2008 Primaries Thread

If the Obama campaign can point out that in the Dem chorus, he's doing all the calling and Hillary's doing all the responding -- it may be enough to portray her as a calculating opportunist

also, WTF is this about Hillary's claim of 'innocence'? what the fuck does she mean?

it means she's a virgin

btw love hillary's new babe in the woods meme
xpost dammit

(sorry that is not very nice--it probably means she thinks she hasn't been in washington to be corrupted???)

been in washington long enough

she did not have vince foster killed

where does chelseas come from?

Anglo-Saxon Cealc-h3ð = "chalk wharf"

oh ok

i have a hard time reconciling 'experience' with 'innocence,' honestly.

chelsea clinton is actually a chalk golem? awesome.

so did Blake.

(xpost)

http://www.davidkrutpublishing.com/dkp/wp-content/uploads/ArtGallery/Jeremy_Wafer/songs_of_innocence_and_experience.jpg

new campaign poster, plz

http://www.soulstrut.com/images/reviews/crates/motown/Axelrod,-David---OG%20Song-Of-In.jpg
http://www.soulstrut.com/images/reviews/crates/motown/Axelrod,-David---Songs-Of-E.jpg

"I did very well with people over 45, and I didn't do as well with people under 30. I take responsibility for that," she said. "I'm going to talk over the next five days as much as I can about creating opportunities for young people."

Is it possible to sound more calculated and vague at the same time?

My fave hated lefty blogger:

I suppose the one good thing about Iowa is that Hillary finished third. Not that this will stop her. Quite the opposite. The Clintons are serious pit bulls, and finishing just behind John Edwards of all people will only intensify her power quest. Recall that husband Bill finished fourth in '92 with a whopping three percent. Didn't stop Bubba from ripping out throats to the White House.

For now, we must endure the liberal revivalist clamor, since the faithful truly believe that This Is Their Time. No point in talking to them. Just smile, move slowly, and always keep an exit in clear sight.

http://dennisperrin.blogspot.com/2008/01/saints-preserve-us.html

Your fave rightie blogger?

What makes the "innocence" and "experience" pics funny is that Obama's campaign manager(?)'s name?

David Axelrod!

Oh the lol of it.

more lolz with Mitt

HRC's New Hampshire Comeback Plan

Atlantic blogger Matthew Yglesias thought this was a pretty good plan, except for the "Who would be better v. John McCain in a GE?" plank. Yglesias is right: I think the answer is pretty clearly Obama.

I don't think "playing the gender card" will work well - at the risk of sounding totally sexist, women are more likely to vote for a man they'd like to sleep with than a woman who reminds them of their mother.

but then I have a tendency to enjoy considering national elections in terms of "who is the most sexually dynamic candidate"

I missed this great line from Obama last night, commenting on his new status as frontrunner:

Referring to his new status as the Democratic front-runner, he said: "This feels good. It's just like I imagined it when I was talking to my Kindergarten teacher."

(Gently jabbing at HRC for claiming Obama plotted to be President since Kindergarden).

With Huckabee showing the attack ad that he didn't want to show, it's fun seeing the passive-aggressive guys rise to the top.

In other news, Maverick Candidate and 'Stand Up Guy' John McCain takes money from Swift Boaters

dude is broke, no surprise there. hoping folks have short memories

Watch Carl Bernstein call Clinton 'wounded' »

lol

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080104/capt.22bf3772af4246c18d49b171af50a727.aptopix_clinton_2008_nhea109.jpg

Watch Carl Bernstein call Clinton 'wounded' »

I'm increasinly troubled by the number of commentators who seem to think that an Obama nomination is all-but-assured. It reminds me of the way sportswriters -- in a mindhive -- annoint a team as the inevitable champion of a 7 game series after they win Game 1. It's obviously more likely than not that the Game 1 winner will win the series, but it's by no means assured (I'm looking at you, Dallas Mavericks).

Anyway, I can certainly see HRC coming back. What's more difficult is to see the road she takes to come back; that is, it's hard to see how, at this juncture and given what she and Obama have shown so far, she can be nimble enough to slow down the Obama momentum.

