I’m Beginning to Wonder If Hillary Should Be the Nominee…

 

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s is running damage control after her debate performance Tuesday. Mark Penn, Clinton’s senior strategist and pollster, and Jonathan Mantz, the campaign’s finance director, told the supporters on the call, which The Hill listened to, that they expect attacks from Clinton’s rivals to continue, and she will need the financial resources to deflect those attacks.

All of this comes on the heels of a rather poor debate performance in Philadelphia. Supporters and analysts alike agreed that Clinton stumbled. Mantz and several supporters hinted repeatedly on the call that Clinton was unfairly targeted by Tim Russert, debate moderator and host of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” One supporter also voiced his concern that the Clinton campaign is not devoting enough money and staff to Iowa, lagging behind Obama, as well. 

Another supporter said Russert “should be shot.” 

Oh boy. That was headline waiting to be written in some conservative rag. 

In a memo from the Obama campaign, spokesman Bill Burton said Clinton “offered more of the same Washington political calculation and evasion that won’t bring the change America needs.” 

Burton wrote that Clinton dodged questions on Social Security, Iran and the National Archives issue. And on one of the more talked-about moments from the end of the debate, Clinton’s position on a move by New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) to grant driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, Burton said, “Twelve hours after the debate ended, the American people are still waiting for an answer on Sen. Clinton’s position … She didn’t answer the question in the debate and her campaign couldn’t answer it afterwards.”

My question is…what the hell is Hillary Clinton doing? Aren’t we living the Its-not-my-fault Presidency right now? Instead of withering under attacks and blaming other Democrats for piling on, shouldn’t she just come out swinging and stick to her position? Does she or her campaign really think that the Republicans will treat her any better if she gets elected? Please!

Personally, I’ve had enough of the excuses and blame game. It is for this reason that Hillary is going to actually turn the 2008 election into a horse race vs. the most pathetic Republican field in twenty years. She is playing right into the hands of conservative critics who wasted no time blasting her all over talk radio today. I counted about forty “Flip-Flop” comments from conservative knuckle heads (apparently they have a patent on he phrase), and a brutally cold analysis, at best, from liberals.

Why in the hell would anyone support Spitzer’s driver license program? Are you kidding me? New York State troopers were arresting illegal aliens at DMV locations throughout the state on the order of county clerks! Read a paper! It doesn’t take a genius to exercise a morsel of critical analysis on this one. I made up my mind 30 seconds after I read Spitzer’s proposal – conclusion…bad idea! By the way, 68% of New Yorkers are in my camp. Clinton is famous for following popular trends – why not follow this one! Just get up there last night and say, “After careful consideration, I have concluded that criminals shouldn’t get licenses, and I’d like to thank you for bringing this important issue up.” Enough said. She could have completely unarmed the opposition and looked graceful all at once. Maybe she would have had to shake off the flip-flop nonsense one more time, but she could live to fight another day without looking like a baby! This is what America is thinking. Is the Clinton campaign pandering to the left or just completely out of touch? I don’t get it. 

I’ve been saying it for months – Hillary Clinton is not a shoe in for 2008 and in my opinion, she is not living up to her reputation as a tough campaigner. What her campaign needs is a dose of intestinal fortitude. I don’t know if her campaign wonks are reading this, but if they are, I suggest you ladies and gentlemen re-think your approach.

WE DEMOCRATS NEED MORE CONSISTENT POSITIONING ON THE ISSUES AND SOME RESEMBLANCE OF A SPINE! YOU MAKE A PLATFORM DECISION, AND YOU STICK WITH IT! TAKE THE FLIP_FLOP SWORD AWAY FROM THE REPUBLICANS AND SAVE THE WAFFLING FOR BREAKFAST WITH JOHN KERRY!!! UNWAVERING LEADERSHIP WINS, TRUST ME!