Hillary Clinton's Campaign Strategy: Are Harsh Attacks Over

After Tuesday's split decision, the media is abuzz about what options now remain for Sen. Hillary Clinton. Several have suggested that the race is over, and that Barack Obama is now the de fact nominee. Others have compiled a new list of obstacles barring Clinton's path: money, momentum and superdelegate support.

With this frame in mind, several have suggested the period of escalating harshness in the Democratic primary is finished. Mike Allen wrote this morning of Hillary's campaign:

She may continue the campaign, but the harsh attacks are over.

Roger Simon worried about the risk to Clinton's political future if she continues to attack Obama:

She has options, but only if she manages her endgame carefully.

If she becomes known as the candidate who was willing to destroy her party in order to gain the nomination, she is likely to lose not just the nomination but also her political future.

Even Karl Rove, who once penned an article advising Clinton to attack Obama (largely as an excuse to air as many attacks on the Illinois senator as possible), told Fox News:

Tonight, we saw gracious talk from both candidates. Both of them complimented each other. Both of them pledged unity. It doesn't hurt Hillary Clinton to go forward from her with that same kind of tone, and let the process play out till the end of June."

Clinton is meeting with her advisers today in D.C., and she has signaled that she will continue the race; she even scheduled extra events in West Virginia Wednesday to fight suggestions that she was withdrawing from the public attention. The tenor she takes there might well determine if the Democratic race will continue to be a bitter event.

Comments

[bitabingbitabangbitaboom]

I`M THE FRIGGIN FAT LADY.....................AH-HA-AH-HA-AH-HA-AH-HA

AND THIS IS MY STAGE.................AH-HA-AH-HA-AH-HA.........CENTRE STAGE......AH-HA-AH-HA-AH-HA

DA WITCH IS FLYING.........AH-HA-AH-HA-AH-HA-AH-HA............DA WITCH IS FLYING...................ON

HER BROOMSTICK BROOMSTICK BROOMSTICK..........AH-HA-AH-HA-AH-HA-AH-HA



.

[jpcline004]

I"m sure she just wanted to get some gun shootin, beer drinkin and god prayin in after such a "bitter" defeat. What better place to unwind than the wild and wonderful West Virginny? Maybe she can beef up her blue collar support if she rolls up her sleeves and works in a coal mine for a couple days. *cough cough* I think I got the black lung Pop!

[DoTheMath]

Does this mean "the fun part" is over?

[Truthmeter]

She has been TOLD..keep this up destroy the party and your political future is over. They will put up another candidate in NY that can beat her and they will get behind that candidate. They will destroy her.

[drddd]

First off, the media is bunch of idiotic assholes who fail to look at the big picture. Reality is 1) The is FAR FROM OVER ; 2) The pro-Obama media is just really good at poisoning people's minds with nonsense, and this "absolute victory" was just another example of it; and 3) The math still shows Clinton can have a good victory with Michigan and Florida, two states who the vast pro-Obama media tries to discourage.

[Peteyman]

Your "pro-Obama media" joke was funny.

Only because it was false.

[tess08]

absolutely correct.
the Media was predominantly biased for HRC to an infuriating level.

drddd did you have your head in the sand again?

[KGinSanFrancisco]

Come down to planet Earth! It was demonstrated last night by the majority of pundits that even if she gets Florida and michigan( an invalid election where her opponent wasn't on the ballot) she still won't have the numbers. Why are Hillary people still on denial? Are they really less educated and mathematically challenged or is this being tough headed and refusing to accept reality?

[filo]

I'm sorry but it IS over. You can't change rules because things aren't going your way. Hillary agreed that Mich & Fla wouln't count. His name wasn't even on the ballot in Mich. It is time to focus on beating McLame.

[jakie]

GO HOME HILLARY AND BAKE COOKIES AND RETURN TO YOUR KITCHEN SINK.. BYE BYE

[robXdion]

Sorry, but her "win" in Indiana is not legitimate. She wins by what will be around 11,412 votes, just above 1% and people act like it's a blowout? Republicans voting for her spoiled this. Expect a recount.

