Marc Ambinder reports on the odd situation inside Hillaryland. The campaign, prepared for a loss, was on the verge of an internal shake-up that, in the nature of things, various people wanted to see happen completely independently of the actual results in Iowa and New Hampshire. But in the wake of an unexpected win, not much shaking will actually happen which leaves some would-be shakers-uppers disappointed.
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In Hillaryland
09 Jan 2008 10:16 am
Comments (16)
it did not escape notice that Clinton, during her victory speech last night, repeatedly referred to the "invisible" working class, a concept that Mr. Penn had fleshed out at the campaign.
And Mark Penn knows the working class must exist, because they keep finding pieces of them in his stool.
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"In other words, the fact that this means Mark Penn will still be around is not great news for Hillary, objectively speaking."
I've been leading the bandwagon in calling Penn an idiot, but the last 4 days of the Clinton NH campaign was executed to perfection. They did some extremely clever things, and they executed very well.
Penn is an anti-progressive asshole, but he may not be as dumb as I'd suspected.
A long life of football addiction has taught me a few things. One of them is that the wonderful benefits of losing are always imaginary; the awful problems that come from winning, even more so.
RG
Petey:
Are you sure any of Hillary's win is attributable to Penn? Isn't it more likely due to Michael Whouley(sp?)?
NH delegates: Clinton 9, Obama 9 - a crushing loss for the Obama camp.
Well, if nothing else, it looks like Penn has cost Hillary the Nevada culinary union's endorsement. That's a painful blow.
"Are you sure any of Hillary's win is attributable to Penn? Isn't it more likely due to Michael Whouley"
Maybe Penn was already sidelined the last five days and not running the campaign. I don't know.
But the smart things I'm talking about occurred in plain sight, in front of audiences and TV cameras. That's not Whouley's department.
And Mark Penn knows the working class must exist, because they keep finding pieces of them in his stool.
So glad I finished my coffee. Nothing like a spit take on the company computer to draw attention to the fact that you're not actually working.
"Solis Doyle has always been fiercely protective of Sen. Clinton's political aspirations and her guidance and decisions as a Clinton political adviser helped ensure that Clinton's six years in the Senate turned out to be productive and a reflection of her experience. Without Solis Doyle's counsel, Clinton might not have sufficiently established an independent political identity. "
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Ha ha ha.
Now we know who's ghostwriting for Jay Leno during the strike.
Yup, I hope that there is a shake-up. I think that Penn needs to go. But you are right, it might not happen now.
Clinton doesn't have to toss Penn under her bus, any bus will do.
I think Penn is out by the weekend in attempt to show the "new" Clinton is not a one off.
I had this same thought...if she won not because she "found her voice" or because voters were moved by her moment of sincerity/emotion on Monday, but rather because of strong backlash to the misogynistic scavengers in the MSM tearing into the apparent corpse of Clintonism, then they're going to have a big problem.
Not only will they have the same campaign narrative issues that troubled them in Iowa, but they also could suffer if they try to repeat those emotional shows and it comes off as campaign artifice, re-enforcing the initial reservations about her.
However, Raul Groom does have a good point.
We shall see.
"they also could suffer if they try to repeat those emotional shows and it comes off as campaign artifice, re-enforcing the initial reservations about her."
Yup. Clinton Fatigue is their greatest enemy going forward.
Actually, if the Clinton camp was still convinced, going into the NH primary at the last minute, that they would lose, yet they won, shouldn't this be yet another data point against Penn?
That is, he's supposed to be her pollster -- projecting results accurately is supposed to be his job. He got it wrong in Iowa, and he apparently got it wrong in NH.
(The truth, of course, is that Penn isn't really a "pollster" -- he's a campaign strategist/consultant who uses "polling" to doll up his advice.)
Obama is Johan Santana. Hillary is Phil Niekro. Who would you rather have on the mound in a big game? It's a complete fucking puzzlement that she won. I just don't buy the "Tom Bradley factor" for Obama's defeat. If that played even a small part- I hope they have a Chernobyl up there in New Hampshire. It had to be the misty moment and the MSM gloating and now I'm sure she was playing misty.
Comments closed January 23, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
I was thinking last night that if this NH win was a fluke, as I suspect it is, it leaves the campaign with some long-term weaknesses, since the problems that hindered Clinton in Iowa are still there, and now the chance to rectify them has vanished.
In other words, the fact that this means Mark Penn will still be around is not great news for Hillary, objectively speaking.
Posted by lampwick | January 9, 2008 10:23 AM