The Hill‘s Ron Christie proclaims the “Beginning of the End of the [Hillary] Clinton Campaign.”
He traces the downfall to Clinton’s inability to “answer a simple question” about issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens at a recent debate, which was followed by whining that the boys were all picking on the one girl in the race, to a series of rather hamhanded attempts to hit back at her opponents, particularly Barack Obama.
Now, “her national poll numbers have been plummeting” and, Christie predicts, the once inevitable nominee will, he believes, take a cue from “Dandy” Don Meredith and commence singing “Turn out the lights, the party’s over” after losing both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Forgive me if I don’t buy it.
Certainly, Clinton has taken a bit of a tumble. It inevitably happens to frontrunners — especially inevitable ones. All the other candidates gun for the candidate at the top of the heap. The media get bored with the same old story and are looking to knock the leaders down a peg. And, as happened here, candidates often shoot themselves in the foot.
Hillary Clinton has all the tools she needs to recover, however. A ton of cash on hand to rebuild her standing with advertising buys. A formidable campaign organization. The discipline and experience that comes with years on the national scene. And, by the way, she still holds a 19 point lead in the national polls and a margin of 11.7 and 23 in the New Hampshire and Michigan primaries, respectively, over her nearest opponent. I wouldn’t write her off just yet.
While self-inflicted, this tumble in the polls actually works to Clinton’s advantage in some ways. It takes the pressure off to run the table. Indeed, if she winds up winning in Iowa now, it’s a huge story whereas it was merely expected a week ago.
Her husband managed to spin a third second place finish in New Hampshire in 1992 into a victory, proclaiming himself the “Comeback Kid.” It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Hillary pulled off the same feat.
Photo credit: Ken Ashford.
