Yeah, It's Working

It started long ago with one word: 'naive'. The Clintons used that word to introduce the first question about Barack Obama's legitimacy as a Presidential candidate. They have since orchestrated a steady roll call of similar questions about the Obama candidacy: Louis Farrakhan; Commander-in-Chief; elitism. Say what you want about the Clinton's tacky political strategy, it works. Forget polls and forget the math, which points to an Obama primary victory. The fact is, when people start talking and writing about what Barack Obama has to do to 'close the deal', you know that the Clinton's are working their magic.

And what is that magic? Simple. Create doubt. Frame the Obama campaign inside a huge question mark. Not only is it the only strategy left, (Hillary long ago lost the 'between the two of us I'm the better candidate' argument), it's the strategy the Clinton's have always been very comfortable executing. To be sure, the Reverend Wright flap and Obama's own "bitter" comments were a gift to this strategy. The Clinton's had been waiting for a little opening and they got one. But they know how to take advantage.

How's it's working? Newsweek's cover shows a leaf of arugula and announces "Obama's Bubba Gap". Howard Fineman of Newsweek gives Obama tips on being less elitist. A Politico.com piece outlines Obama's troubles. XM radio's Politics Nation broke down the demographics of Hillary's win in PA and they point to real questions of race in this primary.

And he's winning! Imagine how fast folks would bury him if he was just a little behind.

Even Obama conceded yesterday in a press conference that 'There's no doubt that a campaign has to continually fine-tune itself. What worked well three months ago, if you're doing the exact same thing now, it may not work as well.' That was a direct rebuke to his pronouncement two days prior that he would not change a thing in his campaign. So what will change in Obama's campaign to parry the Clintons? Probably more press conferences at gas stations like the one he had yesterday and fewer rock star events. More basketball (like he did yesterday with great success) and less bowling.

What won't change is the Clinton strategy. The Wall Street Journal's Monica Langley reports: "... Mr. Clinton has become something of a strategist-in-chief in recent weeks. He has been pushing for harder and sharper attacks on Sen. Obama. … Mr. Clinton has placed several of his own aides at headquarters, including his former lawyer and a bevy of strategists... On his own daily message calls, advisers say, he implores: 'We've got to take him on every time.' At the Clintons' Washington, D.C., home recently, these people say, he reviewed possible TV spots and told ad makers to be more hard-hitting, faster and harsher."

So, as Obama himself has said, if he can get by the Clinton's, he'll be well prepared for anything the Repubs throw at him.

That shouldn't be a big "if" if you look at the math. But because it's the Clintons, it's always a big "if".

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