Hillary Clinton suddenly vulnerable as bruises start to show

[DeepModem Mom]

NY Daily News: Hillary Clinton suddenly vulnerable as bruises start to show
BY MICHAEL McAULIFF
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Monday, November 12th 2007

DES MOINES - Where did Hillary Clinton's mojo go? That's what her campaign has to be asking after a rough two weeks. And more importantly, they have to be wondering how to recapture that fading aura of an unstoppable juggernaut. Top Clinton strategist Mark Penn doesn't own up to his candidate suffering a dip, but he admits it's been tougher of late. "The opponents went negative, and that created a new dynamic and a different set of headlines," Penn said.

The new dynamic emerged at the debate in Philadelphia two weeks ago, but didn't just spring from sharp criticism by her opponents. Clinton stumbled by offering fuzzy answers to some questions and refusing to take a stance on Gov. Spitzer's license plan for illegal immigrants. Then Camp Clinton's damage control backfired as she was pounded for suggesting the "boys" ganged up on her. And Bill Clinton brought more scorn when he said the attempt to get an answer out of his wife on licenses verged on John Kerry Swift Boat territory.

Now Penn and company plan to stick to the high road, talking about Clinton's strength, experience and vision for America, fund-raising at a torrid rate and deploying Bill Clinton more. They're also launching counterattacks, calling her opponents mudslingers. "I think it's sinking in to the electorate that people who had pledges to not attack Democrats were abandoning those pledges," Penn said.

Clinton remains way ahead in national polls, though some have shown a slip and a survey in early voting New Hampshire out yesterday showed a tightening race there. The focus for staving off any Clinton collapse, though, starts in Iowa, where the candidates wooed party faithful at the state Democrats' biggest event of the year over the weekend....

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/11/12/2007-11-12_hillary_clinton_suddenly_vulnerable_as_b-2.html

[rodeodance]

1. they MSM-lets talk bout the ISSUES-for all the candidates. This is crapola

[villager]

2. right -- this is more "horse race" coverage; nary an issue in sight...

n/t

[mtnsnake]

3. Edwards started slinging the mud & Hillary, out of party loyalty, tried to avoid doing it, but

to regain her momentum, I think we'll see her taking care of Preacher Boy in the very near future, thus showing the voters that she hasn't lost her moxie.

[dionysus]

12. one toke over the line sweet mtnsnake, one toke over the line...

standing downtown at the dlc station one toke over the linnnnneeeeeee....

[mtnsnake]

14. Argghhhhh!!!

@x!%!%X@##! :mad:

[dionysus]

15. :)

:wave:

[IndianaGreen]

21. It is not mud slinging when one is telling the truth about a candidate

Hillary is the candidate of the Democratic Establishment and the ruling class. She represents the investor class and the health industry, not the common folk.

[mtnsnake]

23. It most certainly IS mudslinging when 1 Dem candidate calls another an extension of Bush corruption

That might be the stuff of political posting boards, but it's not the type of stuff that should be happening among our candidates, especially when his charges are so out to lunch. It's the type of stuff that's going to backfire on Preacher Boy when he gets throttled in Iowa, much to his dismay and shock. I predict that Obama will benefit greatly from Edwards hostile negativity towards Clinton, which is obviously out of sheer desperation on his part because he knows that if he loses Iowa he is immediately sunk...with the way he's floundering so poorly in all the national polls.

[creeksneakers2]

25. A brief list of recent lies by Edwards.

1. Edwards says Hillary screens audiences and questions - lie

2. Edwards says Hillary never came up with a clarification for the drivers license question. Hillary came up with one the next day.

3. Edwards says Hillary voted for Kyl-Lieberman which authorized war with Iran. Kyl-Lieberman does no such thing and Condi Rice flat out stated Kyl-Lieberman is not an authorization for war.

4. Edwards says he's for an end to combat troops in Iraq but on the other hand admits he's for combat troops in Iraq.

[Colobo]

4. Gobama!

[Jim Sagle]

5. Let the empty pantsuit and the empty suit slice each other up.

Life is good if you're a REAL Democrat. :beer:

[Colobo]

7. Yeah- Edwards and Hillary will slice each other up

and Obama will win.

