How Hillary Blew It
With the Democratic race officially over and Barack Obama the nominee, we’ve been reflecting on just how this incredible upset took place.
Obama is, in our opinion, the one, clear choice to be our next Commander-in-Chief. But how did such a relative unknown ever get the chance?
The postmortem on Hillary Clinton’s stunning loss reveals a litany of mistakes, miscalculations and turmoil within her campaign.
The early mishaps are well documented. Among them:
- A flawed message that focused on inevitability, rather than how she planned to deliver the monumental change that needs to occur in this country
- A strategic miscalculation about the importance of Iowa, the first election on the calendar, and all the caucus states thereafter (Obama won 14 out of 15 presidential caucuses; only half the primaries)
- The decision to punt February after Super Tuesday, when the race was still more or less tied, effectively conceding 11 straight races to Obama
- The inability to control Bill Clinton, who intruded and overshadowed more than he aided his wife’s campaign
NIGHT AND DAY: For months, not even Hillary Clinton seemed to know what the Hillary Clinton campaign’s central tenets were from one race to the next.
While the vultures weren’t circling until late May and early June, it was stretch between February 5 and March 4 when Obama ran the table by huge margins and Clinton’s fate was likely sealed.
A political insider who worked on John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004 tells Donkey Dish exclusively:
“If [Clinton] competed harder during that time, she may have done better in the delegate count even if she lost most of those states, and in the end, may have prevented the momentum Obama picked up from those contests and kept the race closer, making her argument to the superdelegates more compelling … It’s funny, Clinton won most of the major contests from March 4 on, but by then the race was already over, at least in many people’s minds.”
For months, the ideological rift within the upper echelon of the Clinton campaign contributed mightily to its mismanagement.
Her advisors were (and likely still are) split in terms of strategy, with some (Howard Wolfson, Mandy Grunwald) calling for uplifting, positive rhetoric, and others (Mark Penn) advocating a different tack.
Penn, in particular wanted, Clinton to attack her rival relentlessly. He felt the more aggressive strategy was necessary to corral superdelegates.
There were flashes of such brute political force, but they often backfired, coming across as desperate attempts to sabotage Barack Obama rather than giving Democrats a reason to believe Clinton was more qualified.
More than anything else, Clinton’s campaign was marked by unevenness and inconsistency. It fell short of delivering a clear message throughout.
In many respects, the final chapter - after she fell short of expectations on May 6 and the bottom fell out of her campaign - was Clinton’s finest.
Ironically, Hillary Clinton functioned effectively and most genuinely after four months of turmoil and bitter internal warfare.
In May, she seemed to finally hit her stride, focusing not on how much she “deserved” to win but on the rising economic concerns among voters. Huge wins in West Virginia, Kentucky, Puerto Rico and South Dakota followed.
Unfortunately for Hillary, it was too little, too late.
NATIONAL
June 7th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Hillary lost because of Emmett Till’s death. In Romans 12 God Says Vengeance is His. Because it was a Caucasian woman who had Emmett, a black child from Chicago, beaten to death on August 28,1955, it had to be a Caucasian woman who was beaten for the presidential nomination by a Black man from Chicago to heal the hurt in God’s Heart. I am one of the daughters spoken about in the bible regarding prophecy. I was told these things by God. You can believe me or not, but I know evangelicals understand about what I speak. It was never meant for Hillary to win. It was meant for her to run. And lose. She really never had any control over the outcome. God controls who wins elections. Always has, always will. Notice the date August 28th, the day of Emmett’s murder. Sound familiar? The March On Washington and the 2008 Democratic National Convention also on August 28th. Coincidence? No, prophecy.
June 7th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I just listened to Hillary’s speech and I thought it was very good. I believe we will unify and not lose Hillary voters.
I only wish she would have mentioned that McCain is trying to woo her supporters ans that they can not be misled into thinking McCain is their man. The son and grandson of war leaders a war monger himself promises more of Bush’s mess and that is all! We must now unite and get back the White House regardless!
June 7th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
hillary clinton changed my mind today.as a obama supporter i think that was the most moveing speech i have ever heard her give.and i believe her.
June 7th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
It has been a disgrace how Hilary Clinton has been treated in this race while Obama has been given a pass by the media and Democratic leaders time and again. I will never vote for Obama and am looking forward to signing up as a Democrat for McCain. While the media sees this as a historic occasion with the first black nominated for President, all I see is a man who is ill equipped to head this nation with all of the many problems we face. I’ll be working hard to make sure that does not happen. You would think as a life long Democrat this would be a difficult decision, but having someone like Obama leading this nation is a frightening proposition. And, as far as I can see, the Democratic party made a major mistake by letting independents vote in our primaries. It’s those people who made his nomination possible and REAL Democrats will have to live with the consequences. I lived eight years with Bush. I can live four years with McCain. Hilary 2012.
June 8th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Greg Brooks,
What is wrong with letting independents vote for either Obama or Clinton? I use to be a republican before Clinton and Obama stepped up to the plate and I voted for Obama during the Florida primary. There are even democrats who would choose either indepentents or republicans. For a democrat to elect a republican while making the idea of an independent vote for a democrat a bad idea is simply a hypocrite.
Also, as I have said so many times in previouse comments of other articles: If Obama was an empty suit and if he really doesn’t know how to manage a country, then answer me this.
1. How is it that Clinton is in a $30+ Million Dollar debt as a result of her poor choice of managers and lack of oversight on her part [which was her job]?
2. How is it that Obama is gathering millions of more dollars than John McCain and Hillary Clinton from just public fundraisers while refusing to take a single penny from greedy-ass lobbyists?
3. How is it that Obama decided to stay away from topics of racism and sexism while Clinton’s managers kept bringing up such topics when those topics are not really this country’s main concern [like the economy and the war]?
[quote by Greg Brooks]
You would think as a life long Democrat this would be a difficult decision, but having someone like Obama leading this nation is a frightening proposition.
[/quote]
When I see comments like this, I get this strange feeling that people like you are not being 100% truthful about why you don’t want Obama as president.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Why must I once again be expected to plug my nose and vote for some elitist prigg who doesn’t give a hoot in hell for the working class people. A Democrat who does not support Universal Healthcare. A Democrat who had the gaul to refer to the gas tax holiday as a “political trick”, and sweep aside the thousands of independant truck drivers who are spending around $2,000.00 each time they fill up the truck to haul the foods and goods to market. And, to sweep aside the family farmer who is spending $1,000.00 a day to get the crops planted. Yet, because the media and the Party elite want him, I am supposed to support him or feel like a leper? F.U. Madame Speaker and Howard Dean and John Kerry and Caroline Kennedy ( why is this gilded cage socialitte - who has never had a real job in her life - choosing the VP? ).
June 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
For those of you who still want to vote for McCain or not vote at all just because you don’t trust him, just remember one thing:
Get a piggy bank, find all the loose change you can find, put it in the piggy bank, then save the bank in a nice safe place. Once John McCain becomes president, get ready to bust the piggy open with a hammer as the next great depression rolls in.