It's the Candidate, Stupid
As Senator Barack Obama continues to enjoy remarkable primary success in the last week, Hillary Clinton has shaken up her campaign staff, jettisoning first her Campaign Manager on Sunday (the day Obama won Maine) and allowing her Deputy Campaign Manager to resign yesterday as Obama won Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. With a dozen or so state races left, the apparent thinking in the Clinton camp is that some other strategy will put Hillary over the top.
The truth however seems to simply be that the problem isn't the strategy or the staff, but the candidate. Hillary is seen by many as a member of a bygone era, a lesser version of a politically polarizing, though popular former Democratic president. She is seen widely as knowledgeable and capable but too often driven by polling and self-interest. Her vote to authorize the war in Iraq belies her tendency toward favoring political expediency over standing her ground.
Her opponent is younger, more rhetorically talented (well-suited to national campaigning), and seems to have arrived at the best possible time for such a candidate. Senator Obama has consistently maintained progressive positions (e.g. opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning), and is seen as the candidate most likely to bring crucial Independent and X Generation voters into the Democratic coalition.
Hillary's problems aren't in her campaign staff. She's just simply the wrong candidate to beat Barack Obama.
Read the comments of former president Bill Clinton's 1992 Campaign Chair who endorsed Senator Obama today:
The truth however seems to simply be that the problem isn't the strategy or the staff, but the candidate. Hillary is seen by many as a member of a bygone era, a lesser version of a politically polarizing, though popular former Democratic president. She is seen widely as knowledgeable and capable but too often driven by polling and self-interest. Her vote to authorize the war in Iraq belies her tendency toward favoring political expediency over standing her ground.
Her opponent is younger, more rhetorically talented (well-suited to national campaigning), and seems to have arrived at the best possible time for such a candidate. Senator Obama has consistently maintained progressive positions (e.g. opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning), and is seen as the candidate most likely to bring crucial Independent and X Generation voters into the Democratic coalition.
Hillary's problems aren't in her campaign staff. She's just simply the wrong candidate to beat Barack Obama.
Read the comments of former president Bill Clinton's 1992 Campaign Chair who endorsed Senator Obama today:
Mr. Obama is more electable than Senator Hillary Clinton. Mr. Obama’s campaign is evidence of his leadership, David Wilhelm said, calling it “masterful.” “He has out-worked her, out-organized her and out-raised her. I know organizational excellence when I see it, and the Obama campaign, win or lose, will serve as a model” of execution of strategy, message discipline, application of new technology and small-donor fund raising. (NY Times, "Bill Clinton Campaign Chair goes for Obama, Feb. 13, 2008)
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