Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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Four Hoursemen: Hillary Endearing?
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Posted by:
Mary Katharine Ham at
12:29 PM
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Perhaps it's the long primary season affecting my judgment. Or, as polls suggest, maybe we're in that poignant moment of epic battle when eight of the hydra's heads are gone, and we're suddenly fleetingly sorry for the great beast laid low by its surprising foe.
After all, we've been hating on Hillary for a long time. She was a worthy adversary. Can she really be going out with a whimper? She's fighting a proxy war with the Savior of American Politics that we'll later have to fight on our own. You can't help but root for her.
So, it's with sadness that I admit I found her exchange with Ellen Degeneres yesterday endearing, even chuckle-worthy. Ellen asked if Hillary might be willing to ban glitter, in what amounts to a massive government overreach in arts and crafts, but let's lay that aside:
“Well, I have been asked so many difficult questions in my life. And, you know, some questions you can answer yes or no. But when it comes to glitter, what on earth would grade-school children do for their special projects? So maybe, maybe what we do is we ban glitter for anyone over… 12?” That worked for DeGeneres. “Good idea. That’s what I like about you. I like that you have solutions,” she said. DeGeneres then got serious for a moment, asking Clinton what she had to do to change the momentum in her race against Barack Obama. “Well, we’re going to win Ohio and Michigan,” Clinton said to screams and cheers – before rewinding on that one. “Ohio and Texas,” she corrected. “I already won Michigan.” DeGeneres asked if the contests were make-or-break for the New York senator’s presidential bid. “Ellen, I’d say it ranks way up there with banning glitter,” Clinton said.
She sounds comfortable and mildly amusing, and she's the beneficiary of Ellen's general geniality. Add that to the "change you can Xerox" line, and she's seems to be performing better, but not well enough to stave off desperation.
Her campaign managed to get Obama in a turban splashed on multiple front pages, so I guess maybe that was the secret weapon? Exceedingly weak.
The winds are not good for her going into tonight's Ohio debate, possibly because she mixes up Michigan and Ohio on the stump, as noted above:
But Clinton's favor in the eyes of the working class took a hit last week when the 1.4 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters endorsed Obama, who is also pushing a message of job creation and health-care reform. That followed endorsements from the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represent a combined 3.2 million workers.
Obama's campaign coupled the endorsements with an attack positioning Clinton as a supporter of trade policies many workers believe dealt a death blow to their jobs...
But a 21-point lead at mid-month has dropped to 9 points, with Clinton up 51 percent to 40 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday. Nine points is nothing to sneeze at, but the movement is a problem. Is it really over? Poll-watcher extraordinaire Jay Cost thinks it's too soon to assume she can't win:
I think it is hasty to say that Clinton lacks a "reasonable" chance to win the nomination. If she wins Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania - the race will hinge upon how each super delegate answers and values these questions. I'm not saying that I favor Clinton to win. At this point, I don't. She stands a chance if she wins the three big states that remain. He stands a chance regardless. This tips the scales in his favor. He also has an advantage due to the pledged delegates - the more of those you have, the fewer super delegates you need, the less pressure there is for you to argue a case. Nevertheless, Clinton still has a reasonable shot if she can win next week. I, too, and still hoping to live the dream-- sitting back with a bowl of popcorn to watch the Democrats fight over superdelegates for a couple months. Come on, Hillary!
Unfortunately, the five-pronged attack the camp is launching sounds pretty much like every strategy she's tried, combined into one desperate hodge-podge with no real focus. It worked for Gallagher, hon, but it ain't gonna work for you. Nonetheless, those attending the debate should come bearing raincoats and tarps.
And, take heart. Harold Ickes still thinks things are totally under control:
We're on the way to locking this nomination down," he said. You know whose fault all of this is? The Clinton News Network's. Heh:
Keep hope alive, Hill. Democratic voters decided once already they didn't want to end your bid, in New Hampshire. Just a few more days, and maybe a few more tears...
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