Memo Urges Sen. Clinton to Bypass Iowa

[brooklynite]

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton's deputy campaign manager wrote a memo this week urging the Democratic front-runner to bypass the Iowa caucuses, in order to spend time and resources in New Hampshire, South Carolina and several larger states hosting primaries next Feb. 5.

The memo emerged days after a new Des Moines Sunday Register poll of likely caucus goers showed Clinton trailing rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama in Iowa, which is scheduled to hold the first voting contests next January 14.

"I believe we need a new approach to winning the Democratic nomination," deputy campaign manager Mike Henry wrote. "This approach involves shifting the focus away from Iowa and running a campaign that is more focused on other early primary states and winning this new national primary."

There was no indication Wednesday that Henry's advice would be heeded. Campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said both the candidate and her top advisers are committed to campaigning in Iowa and that Henry's views were not shared by others in the campaign.

Read more: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070523/D8PAA73O0.html

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Historically, this strategy has worked when the candidate has clear strength in New Hampshire and a week or so between the two events, but I'm not sure how the numbers look in NH at this point, and the compressed schedule may make it harder to get out from the post Iowa buzz for the Caucus winner.

THAT being said, any campaign strategist who writes something like this and lets it get leaked should be in another line of work...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. translation:

(insert scene from Sir M. Python)
CUE Camera, panning across Iowa cornfields.

Enter HIllary, Stage Left.

"Hi, I am Hillary and I am running for . . ."

STOP, Cut. Cut lights and sound. Hill, we just got the poll numbers back. we have rewritten the script.
OK Lights, cue sound, cue background music,
ACTION

"Hi, I am Hillary, and I . . ."
ENTER THREE KNIGHTS SAYING 'NI' AND SCREAMING,

"RUN WAY, RUN AWAY!"

[BlueManDude]

2. Translation - we're gonna lose Iowa so let's pretend it isn't important.

nothing new about that strategy.

[flyarm]

3. memo.don't bother hillary and stay out of fla, i can't find any dem who wants you here!! eom

[flyarm]

5. heyyyyyyyyyyi thought she was winning polls everywhere...so where are the hillary cheerleaders??

i have yet to find one dem where i am an elected delegate in fla who wants hillary!


I do not believe in saying bad about any dem candidate but what i am saying is the truth..all i hear from people in my area of fla is dems who say they can not work for her or support her..many many many are waiting for a possible Gore run..people who usually jump in with both feet are hanging back waiting for gore..or they support Edwards..some for Obama..but no one i work with is supporting Hillary but the top dlc people..

and the way the DLC screwed with our elections in Nov..there is no volunteers or the working dems who will support Hillary.

that is the truth..

i won't write the comments i hear over and over again..it is ugly in the trenches...

fly

[Skink]

4. Focus on New York and California. Actual Democratic states.

[DU9598]

6. Actually

Iowa - Democratic governor and both legislative houses democratic
California - Republican governor and democratic legislature
New York - Democratic Governor, democratic house, republican senate

[silverojo]

12. A little correction

Don't you mean:
"California - Republican son of a Nazi governor"? :evilgrin:

[paulk]

7. with everybody moving their primaries up

especially delegate rich states like FLA, CA, and NY, the Iowa caucus is becoming increasingly irrelevent.

Iowa is more important this time around to Edwards and the 2nd tier candidates.

[earthlover]

8. But Hillary is acting like a second tier candidate....

Iowa catapulted Kerry from almost nowhere to instant inevitability. It greatly helped him in New Hamphshire, and the rest was history.

Hillary has based a lot of her early strategy on the idea of inevitabiity. I guess, if she doesn't have the resources to compete in Iowa and has to save them for other contests, that shows how much puffing the inevitability meme was....

Maybe they can get an empty seat for her at the debates....

Bravo!

[Donnachaidh]

9. isn't Rudy pulling the same stunt?

I thought KO reported on this last night.

Iowa natives should get out and vote en masse just to prove these people wrong. How frigging insulting is THAT?

[earthlover]

10. In reality, we are being played....

....."THAT being said, any campaign strategist who writes something like this and lets it get leaked should be in another line of work..."

I don't really think the Hillary campaign is seriously even thinking about skipping Iowa. What they are doing is trotting out a "deputy campaign manager" with a "leak". They know many of us will take the "bait".....Meanwhile, the Hillary campaign has plausible deniability. The goal: lower expectations for Hillary in Iowa. Now if she places second or a close third she is hoping everyone will treat it like a "victory". Smart, I guess, if you don't mind being "that way". So, if anyone points this out, they can just say it wasn't the campaign or Hillary, it was just a "deputy campaign manager" saying something stupid....and he gets to jump on his sword, and the plan goes on....

Seriously, does anyone....anyone....believe Hillary would really skip Iowa? Knowing what happened to Clark when he did in 04, and what happened to Kerry as a result of Iowa, rising from the ashes?

[Maryland Liberal]

11. If Bill couldn't win IOWA - Hillary doesnt stand a chance

Thats OK by me - I can vote for any DEM - EXCEPT Hillary - bottomline - her negatives are WAY too high to win the presidency.