Heilemann, Like Noonan, Suggests That Clinton Camp May Be Fracturing

On today's Meet The Press, Peggy Noonan got ears burning when she suggested that there was some matter of dissension in the ranks of the Clinton campaign, saying that Clinton is "surrounded by people who would adore the chance to be for Obama." She added, mysteriously, "One of her top aides, who kind of privately makes it clear that he knows that he himself is an insurgent character and that it would be wonderful to be a part of Obama's insurgency but that he is backing Ms. Clinton."

Noonan otherwise made her animus for the Clinton's fairly readily apparent, which was just one of the factors that made me think she was worth dismissing. Others included the fact that last week, Clinton's surrogates weren't working the Reverend Wright angle particularly hard - Charles Schumer and Nita Lowey both backed off of hammering Obama on his association with Wright. Additionally, Clinton's position in the race for the nomination - while obviously hampered by the math - is nevertheless very strong where perceptions are concerned: she's had a pretty good couple of weeks (outside of perhaps the whole Bosnia matter) and is well-poised for a win in Pennsylvania, which is sure to give her some momentum. Additionally, and perhaps critically, the superdelegate flood to Obama has, in the past fortnight, subsided.

On Chris Matthews' show, panelists Norah O'Donnell, Clarence Page, and Elisabeth Bumiller all basically agreed that Clinton was nowhere near the point where she'd be thinking about leaving the race. But there was one outlier: New York Magazine's John Heilemann, who echoed some of the things Noonan would say on Meet The Press:

HEILEMANN: I think that one thing that's happening internally is that some of her top people are starting to say to her, "We won't stick with you. We won't keep working for this campaign if it's going to destroy Barack Obama." She's starting to hear that from her people and she's starting to kind of see it.

MATTHEWS: How do you know that?

HEILEMANN: [archly] How do I know that? Reporting.

The one thing I'd caution is that if you look back, rumors of internal dissension seems to always precede Clinton's momentum-swinging victories. Everyone was supposed to be getting fired in New Hampshire, but Clinton's win forced the press to table their obituaries. And the week before her Ohio win was fraught with Mark Penn-bashing from within the campaign.

Comments

[geobushono]

09:06 AM on 03/24/2008

peggy noonan...................when i read that name i move on.....definitely not on my team.

[LongTom]

08:49 AM on 03/24/2008

"she's had a pretty good couple of weeks (outside of perhaps the whole Bosnia matter) "

Am I crazy, or does being revealed as a serial bullshit artist rate a little more than just a parenthetical note? Hillary's whole campaign is as fraudulent as her absurd lies about the "danger" she faced in Bosnia. GTFO!

[Seafarer61]

07:23 AM on 03/24/2008

Is this the same woman who pronounced him Bearrick on Meet the Press yesterday? LOL

[Hufffan]

08:00 AM on 03/24/2008

Seafarer61....I Know! "Bearrick"??? WTF?? Peggy Noonan gives me "creepy crawlies".

[boundjymind]

05:25 AM on 03/24/2008

is it true? Last Friday, I google search his name and find out he has a profile on a dating site called herpesmates.com, it is a large site for std people to make friends, find support and even love.

[ruscle]

03:40 AM on 03/24/2008

Just a thought. After reading many of the entries on here, I wonder how many are changing people's minds? And how many are just creating hard feelings?

[StillAmused]

03:16 AM on 03/24/2008

Mmmmyeah... after all these years of relative sanity and modest accomplishment, I think now I'll start taking my cues from a real savant -- the oily and obsequious Peggy Noonan, aging Republican flower-girl and right-wing apologist-laureate.

If the camera zooms in really tight, you can actually see the skin of the other guests crawling in a desperate search for relief from the irritation.

[missionimpossible]

01:52 AM on 03/24/2008

The real story about Bosnia is when Hillary said she parachuted in Bosnia amid a hail of bullets and mortar fire, gave a little girl a flower boquet, and then along with Cheryl Crow, and Sinbad, ran through brushfires and wilderness to an open space where an Apache Helicopter was waiting for her.

According to her new account, she saved an entire battlion of Marines from certain doom, and Sinbad and Cheryl tagged along feebly watching her heroics. Talk about Wonder Woman!

Then if you believe that, I have some beachfront property along the El Paso border just for you.

Si se puede! Obama/Richardson 08

[ruscle]

03:43 AM on 03/24/2008

I heard that same story. Only didn't she have flesh eating zombies after her and the group she was shepherding. They had to avoid the zombies, make it through post apocalyptic London and save the little boy that has the antibodies in his blood for the zombie disease?

That was her, right?

I knew I liked her for some reason. But I'm still sure Senator Obama is a better choice to lead our country at this time.

[Hufffan]

07:54 AM on 03/24/2008

I am impressed that Hillary never mentions how she inspired that scene in "Forrest Gump" where she carries her wounded buddy out just before a napalm drop. She later goes on to open the "Bubba Gump" shrimp Biz. I find her to be very humble.