[Jim Sagle]

19. Not exactly what I meant.

;)

[msongs]

6. is this an editorial or pretending to be a news article? nt

[shenmue]

8. Yes. Somehow this type of vendetta masquerading as news has become acceptable today.

Notice how insulting they are on Clinton threads? They don't really do that to anyone else. People here hate her more than the Republicans hated Bill Clinton.

What the hell is that phrasing about "bruises starting to show"? What was the writer thinking?

And it's bullshit anyway--obviously the writer wants her to lose, because she is still ahead in the polls by a large margin. The people like her. Not people here, just actual people in the real world. We are in for an awful convention and a lot of disappointment on this site if we insist on sticking our noses up in the air, instead of giving the actual voters out there a candidate they support.

[DeepModem Mom]

22. I'm the OP, and I agree that the word "bruises" in the headline is reprehensible.

It's not, I don't think, in the body of the article. I post all kinds of articles here, about all the candidates, usually without comment -- as I've said before, I think it's useful for both supporters and detractors of the candidates, for all of us, to see what's out there in the press.

Thanks for your post. I like all our candidates, and would gladly vote for Senator Clinton, is she's the nominee.

[gateley]

9. I think all this crap - to a certain extent - is valid. It speaks to who the

person IS. I feel all our candidates would more or less do the "right thing" on most of the issues, but character and integrity are VERY important to me. I NEED someone I feel I can trust.

[mtnsnake]

11. If "character and integrity are VERY important" to you then don't look past Dennis Kucinich

Other good choices would be Obama or Hillary of course, both very honest and consistent, whether or not you agree with them. No one can top Kucinich, though, AFAIC

[gateley]

17. I agree wholeheartedly about Dennis. I feel the same way about Biden, though

and feel during this time we need his foreign policy expertise. I know that sounds trite and hackneyed, but I honestly believe that.

[mtnsnake]

18. Not hackneyed at all

Give me Joe Biden over John Edwards any day fo the week and twice on Sunday. It's amazing he doesn't do better in the polls because I think Biden has more charisma than any of them, along with his well known experience abroad.

[gateley]

20. OT - but did you see Amy Goodwin's interview with Kucinich regarding impeachment?

If not, take a look (it's posted here in the videos).

I think it should be mandatory viewing for every member of Congress and the Senate, and ideally, strongly suggested for all the American people.

[Froward69]

16. I agree totally, gateley

the only one of the candidates that is trust worthy is VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV Dennis Kucinich is nuts.

[AtomicKitten]

10. The Media Heathers will continue to stir up the sh*t storm de jour.

Consider it battle-readiness training for going to the show.

[Homer Wells]

13. This is an early reminder

that it is STILL a long way to November 2008.

I think a lot of the front runners in the Dem campaign are running the risk of peaking way too early. The way things go in politics, I would not be surprised to see folks like Kucinich and other present day underdogs gaining much more prominence.

Since it is almost 100% sure that Gore will not be the nominee, I think an Edwards-Kucinich ticket would be quite attractive, (with Gore as Secretary of the Interior, or in some such major environmental position)!

[Politicub]

24. I remember how "bruised" Bill Clinton was in 1991

and how we went on to trounce the incumbent to win the election.

We need a candidate who can give as well as take the heat, and I have every reason to believe Hillary is that candidate.

If you think the primary mud slinging is bad, you haven't seen anything yet once the GOP begins their attacks.

[beaconess]

26. She's no more or less vulnerable than she was three months ago . . .

the media created this framework - as they always do - setting her up as "inevitable" because that was an interesting story. When the "inevitable" story got played out, they now are running around screaming that she has gone from "inevitable" to "vulnerable."

Well, she was always "vulnerable" - as are all of the candidates. And she was NEVER "inevitable" - none of the candidates are.

This is just mainstream media spin, done to increase their ratings and, more important, make them appear to have something useful to add to the process.

[ecstatic]

27. If a meme is repeated enough times

It seems to become true.