Barack Obama's Woes Open Door To Hillary Clinton Nomination

The series of nine general election polls that I chronicled yesterday showed Barack Obama declining in general election numbers, but the first question we need to ask ourselves is the effect Obama's recent bad patch will have in the primaries.

The events of the past week, after all, are perfectly timed for Clinton. They are, after all, what Hillary had been arguing for many months now, that she is a vetted figure about which most everything is already known and that there is little Republicans can uncover about her, in contrast with Obama, whom the GOP would have a much easier time smearing. This line of attack led to the memorable slip-up of one Clinton official, but it remained a central part of the campaign's electablity appeal. And they will now take this case to superdelegates -- and they will do so more easily if Obama continues to show the vulnerability in polls he has been showing in recent days.

But is this too little, too late? Obama emerged as his party's front-runner in the days following Super Tuesday, and he increased his inevitability with every contest since then. Even the elections of March 4th were mathematically-speaking a victory for Obama, as Clinton did not get anything close to the delegate boost she needed to cut into her rival's lead. Can she now work her way to the nomination?

Keep reading this piece on OffTheBus contributor Daniel Nichanian's blog, Campaign Diaries.

Comments

[tenilla]

Hillary Clinton has not been vetted.

From Daily Kos, March 5, 2008:

Have any of her Democratic opponents, including Obama, sought more detailed answers from her about stories such as:

1. Norman Hsu and his bundling of money for her campaign

2. How "dishwashers, waiters and others" poured "$1,000 and $2,000 campaign contributions" into Clinton's campaign treasury.

3. Bill's trip to Kazakhstan with Canadian magnate, Frank Giustra,
that netted Giustra 3 billion dollars and Bill's foundation a 131 million dollar contribution from Giustra.

4. How powerful foreign donors to Bil's presidential library, such as the Saudis, may post a serious conflict of interest to Hillary's foreign policy actions as president.

5. How Bill's tangled ties to an investment concern of Clinton friend, Ron Burkle, and its dealings with Dubai may yet, again, threaten to compromise Hillary Clinton's execution of foreign policy as president.

6. The fact that with all these questionable financial dealings, the Clintons have been unwilling to release their tax returns, especially in light of Hillary Clinton claiming that the $5 million she lent the campaign was "her own money."

7. And, finally, though we, as Democrats, don't care who Bill schtupps (and, no, none of us believe he has kept his fly zipped the last seven years), you can be damn sure the Republicans will be digging hard (no pun intended) to see just what Bill has been up to since leaving office.

So has Hillary really been vetted? Shouldn't she be fully vetted on these stories and others for no other reason than as a public service to the Democratic Party? (The same logic Camp Clinton continually throws out for its "vetting" of Obama.)

Shouldn't the press be asking her about these stories and their potential impact on the race, should she garner the nomination? Shouldn't Democratic superdelegates take into account these items that may present themselves in "full bloom" during a race versus John McCain in the Fall?

----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­----------­-------
Why would Huffington let one of its bloggers state as fact "Hillary has been vetted"? I will not be
reading another thing that Daniel Nichanian writes here or anywhere else.

[anney]

HRC's "Bosnia fabrication" will hurt her inestimably, perhaps less among Democratic voters than the Democratic superdelegates. She just gave the Republicans ammunition to use against her if she's the candidate. And it wouldn't even be Swiftboating -- it would be a lie laid bare. And the McCain campaign only has to show her saying that only she and John McCain have the necessary National Security experience to be president, and then ask the viewers to decide which one has more experience.

Somehow, HRC has managed to really screw the poodle in her campaign when she had everything going for her in the beginning. She's still losing mathematically, no matter how it's measured, and Obama's pastor-flap doesn't seem to have hurt him according to the earliest reports.

[deejsmom]

doubt that very much - she spiked less than McCain - and now its leveling out - this is all so tiresome - we need to move on to issues that affect us as a whole -

[Desdemondo]

Oh! So you thought.

Hillary stands as much chance as a snowball in hell to win the Democratic prseidential nomination, especially afer her veneer was removed and the public became aware of her active support for the passage of NAFTA and her "Family" involvement. Her support did the labour movement no favours.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive" - Hillary, your mendacity is catching up with you as you commence your slippery descent to "also ran" status.

[skeptical1]

The only nomination that Hillary can get now is VP to John McCain. She has campaigned as a loyal Republican and her reward for making the Dem nomination worthless will be at the Republican Convention when these two patriotic Americans are annointed.