[basta]

01:32 AM on 03/24/2008

Oh yea, I'd love to see a mass of people deserting the Hillary life raft.

[traveler501]

01:25 AM on 03/24/2008

funny how both of these Clinton doomsayers are Republicans. also funny that the story will reverse again come the Pennsylvania primary. I thought blogs were supposed to be better than the MSM. I just see more of the same.

[traveler501]

01:24 AM on 03/24/2008

the story title/caption is misleading...it suggests that the Clinton camp fracturing is legitimate...the story suggests just the opposite. did you guys read it first? LOL

[mvpeach10]

01:16 AM on 03/24/2008

The majority of posts on this site are nothing more than vile rants against Hillary Clinton. The hatred and mean-spirited comments are reflective of the kind of people Obama attracts. That alone is reason why he should never be President. And he won't be. If he manages to get this nomination, the Democrats will not only lose the White House, but many super delegates who are looking for coattails won't have them. This rush to get him nominated is evidence of the fear that he is really plummeting in the polls. He will never be able to attract enough white votes now that the truth is out about him. And the caucuses were nothing more than a bunch of thugs bussed in to intimidate the Hillary supporters. States not used to caucuses did a horrible job with them. The results are skewed because of the outshouting and shoving by Obama supporters who didn't even allow Hillary people into the rooms to vote. Wake Up. You're traveling on the Titanic.

[Ginko]

01:34 AM on 03/24/2008

Caucuses are undemocratic.
If Obama is so on the people's side, why is he not fighting for the voters in FL and MI?
I'll tell you why. Because he knows he'd loose in a landslide if their votes counted.
He could care less that nearly 3 million voters are being disenfranchised.
Even if they don't get to vote, at least he could say he fought along with them to get their vote. Instead, he is standing in the way.
Yet another red flag all you first time Presidential election voters. IF he is so for change, why isn't he trying to change the fact that two of the largest states in the union are being denied their vote?

[TFR]

02:23 AM on 03/24/2008

Florida and Michigan brought this situation on themselves by breaking DNC rules to which they had previously agreed. Break the rules, accept the consequences. Whatever happened to taking responsibility for one's actions?

Obama has said he will abide by the DNC's decision regarding these delegates. Clinton is the one trying to change the rules after the game has begun. Furthermore, I find it somewhat disingenuous that she didn't care about disenfranchising those voters when she didn't think she was going to need them.

[Wildcatdiva]

02:35 AM on 03/24/2008

You really should go hide somewhere. You don't know your history whatsoever and what makes it so bad, a few posters here shares the knowledge. I know the encyclopedia and libraries are out these days but try to Google a bit before you make asinine statements. I usually don’t giva how stupid posters are (as a matter of fact it makes my day to read the abundance of crud here) but some repeat dumbasses infuriate my sensibilities at times. Thank you...Thank you very much!

[carex]

01:35 AM on 03/24/2008

Wow Peachy....wake up. Vile rants are not necessary when Clinton lies about experience, Bosnia (bullets flying, even though she took her 16 year old daughter with her), and the famous statements about how qualified the presumptive Republican nominee is, as opposed to her Democratic opponent. Won't even get into Bills' rants, lies, etc.

You should look at this like a business. Obama is raising phenomenal amounts of cash, his events are overflowing, with many new voters to the Democratic Party, young and old. There is no "rush", people have voted, though you might want to keep an eye on Ohio and Texas where old Rush had
Republicans register to vote for Hillary, because SHE is easily defeated in the general. Stay tuned, Justice Department is investigating.

You really should exit Bigot Land.

PS. Super Delegates don't need coattails(by the way, the term "coattails" refers to a second term president who has actually done a gone job and therefore is able to credit other officeholders in his party with aiding the good efforts, therby boosting their visability and perception as effective in their positions). After how the Republicans have totally screwed this country,
even righty Bill King has come out to say Bush has ruined the Republican "Brand", Dems will do just fine with mere common sense campaigns.

[nellie]

01:12 AM on 03/24/2008

I hope Heilemann is right about dissension within the Clinton ranks. I'd like to think there are principled people influencing the Clinton campaign strategy. Attacks on Obama may nudge Hillary closer to the Democratic nomination, but they won't help her win the general. Her campaign tactics have alienated Independents and Republicans, and even some Obama voters may be too disaffected to vote for her.

If she gets the nomination and hopes to win against McCain, she has to appear to be an upstanding individual, because that's the way the media is going to portray her opponent. These nasty tactics don't create that kind of image.

[Ginko]

01:39 AM on 03/24/2008

Attacking Obama? He brought all of this on HIMSELF. Wright was selling his sermons to the public and FOX news played them. Hillary had nothing to do with it and has remained out of the fray completely. Dissention in her ranks? Now that's a laugh. They are heading into PA with a lot of momentum, they sure are not dissenting, they are pumped up and ready to go.
Obama is on the defensive and attacking with all he can and it isn't working.
You can't belong to a separatist church and try to sell yourself as a uniter. Not to a thinking person anyway.

