MEET ME IN OHIO or Why Hillary Has Sealed Her Own Fate

K Gardner

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Sun Feb-24-08 12:06 AM
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MEET ME IN OHIO or Why Hillary Has Sealed Her Own Fate

Edited on Sun Feb-24-08 12:08 AM by K Gardner

We start with this:

No matter what happens in this contest, and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored. ” Clinton said in her closing, before reaching over to accept a handshake from him. “Whatever happens, we’re going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we’ll be able to say the same thing about the American people, and that’s what this election should be about.” The audience gave a standing ovation and applauded. Her spokesman said it showed her strength and compassion. Her husband said it showed off the real Hillary Clinton.

And go to this:

"Let's have a real campaign,” she said, her anger palpable. “Enough with the speeches and the big rallies... Shame on you Barack Obama... Meet me in Ohio. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign.”

As I commented in an earlier thread, this bad political theatre was one of two things, neither good for Hillary:

1) She truly lost control, resulting in a very undignified rant unbecoming the Future Leader of the Free World.

or

2) She didn't really come unglued, she was acting in political theatre, in which case she is a liar and disingenuous and willing to do anything including destroying the future Nominee and the Democratic Party to gain power.

Both numbers 1 and 2 are Fatal Blows to her already Failing Campaign.

So, let's say Penn and Wolfson panicked after her "conciliatory closing" in the debate. Even as Keith Olbermann and Richard Wolffe tried to interpret Hillary's closing, an email came in from Wolfson.

OLBERMANN: Well, interpret that, because obviously that’s the headline question before we go nuts and bolts on the individual answers, was there a message in there? Was there some sort of door being knocked on even if Hillary Clinton has gone from great favorite to long shot underdog, was she knocking on the door saying, you know what, we don’t have to be enemies, here, if you’re going to beat me, I’m not going to drag the ticket down, I’m not going to drag the Democrats down, I would be even willing to campaign for you, I might even be on your ticket? Is it too much to read all that into a simple handshake and a “we’ll be fine” answer at the end?

WOLFFE: We’re reading a lot into it, but I think it was striking.

Look, that was by far and away her best moment of the debate. It was the very last moment of the debate, so if she was really trying to deliver that message, she could have done it right at the very start.

And yeah, those first 45 minutes were very civil, but I think what you’re seeing playing out there is the split personality of the Clinton campaign, right now. Do they go civil, united the Democratic front, or are they trying to be aggressive and confrontational? And we’ve seen both sides of it. I don’t think that debate has been resolved inside the Clinton campaign.

OLBERMANN: Well, indeed it hasn’t. Just as we speak, an e-mail has gone out from the Clinton campaign. Let me ask you about this. This is from Howard Wolfson about that very last moment.

“What we saw in the final moments,” said Wolfson of the Clinton campaign, of course, “in that debate, is why Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States. Her strength, her life experience, her compassion, she’s tested and ready. It was the moment she retook the reins of this race and showed women and men why she is the best choice.”

I don’t know of anybody who would have seen that who would have thought of that in terms of a commanding moment other than Howard Wolfson. Does that suggest that when she got off that stage, somebody in her camp said: why did you do that? And was outraged, surprised, shocked, whatever term you’d want to use?

Let's not for one minute let Hillary seem human. Get her back out there, get her mad, make her fight, get her worked up, have her REALLY go after the man she was last seen paying tribute to.

So let's say, given the Changing Winds of the Clinton Campaign, Hillary has once again let herself be led down the wrong garden path by her advisors. Let's say people close to her, seeing the negative light in which she has been portrayed after this latest media fiasco, have prevailed upon her to show her lighter side; to back down a bit from the negative and harsh rhetoric that earned her a round of hearty "boos" in the debate. Go back to the Good Hillary. Unfortunately, there is nothing Hillary can do. The die has been cast and it might as well be set in stone. The Attack Machine, Angry Hillary, Scolding Hillary must show up at the debate on Tuesday night. She rounded up the press. She raised her voice and waved flyers in the air at them. In olden times, what she did would be tantamount to challenging her rival to a duel. It cannot be undone. If she doesn't follow through, she looks weak.

Obama was nonplussed. He remained calm and answered the charges with dignity. His campaign says they're looking forward to Tuesday.

"We look forward to having a debate this Tuesday on the facts.."

I'm sure they are. Hillary has telegraphed her intent to the world and shown her entire hand. She is obligated to play it, regardless.

Lose/lose for Hillary. Win/win for Obama.