[vincealy]

HRC job ;and untill the superdelegates step in she will continue to do it ;is to trash Obama in the hope of stealing this nomination her other goal is to assure Obama,s defeat she then would comeback in 2012 . The Clinton's time for a change

[LyricalLexicon]

If politics has been a contact sport since the beginning of government why would it change now? It will always be one set of powerful interests competing with another set of powerful interests with the common person getting screwed by both sides.

[jorge999]

There's NO WAY that Hillary will get the nomination.
I say that knowing that she and Bill and their DLC, AIPAC, and corporatist allies will stop at nothing.
Nevertheless, despite throwing everything including the kitchen sink at Obama.....­they will lose.
HE WILL WIN the nomination.
What is unclear is how much effort they will expend to undermine his candidacy after he is nominated. I suspect they will continue the fight against him --both overtly and covertly.

[ginnypoo]

Obama called all whites racists...­.and you still think he has a chance, now that is funny.

[notamarin]

No, he didn't. Give me a break. Use your brain.

[deejsmom]

you sound very ignorant when you make statements that can be proven untrue - he has NEVER said such a thing - he has more dignity and integrity than most

[KimberlyKay]

No, he didn't. We really need to teach "listening" in school. Senator Obama said his grandmother had no racial animosities, but had some stereotypical fears like a "typical white person." Now, any way you slice that (if you actually listen to it), Senator Obama said that "typical white people" have no racial animosities, but just stereotypical fears. I know I have some stereotypical fears (work hard not to, but they are still there). How about you? Fears aren't racism. Next time, try and listen -- it is easy, calm your mind, don't allow distractions like I hope I hear something that will benefit my candidate, and open up your ears.

[Montanamotor]

"The only statistics I pay credentials to are those which I have rigged myself!" Winston Churchill

How about using some "After-Speech" polls, Sir?

[Easttexas82]

In one of the first debates, Sen. Joe Biden was asked yet again about his "clean" comment describing Sen. Obama. Sen. Obama backed up Sen. Biden as a champion of civil rights and the issue was never heard of again. All through the Republican debates, there were two candidates who refused to let some mistake bring the other down. And they turned out to be the last two candidates still on the republican ticket before McCain finally got the nomination. Gov. Huckabee to the end never went negative on Sen. McCain and wouldn't allow anyone else to. Now both Sen. McCain and Gov. Huckabee have come out and said the Wright comments should not be held against Sen. Obama.
There's one candidate who is trying extremely hard to say nothing about the matter.
Sen. Obama, in his speech Tuesday not only refused to throw his pastor under the bus to save himself, he also put an end to the fuss over Rep. Ferrarro. He said it was wrong to try to label Sen. Clinton as racist because of something an associate said. And guess what, you don't hear one word now about Sen. Clinton having to defend what was said. So now there's only one person who could end all this craziness. In one simple statement she could end this and make the race about something real again. She could stop fanning the flames over Mich. and Fla. which neither candidate is to blame for. But she hasn't and I don't think she will.
I've said it before. At the start of this campaign I never would have dreamed of not voting for whoever was the Democratic candidate. They were all great. Dennis Kucinich could ride a spaceship down Pennsylvania Avenue to be sworn in for all I cared. Now I only know one thing for sure. I will not vote for Sen. Clinton.

[notamarin]

Same here.

Never thought it would get to that...nev­er has in twenty years of primaries. But her campaign has gone too far. They've managed to stoop to the level of Bush... that's quite a feat.

She will never get my support. And if the DNC aids and abets her stealing the nomination, they will not get it either.

I never thought I'd see the liberals become the party of bigotry. Shame on the Clintons.

[MNDADDY]

Obama will not be able to beat the republican attack machine in the Fall. A vote for Obama is a vote for McCain right now.

His relationship to Pastor Wright and to other hateful, racist, and anti-semetic militant black groups is only beginning to be exposed.

Stay tuned - There's more to come!!

[deejsmom]

I'm sure that will come up again, but people who live in glass houses should learn not to throw stones - why was it that McCain dropped out of the 2000 election cycle? If they want to play the swiftboat game - they will have a well prepared electorate this time - fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice - shame on you! The dirt can be swept both ways - so please don't make idle threats - McCain is no saint and we all know it - so let's not tarnish his record in the here and now - we will save it all for October.

[Fasteddie1515]

And McCain's not the sharpist crayon in the pack!

[KimberlyKay]

This is just wishful thinking by Senator Clinton, Senator Clinton's campaign, Senator Clinton's surrogates and Senator Clinton's supporters. (or more like --this is actually a Rush Limbaugh self-labelled ditto-head just pretending to be for Senator Clinton). I hope you do realize that you create nothing when you seek to destroy. I also hope you realize that tearing down someone else does not inflate your candidate -- it actually hurts both. A vote for Senator Obama is a vote to turn the page of the kind of politics you espouse and to embrace a new day where we can again accomplish something and we don't have to sit around a simply complain. Yes we can! Obama '08.

