Hillary Responds To The Loss, Badly
It didn't take Hillary long to re-message the campaign in the wake of her stunning third-place loss to Barack Obama and John Edwards in Iowa. Instead of insisting on change, a theme more amenable to her opponent, Hillary will instead work on the inexperience of her opponents -- and use a tack that Democrats often claim Republicans use against them. It's all about the risk:
A Clinton supporter forwards the talking points the campaign dispatched to surrogates around the country, which focus on process -- that the race is a "marathon" and that she started behind in Iowa -- and include just one line of substance, a clear signal that the card she has left to play is the one she rolled out in recent weeks: Security and risk."We’re going to continue to make the case that in these serious times when America faces big challenges, it will take a leader with Hillary’s strength and experience to deliver real change," the talking points say.
At least this has the virtue of truth. These are serious times, and it takes a serious leader to address them -- preferably one with a proven track record of public service and executive experience. Fortunately for Hillary, this doesn't describe Barack Obama or John Edwards. Unfortunately, it doesn't describe Hillary Clinton, either.
She has certainly tried to sell herself as a mover in the Clinton administration, realizing that seven years in the Senate only gives her one more year in public office than Edwards and three less than Obama. Hillary attempted to cast herself as someone who got tapped whenever it got too dangerous for the President to handle a situation abroad. The only example she gave of this supposed policy was a trip in which she accompanied the comedian Sinbad, singer Sheryl Crow, and her own 15-year-old daughter to a USO show in Tuzla. If nothing else, it shows that the Clinton impulse for hyperbole, exaggeration, and flat-out untruth didn't just come from Bill.
The irony of the once-leading Democrat using "security and risk" is just a little too delicious for those of us who listened to endless complaints about the divisiveness of Karl Rove. When the Bush campaign rightly focused on the threat from terrorism in 2004, Democrats complained about the "politics of fear". Rudy created an ad last week that allowed him to talk about the response of Americans to the 9/11 attack -- and not his own response -- and people began shrieking that Giuliani had exploited 9/11. Hillary's focus on this will probably not even garner a hint of criticism from these usual suspects.
Hillary is about to find out a basic truth of politics and romance: desperation is not an aphrodisiac.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on January 4, 2008 4:04 AM | Comments () | TrackBacks (3)
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