The first cracks in the former first couples lust to once again secure power showed in February last year when former Clinton supporter and Hollywood big-wig David Geffen launched a full frontal assault on the Clinton's in a conversation with Maureen Dowd where he accused both Clintons of lying "with such ease, it’s troubling.”. Every word of his remarks stakes out the case against her and why she is not the agent for change she claims to be.
In Iowa we saw the Clinton magic begin to unravel. Her strategist Mark Penn (readers may recall he's the guy who kept repeating the Obama cocaine story) insisted that Hillary Clinton was electable because she was a woman and would capture even the votes of GOP women. But Obama beat Hillary in Iowa among women and swamped her when it came to younger voters.
Hillary might have won the over 60's crowd who may look back with fondness on the failed Clinton Administration. But that's not change.
Hillary Wounded Lame Duck in NH ABC Debate?
Hillary has been fighting back HARD! In the ABC NH Debate on Saturday, her campaign pointed to this video clip where she says: "Some believe you get change by demanding it. Some believe you get it by hoping for it. I believe you get it by working hard for change."
Later in a focus group of New Hampshire "undecided" voters, Frank Luntz polled the crowd. Overwhelmingly they indicated that Obama represented change. More troubling for Hillary may be the statement of the man 1:09 into the video. "She's doing the same old things that have been going on since her husband was President years ago."
Latest Batch of Post Iowa Polls in NH Spell Disaster for Hillary
Since Iowa, pollsters have gone into overdrive to publish new results in New Hampshire in advance of Tuesday's primary. The trend line is undeniable: Obama has bumped Hillary from the lead and has the momentum that is key to winning elections.
From Real Clear Politics:
American Res. Group
Obama-38
Clinton-26
Edwards-20
Concord Monitor
Obama-34
Clinton-33
Edwards-23
CNN/WMUR/UNH
Obama-33
Clinton-33
Edwards-20
Suffolk/WHDH
Obama-33
Clinton-35
Edwards-14
Zogby Tracking
Obama-30
Clinton-31
Edwards-20
Rasmussen
Obama-37
Clinton-27
Edwards-19
Mason-Dixon
Obama-33
Clinton-31
Edwards-17
It's now a two person race between Obama and Clinton and if Obama wins New Hampshire he's the front runner and will likely win South Carolina on January 26th (SC GOP votes on Jan. 19).
The big question is: when will Edwards be forced to withdraw and will his supporters go for Obama or Hillary? Bets are, they will head to Obama.
News Media Turning on Their Former Masters?
The "news" media has been fawning over Obama for months in the same way they used to fawn over Clinton. And it now appears that they are willing to toss their former masters onto the rubbish heap of history. Take for example this column by Karen Tumulty:
Clinton Machine Shaken by Setback
By KAREN TUMULTY
Time Magazine
Jan. 05, 2008
The scope of Barack Obama's victory in Iowa has shaken the Clinton machine down to its bolts. Donors are panicking. The campaign has been making a round of calls to reassure notoriously fickle "superdelegates" — elected officials and party regulars who are awarded convention spots by virtue of their titles and positions — who might be reconsidering their decisions to back the candidate who formerly looked like a sure winner. And internally, a round of recriminations is being aimed at her chief strategist, Mark Penn, as the representative of everything about her pseudo-incumbent campaign that has been too cautious, too arrogant, too conventional and too clueless as to how much the political landscape has shifted since the last Clinton reign. One adviser summed up the biggest challenge that faces the campaign in two words: "Fresh thinking."
Specifically, those inside the campaign and outside advisers fault Penn for failing to see the Iowa defeat coming. They say he was assuring Clinton and her allies right up until the caucuses that they would win it. Says one: "He did not predict in any way, shape or form the tidal wave we saw." In particular, he had assured them that Clinton's support among women would carry her through. Yet she managed to win only 30% of the women's vote, while 35% of them went for Obama.
A modest rise in Iowa turnout from traditional levels — say by about 20,000 or 30,000 — might have been easy to write off as merely the result of superior tactics on the part of the well-funded Obama operation. But the fact that voters flooded the caucuses, and that Obama swept just about every demographic group, speaks to something larger that is going on in the electorate, Clinton strategists now acknowledge.
...
If Clinton also loses New Hampshire to Obama, Penn's future with the campaign may well be in jeopardy, strategists say. But that may be wishful thinking on their part. For one thing, there is no obvious candidate to replace him. Hillary's advisers and Bill's have never gotten along — and she has been particularly suspicious of his team. "Who they both trust — that's a very small group," says one former Clinton aide. "She is going to be very, very resistant to all of the white boys coming back."
Reminder: The GOP Candidate Forum in New Hampshire is tonight. Live on Fox News and Live moderated discussion here. Log in before 8 PM and join the fun!
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