[harriscrl3]

Oh please polls fluctuate they were putting Hilary up by 20 points in most of these states and look what happen. Everything about Hilary and Bill is out in the open? On what planet are people living on do you really believe that. EVERYDAY I learn new things about the Clinton. The Rezco connection THEY HAVE IT. The Wright connection THEY HAVE IT.

There is a HUGE difference between Hilary and Obama actually they are many but at least Obama mistakes are out in the open. Wright wasnt hiding he was in the religious section of Obama's campaign. The Connection was KNOWN. Rezco was KNOWN. What wasnt known I'll tell Hilary and Bill's connection to Rezco. Hilary and Bill's connection to Wright. The Clintons vetted NOPE they are still the same deceptive liars that the American people CANNOT trust. The papers that they released showed that Hilary was ACTIVELY lobbying for Nafta and Hilary said in a debate in Ohio that she had secretly oppose Nafta from the beginning. Hmm i wonder what is in their taxes. We'll find out soon she is suppose to release them by the 15th. Hilary has NO CHANCE against McCain. She is running on experience McCain has her beat. McCain wont be easy to beat for Obama but there is a big difference Obama is NOT running on McCain's platform he is running on his own Change. Obama can broaden his base he can BRING people together as he showed througout his campaign. Hilary DIVIDE people if the democrats dont bring their coalitions together they will LOSE. They stand a better chance with Obama.

Carol

[buddyd]

We are in for a rude reality in Nov. It is to late to stop Obama from winning the nomination. However, before it's over, we will wish that we had picked someone else.. I will however vote for him if he wins the nomination, but my confidence in his ability to win falls everyday.. Stop figfhting Dems! We now have to figure out a way to help this media made candidate win.. This is the media fault. They have been giving this man a free ride since they all got it wrong in new Hampshire. In the words of his minister, "the chickens has come home to roost.".

[hhkeller]

I think Obama is pretty done.
I really cant see him escaping the Rezko and Wright shadow..

Even McCain is looking like a more honest alternative.

[SonofLiberty1]

And quite a large number of folks haven't thought Obama through yet...and it's true he's not been
"vetted" much yet.

Judgement, yes, and Obama's hasn't been too good in his life either.

Committing a felony when your a teen or young adult in College is a "Good Thing"?

Because that's what possession of marijuana is today, not sure about Cocaine though....­.

[obamavet]

As compared to suspending our Constitutional rights, committing us to an open-ended war in Iraq based on lies, or damning our country to suffer another recession? So what Obama belong to a church whose loony pastor spouted a philosphy that you personally disagree with. If that is the worst of his sins, it still makes him look like a saint compared to Bush, Chaney and Grandpa McBush.

[juevosrancheros]

Last I checked, possession of marijuana isn't a felony. Not even close, unless perhaps you're attempting to transport several ounces with the intent to sell.

[Ashall]

Now that the focus has changed to the State Department's mishandling of sensitive Obama passport information, I think the tide will turn once again. Before we go flying off the handle and saying a candidate is "done", we just have to wait for the news of the day to change. McCain might be looking pretty good to you, but he has a big memory problem that will have to be explained.

[pgate127]

LOLOLOL...­whoops!! Turns out that all THREE candidates passports have been messed with by State, according to CBS news this evening. Poor Barack...c­an't play "poor pitiful picked on me" anymore...

[yotinzepol]

Pelosi has her own ambition of being President. Unfortunately, she won't be making history as the first woman President if Hillary gets ahead of her. For this reason, I won't be surprised to see Pelosi favor Obama in the convention so she can have her chance in making history.

[nuglet304]

i really don't see pelosi ever even trying to run for president. and i'm sure she knows very well that she wouldn't have a shot. in order for a woman to be elected president in this country, she's gonna have to be a staunch conservative or a tough-as-nails moderate who doesn't back down from anyone, as senator clinton's well aware. nancy pelosi, being a woman AND an extremely vocal liberal, probably wouldn't even get the nomination.

it does seem fairly obvious, though, that pelosi supports obama. maybe she's just keeping quiet so it doesn't appear that the first female speaker's trying to kill the chances for the first female president. but then again, whatever.

[dpfaef]

Nancy Pelosi is 66 years old, I don't think she is out to be president.