I don't think Obama has it in the bag by any means but like I said upthread, I can't really conceive of an angle that Hillary can take that will successfully woo voters away from him.

here apparently are her strategies:

* Hillary aides are reportedly studying whether they can hit Obama on gun control, an issue where Obama has taken a hard line that might turn off some New Hampshire voters.

* Hillary, who isn't known for frequent Q and As with reporters, made herself extensively available to them in New Hampshire today, and quickly made it clear that she would now get serious about "drawing contrasts" with her "leading opponents." This was apparently part of a concerted effort on the Hillary camp's part to prevent Obama from coasting off his Iowa victory.

* Bill Clinton will spend the next five days campaigning for Hillary in New Hampshire, though he had reportedly not planned to.

* In another effort to signal that Camp Hillary would be playing rougher in the days ahead, Hillary also said this today:

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2008/01/hillary_plans_to_draw_contrasts_with_obama_in_days_ahead.php

er that last point is also from the article just didn' get tagged

I dunno, sounds like more of the same (does she really wanna make gun control a huge national issue right now? wtf, she's gonna pump up her NRA credentials...?)

as has been noted above, perhaps her biggest problem is that she's a pretty uninspiring and business-like public speaker, especially compared to the pulpit-thumping oratory that Huckabee and Obama (and even Edwards to some extent) can regularly muster.

"Of all the people running for president, I’ve been the most vetted, the most investigated, and my goodness, the most innocent it turns out."

That all rasies an interesting question: If you were an HRC advisor, what would you suggest she do in New Hampshire? Would you be content with the strategy set forth in the linked memo above? (n.1)

________________________________
(n.1) Obama's strategy is, right now, easier to see: Stay ahead and above the fray, act like a frontrunner. I suppose he'll have to address the fact that New Hampshire voters like things more rough-and-tumble than Iowa voters, but I'm not sure that forces him to change his strategy. Besides, after last night's victory and victory speech, I bet lots of New Hampshire voters have Obamamania.

yeah that gun control thing is fucking loony. we can only hope it ends up with her hunting ducks in an orange jumpsuit a la kerry.

Former Sect. Labor Robert Reich's bold prediction for the GE: Obama v. McCain.

at the risk of sounding totally sexist, women are more likely to vote for a man they'd like to sleep with than a woman who reminds them of their mother.

Risk not averted. Oh well.

Shakey, you sound exactly like the GOP folks who used to write to Letter To The Editor of the Orange County Register when Clinton got reelected in 1996.

And in conclusion:

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-01/34570416.jpg

so gonna happen

It reminds me of the way sportswriters -- in a mindhive -- annoint a team as the inevitable champion of a 7 game series after they win Game 1.

That's because in the twenty-first century, elections are covered like playoffs. Dunno if it was always like that, but it sure is now.

I think Hillary Clinton doesn't quite get that to be talking change while completely surrounded by Bill and his cabinet might not be the way to go. That stage setup was like a wax museum piece from the Clinton library.

It won't happen, but I would love to somehow see Al Gore put a dagger into the back of Hillary's campaign and drop an endorsement on Obama in the next couple of days. Not that I am sold on Obama, but I sure don't want the Clintons to get back into the White House.

It's possible, I guess; Gore really dislikes HRC. In fact, one of my law partners is apparently connected to some Gore insiders. He says that Gore was considering a Presidential run, but he couldn't bear the thought of losing to HRC, who seemed all-but-inevitable at the time.

gore can still be veep again right? lol awesome

NO CHANCE.

Ominous Signs in New Hampshire for HRC

Doesn't mean she won't win. But the Obama wave is cresting, and I don't think she has enough time to break it. I keep hearing that New Hampshire is a rougher, tougher state to campaign in, that going negative works there, that HRC's more conservative leanings will play well there, but from what I've read, I don't see it.

I wonder what will happen if HRC loses the first three (Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina)? What if she doesn't win a state in January? Does she hang on for Super Tuesday, where her organizational strength and DLC-establishment connections might catapult her forward?

daniel go to sleep and/or lay down and relax.