Now that the deck chairs on the good ship Hillary have been rearranged, leaving Senator Clinton with a presidential campaign manager who has never managed a campaign, Hillary should forget about winning.
Hillary should rest her voice, kick back and watch a couple hours of cable news shout shows, where at any given moment some pundit will happily explain why her campaign is doomed. She should believe every negative word.
Hillary probably won't sleep well after that. In the darkness, she should face her worst fear--losing. She shouldn't just face it, she should embrace it as fact, she should believe it's all over, the campaign is hopeless, she's going to be a mere senator for the rest of her life.
When she goes out on the campaign stage the next day, the audience will see a new Hillary, a Hillary they've never seen before, the Hillary who knows she's going to lose. I've seen that Hillary once before--at her final rally in New Hampshire the night before she (and all of us in the press gallery) knew she was going to lose. It was her best ever performance on a campaign stage. She was working without a script, without Teleprompters, moving freely with a hand-held mic and demonstrating a Sinatra-like command of the stage and the audience. The performance came more from her heart than her head and it was the most accurate picture of Hillary Clinton, the person, that she has delivered in the campaign.
The only way that person could emerge on stage was for Hillary to believe that she could not win in New Hampshire. The possibility of winning, the intense pressure of trying to win almost always tightens up candidates. Watching the stiff version of Bill Bradley run for president was very painful for those of us who know that the real Bill Bradley is wise, thoughtful, funny and an all-around great guy. Watching Hillary stiffen as a candidate is disappointing to those of us who know how relaxed, open, and warm she can be in private.
It's all up to Hillary now. Her husband has proven he can't win this thing for her. Chelsea's phone calls will not turn enough super delegates. Hillary's brand new, totally inexperienced campaign manager can't win it for her. The only person who can win this for Hillary is the real Hillary, the one she will let an audience see when she thinks she's got nothing left to lose. If Hillary could just forget about winning, she would actually have a much better chance of winning.
Posted February 15, 2008 | 10:42 AM (EST)