Memo Urges Sen. Clinton to Bypass Iowa [View All]

[brooklynite]

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton's deputy campaign manager wrote a memo this week urging the Democratic front-runner to bypass the Iowa caucuses, in order to spend time and resources in New Hampshire, South Carolina and several larger states hosting primaries next Feb. 5.

The memo emerged days after a new Des Moines Sunday Register poll of likely caucus goers showed Clinton trailing rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama in Iowa, which is scheduled to hold the first voting contests next January 14.

"I believe we need a new approach to winning the Democratic nomination," deputy campaign manager Mike Henry wrote. "This approach involves shifting the focus away from Iowa and running a campaign that is more focused on other early primary states and winning this new national primary."

There was no indication Wednesday that Henry's advice would be heeded. Campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said both the candidate and her top advisers are committed to campaigning in Iowa and that Henry's views were not shared by others in the campaign.

Read more: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070523/D8PAA73O0.html

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Historically, this strategy has worked when the candidate has clear strength in New Hampshire and a week or so between the two events, but I'm not sure how the numbers look in NH at this point, and the compressed schedule may make it harder to get out from the post Iowa buzz for the Caucus winner.

THAT being said, any campaign strategist who writes something like this and lets it get leaked should be in another line of work...