Hillary’s Campaign in a Tailspin

Mark Penn - Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist - was going to be the next political guru, part Rove and part Carville until he ran straight into Reality. Last night Iowans voted 71% for opponents and 29% for the supposed unbeatable Hillary. What gives?

Penn has never understood Hillary’s campaign very well for the following reasons:

1. Deciding to imitate Karl Rove’s tactics after Hillary’s meltdown in Philly,

2. Focus Group polling that was woefully out of touch with prevailing sentiments, e.g., first Hillary’s "experienced" - which she isn’t - then she’s the "candidate of change,"
which she never could be considering the kind of patronage she’s relied on,

3. Dedicating so much time in Iowa for no clear victory,

4. Taking New Hampshire for granted in large measure,

5. Presuming that Bill’s unorthodox candidacy would serve as a viable precedent for Hillary, which it hasn’t and won’t,

6. Presuming from the beginning that all Hillary had to do was scapegoat Bush while neglecting to clearly differentiate herself from the other candidates, which set, by this time, an irrevocable pattern,

7. Allowing Hillary’s speeches and dialogue to express a vague sense of specificty while promising enormous change, e.g., Hillary insisted she wouldn’t answer "hypotheticals," while the other candidates were thrilled to elaborate on their ideas,

8. Talking and acting tough in the same mold as W as a way of engendering confidence that Hillary’s capable of fighting terrorism while most Americans are, at the same time, sick of the way the "War on Terror" has gone, including all the Neocon bravado,

9. Alluding to the notion that Bill will be there as an anchor when everyone knows about the friction - a very confusing scenario that hasn’t yet been fully explored, e.g., would he effectively be a sort of V.P.?

10. Playing the gender card, which in Iowa proved to be a mistake,

11. Ineffectually fighting the false stereotype that Hillary is a genuine liberal, or, in some people’s minds, an out and out socialist, which is going to hurt her in the south beginning with South Carolina,

12. Not effectively controlling the staff, which operates recklessly since there’s not sufficient leadership at the top - look for more resignations and/or firings during Jan.,

13. Not capitalizing on Hillary’s early success by aligning with her opponents and making deals for the time when they would bow out, e.g., Richardson originally showed alignment with Hillary but subsequently backed Obama as will the rest when the time comes,

14. Relying too heavily on a few issues, such as Healthcare, rather than serving as a beacon for shaping the Democratic platform - the differences among the top candidates now in terms of Healthcare are neglible considering that all plans will face legislative revisions once they’re activated, and,

15. Not maximizing her existing endorsers and overplaying inconsequential endorsements like the Register, which has never picked a candidate who became President.

Last but not least, Feb 3 is Super Tuesday, which will solidify the race and send Hillary back to her carpetbagging ways in luxurious Westchester County, NY. By Feb. 5 Mark Penn, which he claims is a seminal date for Hillary’s fate, will have had 48 hours to be dreadfully depressed over how he flubbed up. In all fairness, had he been responsive to all 15 issues, Hillary still didn’t have much of a chance of winning since her negative ratings are so high and people just don’t like her.