[johnnygoodwud]

first of all, maybe we all need to chill a bit and take a deep breath and take the day off and celebrate our victory last night. if you think about it, obama was actually running against 4 obstacles, the 2 clintons, mccain, and the past couple months the limbaugh repub that crossed over and voted for hillary. there is mounting evidence that in ohio, pa. and last night in ind. if you subtract the limbaugh vote, obama would have won all three of those states. i don't want to sound like sour grapes, we still prevailed.

hillary will not get out, she needs $$$$ to pay off her debt. i think the supers will push obama to the top, and oregon will push him over the top, as it should be, the will of the people.

hillary and bill are both narcissists (sorry i call them the way i see them), and only think about themselves, and their eventual fall from grace, the end of the clinton legacy, will be their own undoing. the longer she drags this out, the more she now damages herself, not obama. the most interesting aspect of all of this, is i truly think she could have won this, had she had a better strategy after super tues. that will haunt her the rest of her life. she has no one to blame but herself.

[colbyb25]

Haha...ok so maybe people from her side aren't ready yet :) HopeGirl 1 Colbyb25 0

[bobdob]

I think Hillary will surprise everyone when she finally concedes. I think she'll be graceful and her concession speech will bring a tear to everyone's eye. Let's just hope she does it soon.

[ChiGuy]

I, for one, wouldn't at all be surprised by that.

She's a decent woman who followed A LOT of bad advice during this campaign, that has permanently damaged her image in the eyes of many. But deep down, I think she's a person who truly wants the best for this country and its citizens, and believed her plan was best.

I'm the first to admit that I posted things about her that the Clintonistas didn't like. Most intentionally.
But I never lied or attacked her on a personal level, or called her vile names like others have.
Anytime I posted, I backed my words with facts and links.

She has been diminished to some degree in my eyes, but I still wouldn't object if Obama wanted her as his VP candidate.

[Barky]

I disagree with the vp choice. She will bring her baggage to the campaign...and this is not good politics. Kathleen Sibelius the dem guvnor of Kansas (a conserv. state) would be great and be the equalizer re the female vote. A second option would be a military type like Gen. Zinni who opposed the war in Iraq and lost his job with this admin. He is a registered republican but non-political as far as I know. McWar wouldnt stand a chance with him on the ticket.

[filo]

Excellent point. That would take away the "inexperienced" bugaboo.

[eurydice]

A stroll down Memory Lane:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/03/volunteers-swamp-north-ca_n_94829.html?page=4

Remember "Is this Hillary's Graveyard?" from April 3.

Thank you green and soaring mountains of North Carolina!

[zendem1]

"kitchen sink"? No. More like the toilet seat has now closed.

[Nancyann]

HILLARY CLINTON CRIMES

(1) Took a $100,000 bribe, camouflaged as futures trades,
from Tyson Foods Inc.

(2) Speculated in Health Care industry futures while overseeing
legislative reform of same.

(3) Failed to correct false testimony by co-defendant Ira
Magaziner in Health Care trial.

(4) Obstructed justice by ordering the shredding of Vince
Foster's documents in the Rose Law Firm.

(5) Ordered members of the Health Care Task Force to shred
documents that were the target of a court probe.

(6) Ordered the removal of documents from Vince Foster's office.

(7) Told aides to lie about their removal of documents from
Foster's office

(8) Obstructed justice by keeping her billing records, a document
sought under subpoena, in the White House residence.

(9) Lied to investigators about her knowledge about billing
records.

(10) Lied to investigators about her involvement in the Castle
Grande land flip con.

(11) Ordered the use of the FBI to discredit Travel Office
employees.

(12) Lied to investigators about her involvement in the firing of
Travel Office Employees.

[botboy]

Can we stop this crap now. Who cares, its over. Don't be a sore winner. I am a huge Obama supporter but we should refuse to act this way at this point. It serves no ones' interests. Democrats are nice people. Let's act like it.

