Saw this article on Drudge. I’ve been observing the last two weeks of the Democratic primary with an eye on the gamesmanship of the Clinton campaign.
I made the remark to a friend of mine a couple of months ago that the genius of the Obama campaign was its lack of substance. If you’re running a campaign on charm and demographic appeal, you make damn sure that you don’t get bogged down in the details. As long as you avoid details you can be a blank slate. Frustrated voters can project upon you whatever traits, policy positions, and capabilities they need to craft you into the ideal candidate to alleviate their anxiety about the future. In other words, the genius of Obama’s early campaign was the fact that he was an answer in search of a question.
Flash forward to last week. Hillary wins three of four primaries on Tuesday including the two largest ones. The impact on the delegate count is negligible. The impact on momentum is a bit more significant. The impact on the tone of the Obama campaign is huge. Last week ended with a string of gaffes that culminated in the resignation of a top campaign aide and furious attempts at damage control by the campaign. Over the weekend Obama won two small state contests and gained back at least a little momentum.
The important part of all of this is that the tone of his campaign has changed dramatically. The Clinton campaign has forced him into the political fray and taken away his primary appeal, the idea that he transcends politics.
Last week when Hillary started floating the idea of a joint ticket with her at the top, most commentators chalked it up to campaign bravado and an attempt to lay claim to momentum. I see it a little differently. In less than a week, Hillary has forced Obama to go from the presumptive nominee to denying the idea that he would accept the VP slot. In a campaign based on charm and emotion, the fact that she’s managed to make him even talk about this is a reminder to me that, at least on the political gamesmanship front, Obama appears woefully outclassed.