.

And there were suspicions that Mark Penn, the campaign's pollster and chief strategist, "cooked the books" in presenting his polling results. (All denied the accusations.) It was that kind of campaign.

The Obama campaign was proud not only of what it had, but also of what it lacked: drama. It did not prepare just for its victories, but, just as importantly, it prepared for its defeats: It had a careful plan in place to keep Clinton's delegate victories to the narrowest margins possible. Virtually all of the Obama top staff understood the math that would lead to the nomination. Hardly anyone in the Clinton campaign did.

:::hei

Obama's main concern however, was whether his campaign could compete with the Clintons (they were almost always viewed in the plural by Obama and his campaign), both financially and organizationally.

"We thought we had to be almost a perfect campaign to win," said Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, "because she was so strong."

:::

While Clinton's fundraising was going well, it was expensive fundraising, much of it done by direct mail, one of the most expensive forms of fundraising there is. (The cost of paper, printing and postage all adds up fast.) Obama was raising his millions on the Internet, which was cheap. Why couldn't Clinton do the same?

"We tried," McAuliffe said. "But we had a 60-year-old woman who voted for the war. That's a fact. The online community is very liberal."

"People in our campaign were in shock that Obama raised what he did," a top Clinton adviser said. "It belied our arrogance that nobody else could meet her on the field of battle."

:::

Plouffe had thought the Obama campaign was going to have to be nearly perfect, because Clinton's campaign was going to be so strong.

So was he surprised when her campaign didn't turn out to be as strong as he thought?

"Yes," Plouffe said. "And grateful every day."

 complete text in pdf format

the clintons were, and still are, delusional...she lost...and they've both been sore losers regardless of what's been, or will be, said. they've been given an opportunity, deservedly or not, ymmv, to resurrect their legacy. it remains to be seen if they're big enough to do it.

the revolution will not be televised...Peace

by dada on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:19:36 PM EST
complete text HERE.

preview is my friend...ohmmmmmmmmm.

the revolution will not be televised...Peace

by dada on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:22:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
au contraire...it has occurred to Wolfson.
by BooMan on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:51:47 PM EST


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