The Hillary Deathwatch

[LadyMod at scam.com]

I thought this article amusing. I don't have a particular reason why, I just did.


The Hillary Deathwatch (http://www.slate.com/id/2189567/)

Despite a flurry of attacks, Clinton holds steady in Pennsylvania.
By Christopher Beam

The Hillary Deathwatch is now a widget. Add it (http://www.slate.com/id/2188300/)to your Facebook page or blog.

Despite a flurry of negative ads from both sides, Hillary Clinton's Pennsylvania lead holds steady. So with no clear ups or downs, we're putting her chances of winning the nomination at 9.9 percent.

http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/2162247/2180585/2187885/080418_DW_9-9.jpg

If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. Both Clinton and Barack Obama chucked that philosophy out the window long ago, but this weekend marked the nastiness apex, as Clinton aired an attack ad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qep2x2QcJbQ) responding to an attack ad (http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1511781526) by Obama responding to an attack ad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KQ7f4lwpbA) by Clinton. (Followed by Clinton's "closing argument" ad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDap46WOCmA).) The ads mostly rehashed old battles over lobbyist money and health care but with renewed vigor. Neither candidate comes out on top, but the mudslinging hurts Obama more since it undermines (http://www.slate.com/id/2189486/) his entire "new politics" message. He claims Clinton's attacks have forced him to throw elbows, but in our experience, "she hit me first" stopped being a valid excuse after second grade.

Obama made yet another "gaffe" over the weekend when he said that "either Democrat would be better than John McCain, and all three of us would be better than George Bush." Not quite on message—Obama's campaign has been painting McCain as Bush 3.0—but hardly a devastating blunder. Obama can always point out that "better than Bush" isn't much of a compliment. Also, recall that Clinton said McCain had passed (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/06/clinton-mccain-and-i-hav_n_90310.html) "the commander in chief threshold" whereas Obama had not.

On the superdelegate front, Obama is still closing the gap but slower than before. Today he picks up (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/An_Ohio_super_for_Obama.html) Ohio DNC member Enid Goubeaux. But Clinton racked up three more supers (http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/18/three-more-superdelegates-for-hillary/) at the end of last week—Ohio Rep. Betty Sutton and two New Jersey ex-governors. That gives Clinton 262 to Obama's 237. Supers are now watching to see what happens in Pennsylvania.

So what will happen? All of the most recent polls (http://www.pollster.com/08-PA-Dem-Pres-Primary.php) except one show Clinton with a six-to-10 point lead over Obama—roughly the same as Clinton's lead over the past few weeks. The outlier, a PPP poll, puts Obama three points ahead. But it's possible these polls understate Obama's support, given the massive numbers of newly registered Democrats. (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9735.html) (About 217,000 new voters, largely Democrats, have registered since January. More than 178,000 voters have switched their party affiliation, overwhelmingly in favor of Dems.) It's hard to say if that will be enough for Obama to cut into Clinton's margin in any significant way. But that, as they say, is why they play the game.

In endorsement news, Obama wins the blessing of the Salmon Lady. The Financial Times may not be the chosen paper of Pennsylvania's white working class, but the timing is still good for Obama, who will take all the help he can get.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Clinton needs to win by about 10 points in Pennsylvania in order to stay in the race. Her campaign puts the number around one point. What this means, of course, is that Clinton will win by eight points—just high enough for her to stick around, just low enough for Obama supporters to claim she's done. You heard it here first!

For a full list of our Deathwatches, click here. (http://www.slate.com/id/2162248/landing/1/) For a primer on Hillary's sinking ship, visit our first Deathwatch entry (http://www.slate.com/id/2187558/). Send your own prognostications to hillarydeathwatch@gmail.com.



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[LadyMod at scam.com]

New finance reports show Clinton campaign lacking funds (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/21/hillaryclinton.barackobama)

Hillary Clinton's campaign began the month of April virtually broke, owing more money than it had in the bank, it emerged yesterday.

Federal campaign finance reports show her rival Barack Obama's campaign remains flush with cash even as he outspent Clinton by nearly a third in March.

The divergent financial reports, came as relations between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama reached a new low at the weekend with a series of increasingly destructive exchanges and "attack" ads ahead of tomorrow's Pennsylvania primary, the last big contest of the Democratic party's 15-month presidential nomination campaign.

The two camps now routinely swap personal criticism to a degree rarely seen when the battle for Pennsylvania began seven weeks ago.

Obama, abandoning his stance as a candidate standing above the fray, claimed that Clinton had adopted a "slash and burn" strategy in the knowledge that she was no longer able to win.

A retired general and Obama supporter, Walter Stewart, told reporters that, because of Clinton's lie about being under sniper fire during a visit to Bosnia, she would lack the "moral authority" as president to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communications chief, described it as the "most outrageous attack of the campaign". The Obama campaign distanced itself from the remark.

As the race enters the final hours before polls open in Pennsylvania, the Clinton camp finds itself in perilous financial condition.

According to a report filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission, at the end of March the campaign owed $10.3m but had only $9.3m available to spend on the primary election. The campaign owes $4.6m to Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, a polling firm of which Clinton strategist Mark Penn is a principal figure.

