Clinton sends her California campaign manager "Doctor Death" to help her win Texas

[Herman Munster]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/14/MNS1V2MN2.DTL&tsp=1

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, signaling the start of an aggressive drive in states she must win on March 4, has summoned the formidable political "closer" who led her 9-point Super Tuesday victory in California to run her Texas effort, sources said today.

Averell "Ace" Smith, the son of former San Francisco District Attorney Arlo Smith, is on the ground for Clinton as her Texas state campaign manager, sources confirmed.

Political insiders say the move is a signal that Team Clinton is heading into a new phase in the a state she must win given the momentum of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who this week surpassed Clinton to lead the race for delegates leading to the party nomination this summer.

Smith has shown an uncanny knack for identifying key demographic groups and delivering voters in his races in the nation's most populous state. In Texas, he will take on the challenge for Clinton in a state with key demographic parallels to California - a wide swath of critical Latino voters and working women.

"Baseball teams have the ace pitcher that they call their 'stopper,' " said California Democratic political consultant Dan Newman in reaction to the move of Smith. "Ace is Hillary's stopper.

"They need someone to sort through a complicated process and be targeted, and surgical, and get people out to vote - exactly as he did here," Newman said.

The bespectacled Smith is considered a take-no-prisoners political operative whose dogged studies into opponents' backgrounds earned him the reputation as one of the nation's most feared opposition researchers.

"I've seen him walk into a room and the opposition candidate will literally start mumbling," former Democratic strategist Clint Reilly once said of him. "They're just terrified with his presence."

Known as the "Doctor Death" of political opposition research, he has led winning campaigns in recent years for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

[Yael]

1. Don't they mean "lost her 20 point lead" even with 40% early voting?

[goldcanyonaz]

2. Thanks Herman for posting this.

:loveya:

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. if he's their closer, he must be like one of those Brad Lidge or Eric Gagne

closers, considering her Super Tuesday results were so mixed.

[ShortnFiery]

4. "Doctor Death" title smacks of a true class act.

:eyes:

[Bucky]

5. Bring him on, Senator Clinton!

As a Texas Obamista, I'm game for your best. The Texas Obama campaign has something that beat him--popular support.

Anyway, if really does a good job on voter turn out, maybe we'll give him a job in the fall.

[Straight Shooter]

6. I wish he had been with her from the start.

A lot of campaign ruthlessness is stopped in its tracks by "You say this about my candidate and I'll say this about yours."

Poppy Bush and Bill Clinton had a tacit agreement not to discuss their respective Jennifer and Gennifer bimbos. That's why a lot of people still believe Poppy and Babs have an ideal marriage based on love and trust and fidelity. Sorry if I've made anyone throw up in their mouth a little with that comment.

[loveangelc]

7. oh.

[cooolandrew]

8. Dr. Death, what a `charming little name. eeek. Peace and love Hillary ain't that our side.

[PresidentObama]

9. Dr. Death? Is he going to help kill Obama's momentum in it's tracks.

:evilgrin:

[Alexander]

10. So if Obama still wins, does this put the "Obama can't win the GE" meme to rest?

If Obama succeeds against a guy called "Doctor Death", I think he'll do fine against McCain.

[RiverStone]

11. I say the people are smarter than any poltical operative...

And will give Obama the presidency with a win in TX!

[calteacherguy]

12. This won't help. Texas is much different than California.

Putting aside the fact that "Dr. Death" (images of Darth Vader here) couldn't prevent Clinton from only winning California by single digits after blowing a 25 point lead, despite his best efforts to game the system:

Critical in that win, insiders said, was Smith's plan to mount an unprecedented effort tracking - and diligently calling - absentee voters in all 58 counties of California from the very first day of early voting on Jan. 7 to the day of the primary.

Smith installed campaign managers in every county, who studiously tabulated the names of voters who had cast their ballots by mail - and then undertook the time-consuming effort of calling virtually all of the unreturned ballot-holders before the Super Tuesday primary.

From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the night of the election, the campaign made more than an estimated one million calls - many of them on the cell phones of campaign volunteers - to California voters to make sure they went to the polls for Clinton.

The sad fact for Camp Clinton is Texas is no California:

But Texas - where an estimated 2.2 million voters are expected to cast ballots by March 4 - will pose some unusual challenges that will be entirely new to Smith, known for his bare-knuckle brand of politics.

The state has an odd hybrid system that combines traditional voting and caucuses. And unlike California, there's no widespread absentee voting. In addition, voters don't register for a political party and can cast ballots in either the Democratic or Republican primary.

Texas voting is unusual in another way: Polls are open for early voting from Feb. 19 until three days before the election. That's followed by the traditional March 4 election day voting, followed by statewide caucuses after the polls close at 7 p.m. But according to election rules, voters are not allowed to participate in the caucuses unless they've gone to the polls.

Every single Republican in Texas who can't stand Clinton and/or supports Obama will vote. Additionally, there will be caucus participation. Furthermore, Obama volunteers are heavily engaged in winning Texas. Right here in the S.F. Bay area, dozens of volunteers at one office will be making phone calls for 11-hours (yes, 11 hours) on Saturday.

I sort of feel like it's Darth Vader vs. the Rebellion.

The Death Star is scheduled to blow on 3/4.