[NYC80]

Hillary lost this nomination before this primaries started back in January. Hillary lost this nomination in 2002 when she voted it for the war in Iraq. She thought "oh well I know voting for the war will get the left base angry, but I don't care because nobody will challenge me for the nomination, and they don't have not choice, but to vote for me". Wrong, this gave Obama an opportunity to enter the race and make the iraq war the issue in the first few primaries which counted a lot because it gave him the momentun and name. Her run for the white house was a campaign of arrogance, I remember watching the first few debates, and she was so arrogant that she thought she had it locked. The men behind the curtain didn't trust Hillary to carry their agenda, so they decided to choose obama and finance him.

[ChiGuy]

In my 35+ years of political activism, I had never witnessed a campaign openly admit that they were adopting a negative smear tactic until Hillary's people stated that they had instituted the "kitchen sink" option against Obama.
Yes, yes, I know that it has been done repeatedly, but never had I seen an organization openly admit to the press that they were doing it.

One can only hope that its complete failure will serve as a lesson for future campaign execs that it's neither the only option, nor is it the best option, and that it can put a very ugly, very permanent stain on their candidate.

[bobdob]

It's the warrior's way: you must always give your opponent fair warning. It's the one decent thing she's done in this campaign.

[HopeGirl]

Hey Chi...congrats ;0).

[ChiGuy]

Thanx, HG.
Now, on to take back the White House!

[HopeGirl]

going to be so fun. Can't wait to get back out in my state and talk Obama talk to unlikely voters.I'm thinking about going to Oregon.

[simplify]

Hillary Clinton, the divider or uniter?

[tess08]

we're *united* in despising her.

[drkazmd65]

Now,... whom would make the short list as good VP material?

And don't anybody out there say 'Hillary Clinton' or I will have to smirk in your general direction.

I think Obama has to go in one of two directions:

Military background (Wesley Clark or Senator Webb being two examples)

Diplomatic or Governor background (Richardson, Biden being two examples, maybe Sebelius from KS)

Or a real populist - I would love to see Dennis Kucinich in this spot - but Russ Feingold would be excellent as well.

My personal preference would be for a populist, but any one of these would be great.

[preatorius]

Diplomatic background: Gov. Richardson

White blue collar male appeal: John Edwards

[lobo1939]

Richardson for the diplomatic background is basic. More reasons to pick Richardson I beleive is that the future of the party will be in the west and Richardson, with the hispanic heritage could make New Mexico and Colorado slam dunks and even put Texas and Arizona into play.

[KGinSanFrancisco]

It makes sense but it will infuriate the Clintons!

[Nancyann]

Senator Web is an EXCELLENT PICK....

[bobdob]

I think he's likely to go with Casey.

[mairs]

It's very symbolic that Hillary exhorted people to place bets on the lone filly in the Kentucky Derby last weekend. Fillies almost never win against the colts in these major races, but they thought Eight Belles had a chance. She said Chelsea would be there to bet on her. Sadly Eight Belles came up second to Big Brown and then broke both her front ankles, having to be euthanized.

Strange parallels to Hillary's own campaign. The woman who could get the job done, compete in a race with men. Lots of drive to win, but now threatening to ruin her own career if she goes down kicking and screaming to the very end, losing to Big Brown.

[KGinSanFrancisco]

i felt it was an omen.

[bobdob]

On May 6, 1937 at 7:25 PM, the Hindenburg crashed and burned. 71 years later, Hillary Rodham Clinton did her best impression of the event. Most observers report that it was a very convincing recreation.

[Aleka4]

I think this comparison a bit creepy actually.

[eurydice]

creepy but apt.

[likeicare]

The harsh attacks will not end -- and neither will the Clintons' campaign.

They don't care about their political future, either. If they did -- really did -- they would never have gone to the race-baiting-well in the first place. That was their mistake, and, ultimately, the cause of their impending political demise.

It's not about money, either. It's only about one thing -- power -- oh, and public adoration and validation of their "special" status in the eyes of the world.