Politalk

January 4

So now the voters of Iowa have spoken, and Hillary Clinton was not first, not second, but third. And the spinners in her camp are working overtime. Clinton chief strategist Mark Penn said "This had nothing to do with issues. When it comes to issues, we're seen as President."
Hmmm...seems to me the Clinton camp had to be reeling by the size of Barack Obama's win, and the record turnout. But they're too smart not to realize what's happening. That's why you saw all the blue signs around her at her postcaucus speech reading "Ready for Change."
If anyone has cornered that market, it would seem to be Obama. But the Clintonites are bright enough to now realize that Iowans (and I would suspect many others) are sick of the status quo...so they'll change tack and head in that direction, or try to. And watch for the Clinton campaign to go negative...as negative as they dare...on Obama. They know if they don't take him down a notch or two quickly, his snowball may turn into an avalanche.

January 8

As I write this, the polls are about 45 minutes from closing in New Hampshire. And to judge by the histrionics in the Clinton camp, the Senator from New York doesn't expect the tally to be favorable. First, after Iowa, as I predicted, she went negative on Obama, or tried to. Then she tried to retool her message from experience to change (which is Obama's). And finally, she came close to breaking down in tears. Not to mention her husband going off on the media today about not being tough enough on Obama. And just a few minutes ago, the wires reported that big shake-ups are coming in the Clinton camp...and that they might actually skip the next two primaries and concentrate on Super Tuesday. Wow...I confess I didn't see this kind of meltdown happening. I thought she would be steady as she goes, but apparently Iowa really rattled her. I'm sure she's praying the vote tonight will at least be close. If it's not, it may be difficult for her just to get to Super Tuesday.

Jan. 22

He joked about it when he first ran for President. With Hillary, Bill Clinton said, you get two for the price of one. Some people didn't like that much, but some 16 years later, we're still getting two for the price of one. Bill seems to be campaigning almost as hard as his wife, and receiving a good bit of press in doing it. His criticisms of her main challenger (Barak Obama) seem un-presidential to many (including me), but despite some party leaders telling him to cool it, he may find it impossible to keep quiet.
If nothing else, it raises the entirely legitimate question of what kind of role will the former president play if his wife does win the White House. Try as he might, it's hard to see Bill Clinton being satisfied to remain in the background.