Reply #32: Hillary's Last Stand - MSNBC [View All]

[WillyT]

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WASHINGTON - In many ways, tonight is Sen. Hillary Clinton’s last stand.

It’s not what Sen. Barack Obama has to do tonight in Cleveland: he just has to keep on keepin’ on.

But if Clinton can’t dramatically convince voter/viewers of her essential point – that Obama is dangerously vague and ill-prepared for a fall campaign, let alone for the presidency – then it is very hard to see how she can stop the Obama Express in March.

There is a gathering sense in the media that Obama has gotten something of a free ride. But, fair or not, it is still up to the Clinton campaign to slow that train’s momentum before it is too late, which it almost is.

This is the time and place for the former first lady to pull out all the stops. The MSNBC debate will be broadcast on most NBC-affiliated stations in Ohio, making it by far the most pivotal event before the state's March 4 primary.

How can Hillary stop Obama?

Comparing his lack of foreign policy experience and knowledge to that of a certain Texas governor named George W. Bush probably won't work for Clinton. That's because she voted to authorize his war in 2002.

Calling herself the working girl’s friend in Ohio also might might not work for Clinton. That's because she was, at best, silent about the job-destroying trade agreements her husband championed while he occupied the White House.

Clinton also faces three additional tactical problems.

Among likely Ohio Democratic voters, she is regarded very favorably in recent polls. But among the rest of the electorate, in this state and elsewhere, Clinton remains, as they say, a polarizing figure, with "unfaves" as high as 40 percent.

And it is a general rule of politics that attacks by unpopular candidates do not work. They also generally don't work in the last days of a campaign, because they are too easily dismissed an act of desperation.

And last, Obama has built a truly multi-racial, multi-generational coalition of supporters. Obama can easily turn an attack on him into an attack on THEM. He's done it before.

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Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23352812/

:shrug: