Clinton could turn toxic as options dry up (Memo: Hillary To Go Nuclear Against Obama)

Times UK ^ | 2/20/08

[Mr. Brightside]

February 20, 2008

Analysis: Clinton could turn toxic as options dry up

The Wisconsin defeat for Hillary Clinton means that she has to win big on March 4 - and may campaign more negatively

A few months back, as Barack Obama’s campaign was just beginning to look like it might seriously challenge Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions, a senior Obama campaign official sent a warning to his staff.

It was a succinct message designed to forewarn and forearm his people against what was expected to be a ferocious onslaught from an increasingly desperate Clinton campaign.

“Better get your hazmat suits on”, the memo told them

Mrs Clinton is running out of options. There’s a growing sense that she may now choose to go aggressively negative. She is under pressure from some in her campaign to step up the attacks on Mr Obama, especially over his inexperience.

The Clinton campaign may need to reach deeper into the negative campaigning armoury if they are to have any chance. They will doubtless be looking at Mr Obama’s remarkably low negative ratings in polls and wondering how they can push them up.

Until now the danger has been that negative attacks could backfire. That is a risk that will probably now have to be taken, even if it damages the Democratic party as a whole. The Clintons have only a matter of days to save their lifelong aspirations. They will not give them up without a fight.

[meatloaf]

The Clintons have a very real problem. Any attack on Obama risks offending the Black community and jeopardizing future support for the Democrats. The Clintons aren’t dumb just arrogant beyond belief. Desparation could win out against common sense. If the Clintons turn the campaign into a free fire zone the last man standing will be McCain.

Many Democrats may be pissed enough to opt out of voting in November.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He could work on her plantation...

[Just mythoughts]

Similar numbers were evident, and the same things said, when Dukakis won the nod in '88. Repubs don't turn out in the primaries as big as the Dems do...........

Hmmmm.... we have two Dukaki and one youthful, I got a dream and years of diversity education behind US.

[Red Badger]

It’s a loooong way to November...............

[Miss Behave]

Her money has dried up too, again.

Last night she felt the need to mention something about a woman sending her $10 here, and a "cranky conservative man" sending her a few dollars there. She may as well have had a flashing neon sign on her podium blaring "SEND CASH NOW."

And she just wasted big bucks on that incredibly stupid "night-shift" commercial that will get laughed off the airwaves and parodied on YouTube.

I think she's had to quietly "borrow" millions more "from herself" these last couple of weeks. But now she's in the hole again...without a peep about anything additional being borrowed these last two weeks. Now what will she say about that cash, in light of now needing even more?

Hillary: OPEN YOUR BOOKS.

She is sunk. Her cash swamp is dry.

[AmericaUnited]

I’m betting that the Clinton Crime Family gets the nomination by hook or crook, causing a nuclear meltdown among the denizens of RATville.

[Just mythoughts]

Do not be fooled by the numbers. According to that logic Obama would win Virginia, which is not going to happen. The discrepancey in voters is the result of Republicans crossing over to vote against Clinton because McCain has basically been the nonimee for weeks.

Even before McCain became the nominee which state had more Republicans voting than Democrats... (including those liberal independents that gave McCain his title) To date more liberals have turned out to vote than have Republicans.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

I know!

A commercial:

A little girl is picking daisies.

Behind her a loud noise and she jerks up with a gasp.

Then the image of a mushroom cloud.

Then a voice over: With a nuclear Iran on the horizon, would you trust someone with inexperience to keep you safe?

That should win the election right then and there for Hillary! Right?

[Wallace T.]