Penn, a long-time Clinton aide and once a chief strategic hand for her presidential campaign, faced a demotion earlier this month after it emerged that he had met with Colombian officials on a controversial trade agreement, even as Clinton opposes the deal.

The campaign reported raising $20.2m, including $720,000 for the general election and spending $22.4 million in March. In the election cycle to date, the Clinton campaign has raised $175.7m, including $22.4m for the general election, and spent $163m.

Obama at the end of March had $42m in the bank for the primary election. His campaign in March raised $41m, including $888,000 for the general election, and spent $30.6m. For the 2008 election, he has raised $240.2m, including $9.12m for the general election, and spent $189.1m.

The latest opinion poll, published yesterday by the McClatchy newspaper group, put Clinton on 48% to Obama's 43%, with 8% undecided. She needs to win by a margin of 10% or more to head off calls to quit the race.

Geoff Garin, the head of the Clinton campaign team, told NBC's Meet the Press yesterday that she intended to stay in the race after Pennsylvania. Resisting pressure from Democratic leaders to end the contest, Garin said: "There is no need to make a rush judgment."

The next contests after Pennsylvania are on May 6 in North Carolina, which Obama is expected to win easily, and Indiana, which polls suggest is too close to call.

David Axelrod, Obama's campaign strategist, acknowledged that Clinton had a right to remain in the race, even though her defeat was inevitable. But he denounced her "kitchen-sink" strategy of throwing everything at Obama, which could damage the party's chances in November against the Republicans.

Obama, who will have spent $9.3m on television advertising in Pennsylvania, a record for a primary, put out two fresh ads at the weekend, one attacking Clinton's healthcare policy. Bill Clinton, also on the campaign trail, described the ad as "bull", while the Clinton-supporting governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, said ad spending by Obama was "almost obscene".

The Obama camp also latched on to derogatory and apparently inaccurate remarks by Clinton about MoveOn, an influential group of anti-Iraq war activists.

The Huffington Post website played comments she made at a private fundraising dinner in February at which she said: "MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. That's what we're dealing with. You know they turn out in great numbers ... they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who show up to support me."

Eli Pariser, MoveOn's executive director of the group, said the group had never opposed the war in Afghanistan.

Obama, in a piece of old-style political theatre, took a special train across the state, stopping off along the way to address crowds. At a late-night rally in Harrisburg on Saturday, he told 8,000 people on the steps of the state capitol building that Clinton had taken more money from lobbyists than any Democrat or Republican, whereas he had not taken any. This would mean a continuation of the same old Washington politics if she became president, he said.

Clinton, speaking to a crowd in Wynnewood on Saturday, took a dig at his rhetorical style. "I don't want to just show up and give one of those whoop-dee-do speeches and get everybody whipped up. I want everyone thinking," she said.


.................................................. ...............

Alrighty then. I'm "thinking" I still don't want to see Hillary as President. So "Mission Accomplished" Hillary.


:lmao2:

[bigfootzx]

LOL, I say let her continue till August........the money she spends creates commerce. She can't win, she's made more mistakes than Obama. The people do not want a Clinton Dynasty. The current dynasty ain't going to well.

I don't understand how the Hillary feels that " McCain had passed "the commander in chief threshold" whereas Obama had not. Her people love to throw out such comments that have little or no meaning and no value to her campaign.

Hillary opened the door to more scrutiny on herself as if being First Lady makes her WhiteHouse material, yet as First Lady she repeatedly made claims that she had no influence in her husbands politics and she also claimed she was not present in cabinet level meetings. So what experience did she get that Trumps Obama? None if she was telling the truth back then. If she had influence and sat in on cabinet level meetings and lied about it, then why should we elect such a chronic liar? If somehow Hillary wins the primaries, I'll be voting for McCain!!

[LadyMod at scam.com]

LOL, I say let her continue till August........the money she spends creates commerce. She can't win, she's made more mistakes than Obama. The people do not want a Clinton Dynasty. The current dynasty ain't going to well.

OH, oh, oh, oh, oh! She could spend her TAX REBATE!

I don't understand how the Hillary feels that " McCain had passed "the commander in chief threshold" whereas Obama had not. Her people love to throw out such comments that have little or no meaning and no value to her campaign.

She's looking for a possible VP position if she doesn't win the nomination. She will switch party's in a New York minute. (pun intended)


Hillary opened the door to more scrutiny on herself as if being First Lady makes her WhiteHouse material, yet as First Lady she repeatedly made claims that she had no influence in her husbands politics and she also claimed she was not present in cabinet level meetings. So what experience did she get that Trumps Obama? None if she was telling the truth back then. If she had influence and sat in on cabinet level meetings and lied about it, then why should we elect such a chronic liar? If somehow Hillary wins the primaries, I'll be voting for McCain!!


Oh come on! According to Hillary she is damned good at dodging sniper bullets.


:D

[bigfootzx]

OH, oh, oh, oh, oh! She could spend her TAX REBATE!



She's looking for a possible VP position if she doesn't win the nomination. She will switch party's in a New York minute. (pun intended)





Oh come on! According to Hillary she is damned good at dodging sniper bullets.


:D

LOL :lmao2: Snipers!!

Hillary as the Veep, Obama better double his secet service detail, Hillary knows a few good men. Bang bang! Then we get President Hillary and Veep Pelosi:banghead: