the rix mix

Until this weekend, I thought the Dem primary process would go on for another month as a three-way struggle with Obama & Edwards splitting the "change" & reform support while the Clinton Machine hauled in the regulars & centrists with its well-funded local operations. But Clinton was totally unprepared for the huge, overnight rush to Obama the polls are indicating. The most self-defeating charge she could level at Obama was that he was offering "false hope." False hope is the basic premise of almost every political campaign. Clinton ought to know that from '92. Hillary offers "experience." In 1992, "experience" was George W. H. Bush. So now, there's the potential of watching the Clinton campaign self-destruct because it deluded itself into believing it was sufficiently flexible & well-oiled, needing only minor adjustments here & there. It is very difficult for candidates to come across as what they are not, unless, like Bush in 2000 & to some extent Reagan in 1980, they manage to stay in soft-focus.

To be sure, Obama could take a serious pratfall. One mis-spoken sentence - one word even - has brought politicians down. How Hillary Clinton handles defeat & an underdog status, & how Obama responds to being the frontrunner, could be very revealing.

Currently, I am an unaffiliated voter. I did not expect either the Clinton or Giuliani campaigns to make any appeals for my primary vote in Jersey, so certain they were of winning this state easily. But we may be in the game now.

Labels: THE election