[preatorius]

Wrong, as usual!!!
Word on the street says that Nancy Pelosi will be Obama's running mate.
Pelosi has real experieince, not the imaginary kind that Clinton makes up!

Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is currently the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Before becoming Speaker in the 110th Congress, she was the House Minority Leader from 2002 to 2007, holding the post during the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses.

Since 1987, she has represented the 8th Congressional District of California, which consists of four-fifths of the City and County of San Francisco.

[BlogAngel]

Obama would definitely lose the general election. He's lost his independent voters and he's even losing among Democrats. Most voters are particularly sensitive to the idea of their Commander in Chief having a history of unAmerican sentiment. Nancy Pelosi would do nothing to make up for that and she's not terribly popular.

At this point, Obama would even be a liability for the Clinton campaign as a VP. His poll numbers are falling harder than Florida rain.

Speaking of which, if Dean and the Dem Party want a respectable out to dump Obama, which right now they must be seriously considering, the ideal way is to recognize ALL Florida and Michigan delegates. The Party has a serous problem if they DON'T recognize them and the only thing holding them back really was the Obama camp. We can't lose Florida. Dean was so dumb to enforce that rule in the first place, since it was a Republican Florida Congress that voted to hold the primary early. Dems would be wise in EVERY way to recognize Florida and Michigan and allow Hillary to win the Nomination through the choice of the voters.

[Ashall]

How can you say Obama has lost his independent voters? As an independent voter, nobody has asked ME or they'd know how wrong those polls are! Sometimes I think people concoct their polls by using fortune-tellers! You need to realize that just because the media is running a story into the ground and tries to make it out to be OH SO IMPORTANT, that in reality there's no controversy at all. When I decided that Barack Obama was the best candidate I knew full well that he was African-American, but that didn't alter my opinion one iota. The sinister clips that the republican party has thrown into the picture are going to backfire and make them all look like a bunch of bigoted race-baiters and will hurt John McCain's chances of winning.

I don't think the older generation realizes that the majority of voters want CHANGE from the old politics, from the nasty ways of conducting presidential elections. In the infamous words of Florida Congressman Robert Wexler, "Wake Up America!" By the way, Rep. Wexler who so fiercely defended Bill Clinton during his impeachment, has endorsed Barack Obama as has Bill Richardson. I'm looking for many super-delegates to follow suit!

[SonofLiberty1]

Madame Speaker is frankly a coward. She didn't stop the war and she would not impeach either.
She would be President if we impeached Both Bush & Cheney.

[skeptical1]

If Hillary and Barack continue the interparty warfare, they could wreck their own chances and the superdelegates would have to act. I could see Pelosi as Gore's running mate. They would run the table and get super majorities in the House and the Senate, too.

[ruscle]

Clinton was given a free pass all last year. She had name recognition, the media and a huge political machine backing her up. And Barack came along and through organization, effort and a better message, made huge gains. He's been ahead for quite some time. NOW after a week of constant attack by the media and Clinton on something SOMEONE ELSE said, his numbers are a little weak AND ALL OF A SUDDEN CLINTON IS THE CHOICE? Come on. The more people see of Clinton, the less they like her. The more the know, the less they like her. The opposite is true of Obama. The problem this week is that the media has been tarring and feathering him. Considering the unfair and relentless treatment by the press, Obama has fared pretty well. This is just a little bump. Let's wait for a month or two to see how people feel about Clinton's tea and cookies experience as first lady... and her NAFTA lies.

[SonofLiberty1]

The more they see of Clinton...­think again.

Look, I was a part of the Draft Gore movement, a big player and not a small one.
When Gore finally came out in The Rolling Stone article he really put the draft movement to bed.

So I switched to Edwards and then he dropped out.

Then I heard Hillary talking and I decided that she was the best of the two.
Yes, I didn't think highly of her vote either but I think she has the most experience.

[indc]

Cheney has the most experience, should we draft Cheney?

This experience argument is nonsense.. Bush has experience, does anyone in his/her right mind think he should be re-elected if that were a possibility.

Clinton has bad judgment and a bad character.­.. he had no security clearance but claims foreign policy experience when she could not attend any meeting that you or I could not attend.. if fact, I had a TS clearance until I left government so I could have attended meetings which she could not without a clearance.­.. now we find out for certain that she was a strong supporter of NAFTA.. .and still no tax returns, no WH paper released with a freedom of information suit, no donor lists and on it goes...

poor character, poor judgment, liar, and as transparent as Cheney.... this is Clinton, both of them.. you get two bad characters by voting for one... what a deal

[obamavet]

I'd say you have a pretty poor track record of picking a winner. I'd hate to hear what your definition is experience is.