The wave of Obama triumphs has gone beyond the point that the Clintons would try dirty tricks like the superdelegates or outright bribery to steal the nomination. The Democratic base would be even more alienated than the Republicans are against McCain. Sex and drug scandals will not work, given the scandals around the Clintons. Furthermore, America is more morally degenerate than it was in 1964, when Nelson Rockefeller's divorce sank his Presidential chances, or even 1988, when Gary Hart's extramarital dalliance ended his race. A large portion, even a majority, of Americans, apparently care little about the allegations that Obama used drugs and engaged in sodomy. Even assassination would not work. If the Clintons' operatives were to set up some nit-witted white supremacist to kill Obama, many of Obama's supporters would blame the Clintons, even if the assassin were to rant about conspiracy theories and white superiority. Airplane crashes and other "accidents" would also be too transparent.

The Democratic base is coalescing around Obama to a greater extent than the Republican base is around McCain. Hispanics, women, and blue collar whites are beginning to shift to Obama. OTOH, the Wisconsin and Washington primaries show McCain winning 55% and 49% of the vote, respectively, against a nearly broke and hopeless Mike Huckabee, a man who withdrew two weeks ago (Romney), and a de facto dropout from the race (Ron Paul). Any extralegal or illegal activity by the Clintons to eliminate Obama would lead to a Democratic disaster in November. The Democrats, both the rank and file and the elite, will revolt en masse.

[OB1kNOb]

One cannot underestimate the depths to which evil will stoop so that power may be won.

[Dead Dog]

GAME ON! Grab your popcorn!

[SamAdams76]

There is really no "legitimate" option left for the Clintons to pull this nomination off. It might still look close in the delegate count but that is due to the proportional assignment of delegates that the Democrats use, where even in states where the Clintons are blown out by Obama, they still pick up a healthy share of delegates.

Consider Wisconsin last night. 92 delegates up for grabs and even though Obama won by 17 points (a landslide by any definition), he will only "net" about 10 delegates from Wisconsin.

Of course, this works both ways. Even if the Clintons were to win in Texas, Ohio and PA, their margin of victory would have to be about 40 points in each state to pull even with Obama. So if the Clintons win each of those states by 5-10 points, they are still going to be behind in the delegate count.

So barring a total collapse by the Obama campaign, he is going to head into the convention with a lead (most likely a healthy lead) in pledged delegates.

Now everybody talks about the Clintons pulling a coup in the convention with the superdelegates. I just don't see that happening. Long before the convention, the superdelegates will get behind who they perceive as the "winner" and barring some ridiculous set of events, that can only be Obama.

[Paradox]

That would be great, because if she was, by some miracle, able to pull off the nomination, she would be tainted beyond belief.

Having said that, I dont think ANYTHING can stop Obama. All the Clinton haters here may get a Pyrrhic victory out of the whole thing.

[Crimson Elephant]

I have to say, I thought the Clintons would have something on Obama up their sleeve to dump in the media by now.

The problem HRC has is that the attacks that will work on Obama won’t help HER...they will help McCain. She can’t really go negative on Obama’s liberalism, socialism etc etc for obvious reasons.

They have 2 weeks to do some covert war ops in Texas, Ohio and PA to bring up the cocaine tryst rumors, that may be all they have left. It would have to be underground and even that would be risky.

[Neverforget01]

What's wrong with these stupid people like Dick Morris telling Texas Pubbies to cross over and vote for Obama on March 4?

Dick Morris has an obsessive hatred of Hillary Clinton. I honestly believe he wants Obama since he's a Democrat at heart. If you watch him being interviewed he will only speak of defeating Hillary...he doesn't really care who wins after she's gone.

[The Painter]

i still picture the witch throwing fireballs at the scarecrow

[snowrip]

Please add me to any ping list you have re: the trial of Her Thighness.

[Little Ray]

Only after it is executed...

[MrB]

I just heard the funniest thing on the radio, actually laughed out loud as opposed to just typing LOL...

They played a portion of a hilldog speech with the “Mars Attacks” “Ack Ack Ack” going on in the background.

[Centurion2000]

I honestly hope she gives an Arkancide order and it gets recorded and turned over to the MSM.

It probably will be .... right after they get him ...