[jtmqs]

03:04 AM on 03/24/2008

g, be that as it may, it's scoreboard reality! she can't win i don't care how you parse it. obama will have a score more than hillary. in any competition, a democracy especially, that means that you are the winner because you have more points! why is she still in it anyhow?

[unenrolled]

03:19 AM on 03/24/2008

Google Rev Manning the Clinton connection, they earmarked big to get their vote. Your tax dollars hard at work. Talk about vile, Hillary is the only one that has him beat.

[mvpeach10]

12:56 AM on 03/24/2008

Obama is unelectable. It saddens me to realize that the DNC is deluding itself into believing they can win the White House with this very flawed candidate who has great oratorical skills and not much else, particularly now that the vast majority of Americans realize he does not have the judgment he professes to have. Staying in that church for 20 years shows this lack of judgment. Would any patriotic American affiliate themselves with a pastor who rants "Goddamn America." I don't think so. Hillary is very likely to win Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Puerta Rico, and now even North Carolina. Obama's star has fallen. So what will the DNC do? Nominate Obama so that the blacks won't be mad and abandon the party. The blacks supported Clarence Thomas in droves. Look where that got them. They supported OJ. They supported Tawana Brawley. We must not allow 12-13% of the population to intimidate the rest of the country into doing something that in the long run is wrong. If Hillary continues to make these strides and Obama keeps losing in the polls, the DNC had better realize he will not have coattails to help super delegates in the next election. He may very well cause what could be a Democratic victory to be an abysmal disaster. If Howard Dean believes the blacks will have their noses out of joint, then maybe it's time for him to tell Barack Obama that the best we can do for you is put you on the ticket as VP, and if you want a future you had better take it. That is if Hillary would acquiese. A Hillary/Obama ticket may have a chance, but even with that, I think he will pull her down. He is irrevocably tainted now. His halo is gone.

[SayonaraSnot]

01:12 AM on 03/24/2008

It must upset you that the whole Rev. Wright debacle is dying down, huh. Looks like his poll numbers are right up to where they were before that whole brouhaha.

[Ginko]

01:47 AM on 03/24/2008

dying down? Look, this will NEVER die. We haven't even gotten to the General Election, you know, the one that MATTERS. There will be FAR more of Wright and Rezco and Emil Jones than you could ever imagine.
Go look at the numbers yourself, Obama is dropping off fast against McCain. No way can he win with all this dirt he has created for himself with his hateful preacher and shady friends. NO WAY, not against a Senator who was a POW.
Its Hillary all the way to the White House. SHE can beat McCain. Obama, no way.

[escapee]

01:24 AM on 03/24/2008

Obama is very electable. Hillary hasn't gotten the kitchen sink thrown at her because the Obama campaign isn't willing to tear down a fellow Democrat in the way a Republican will. The Republicans HATE HER and will have no problem reminding us all why.... do we really want to revisit all that crap? You may be too young to remember but the Clinton scandals paralized the country while Al Qiada was plotting away.

The polls don't pick the nominee, voters do and not all Obama supporters are black. As for Rev. Wright, I suggest you watch an entire sermon and not just 10 seconds of his 30-year career.

[Exit]

12:53 AM on 03/24/2008

Obama has made me proud to say I am a Democrat again. I don't want Bill, Hillary, Monica, Paula Jones, Jennifer Flowers and their lies to take that away.

[meese]

12:51 AM on 03/24/2008

After Hillary's sniper fire incident, I wonder whether her NAFTA stories, tax return stories, and other campaign-relevant actions and claims will be examined with even half the scrutiny of Obama's former pastor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It6JN7ALF7Y

[Ginko]

01:52 AM on 03/24/2008

Her Bosnia "story" wasn't a story, but apparently you make your decisions based on sound bytes. Sinbad had something different to say about it in 2000 than he is saying NOW:

"Defending Clinton's characterization of her Bosnia mission, campaign spokesman Phil Singer kindly provided experts from news stories written about the trip at the time, including a Washington Post story from May 26, 1996, that said, "This trip to Bosnia marks the first time since Roosevelt that a first lady has voyaged to a potential combat zone."

Singer also cited a Kansas City Star article from September 2000 that quoted Sinbad as describing the situation in Bosnia as "so tense. It was Crips and Bloods." (And that's how Sinbad continued to characterize the situation in our interview Monday. He said, "At the time, we didn't realize how crazy it was between the Bosnians and the Serbs. I didn't realize how much hate was going on."

[meese]

02:17 AM on 03/24/2008

Nobody's making a decision on sound bytes - the video doesn't lie, neither do the recently released White House schedules, which reveal only one stop in Bosnia, in Tuzla, and included exactly what the video shows - a greeting ceremony with a young girl at the airport - the same event that Hillary (again, in the video) has been saying didn't happen because they were under sniper fire and had to run from the airplane.

It's not a complex lie - it's one that's easily fact checked.

[unenrolled]

03:28 AM on 03/24/2008

Even the news media in is stitches about this, yet another Hillary tale. She really can make them up, can you imagine taking your only child? Now that speaks volumes.