Friday, February 15, 2008

HILLARY CLINTON

I Suspect 'Close Enough' Won't Actually Be Close Enough

David Weigel, sharp-eyed race watcher over at Reason, offers a variety of reasons for Team Hillary not wanting to make an all out push in Wisconsin: All-out efforts to get upset wins aren't their style; a lack of preparation and staff in that state; a sense that expectations are low enough that a four-or-five point loss will be seen as "close" and good enough for their purposes.

All good reasons. But her "wait until March 4, some states matter, some states don't" approach feels more like Rudy Giuliani's with each passing day. The lesson of 2008 is if you go into a state and fight for it, you have a shot (and at least a floor of support), but if you give off any sense of abandoning a state, your numbers plummet. (See Mitt Romney in Michigan, Fred Thompson everywhere but Iowa and South Carolina, Hillary in the caucus states, everybody but Romney in Nevada, Hillary in South Carolina...)

When you're losing, the only real cure is winning.

UPDATE: She's putting up two new ads in Wisconsin, arguing that Obama is ducking debates and running negative ads. It's the state of goo-goo kumbaya let's clean-up-government Russ Feingold, so maybe that message will resonate...

02/15 04:43 PMShare