Barack On The Offensive
Inspired by slugger Willie Mays, who began his career 0-11, but still became a Hall-of-Famer, Hillary Clinton broke out of a similar 0-11 funk to take primaries in Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island. While the wins still left her lagging in the delegate count (Obama clings to a 1,562 to 1,461 lead, which includes unpledged superdelegates, according to The Associated Press tally); Clinton, nonetheless, by hook or by crook, is back in the race, riding a wave of momentum that will carry her through to the next big dance in Pennsylvania on April 22nd, where 188 delegates are at stake, and where she’s already picked up key endorsements from Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell and Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter.
Barack Obama, looking so Kennedyesque during the debates in Austin and Cleveland, blowing kisses to his opponent, while putting the final brushstrokes on the mosaic he pictures for America, now finds himself back on his heels, having absorbed the brunt of Clinton’s ``kitchen sink’’ attack; which included questions about his back and forth positions on NAFTA, and his ties to Tony Rezko, now involved in a corruption trial in Chicago.
Obama’s losses Tuesday night can’t solely be blamed on his opponent’s negative clap of thunder. Everyone poked fun at Hillary for going on and on and on during the debates about her crusade for universal health care; but the way the New York senator kept hammering away (``I’m sorry this issue is just too important to ignore’’) even over MSNBC’s Brian Williams and Tim Russert's objections, might have convinced voters that she is the most determined of the two about revolutionizing health care in the United States. Hillary, to her credit, scratched and clawed, and earned every vote she received on Tuesday.
In addition, Obama still isn’t connecting with Hispanics and women, two important voting blocs, who are voting in record numbers. Clinton won 58 percent of the women’s vote in Ohio, 51 percent in Texas; while taking 67 percent of the Hispanic vote in Texas, according to preliminary exit polls.
The way Obama continues to struggle attracting Latino voters makes you wonder if New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will be strong-armed into throwing his support behind the Illinois senator, who up until now, has refused to endorse either Obama or Clinton. An even stronger pipeline into reaching Hispanic voters would be to woo Richardson as Obama’s running mate.
Right now, though, what’s of utmost importance to Camp Obama is to counter Clinton’s barrage of negative attacks with some negative sorties of their one, such as more calls to look into her joint tax returns, along with harder questions about the sources of donations to the Clinton Library.
Yes, the campaign is likely to get nastier and more spirited in the coming weeks. You’re not likely to see any valedictorian concession speeches from Clinton, saying how proud she is to be running against Barack Obama; nor will we likely to hear Obama going on about how similar his policies are to his Democratic opponent. If Obama hopes to seal the nomination and convince the superdelegates he is the best bet to return the Democrats to the White House, he’s going to have confront Clinton with some sharp jabs, much like he did during the Myrtle Beach S.C. debate. back in January.
If Obama learned nothing else from his Texas and Ohio losses, it’s the road to the White House is filled with mines and traps that requires frontal assaults and stealth attacks, with no room for passive retreats.
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
Barack Obama, looking so Kennedyesque during the debates in Austin and Cleveland, blowing kisses to his opponent, while putting the final brushstrokes on the mosaic he pictures for America, now finds himself back on his heels, having absorbed the brunt of Clinton’s ``kitchen sink’’ attack; which included questions about his back and forth positions on NAFTA, and his ties to Tony Rezko, now involved in a corruption trial in Chicago.
Obama’s losses Tuesday night can’t solely be blamed on his opponent’s negative clap of thunder. Everyone poked fun at Hillary for going on and on and on during the debates about her crusade for universal health care; but the way the New York senator kept hammering away (``I’m sorry this issue is just too important to ignore’’) even over MSNBC’s Brian Williams and Tim Russert's objections, might have convinced voters that she is the most determined of the two about revolutionizing health care in the United States. Hillary, to her credit, scratched and clawed, and earned every vote she received on Tuesday.
In addition, Obama still isn’t connecting with Hispanics and women, two important voting blocs, who are voting in record numbers. Clinton won 58 percent of the women’s vote in Ohio, 51 percent in Texas; while taking 67 percent of the Hispanic vote in Texas, according to preliminary exit polls.
The way Obama continues to struggle attracting Latino voters makes you wonder if New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will be strong-armed into throwing his support behind the Illinois senator, who up until now, has refused to endorse either Obama or Clinton. An even stronger pipeline into reaching Hispanic voters would be to woo Richardson as Obama’s running mate.
Right now, though, what’s of utmost importance to Camp Obama is to counter Clinton’s barrage of negative attacks with some negative sorties of their one, such as more calls to look into her joint tax returns, along with harder questions about the sources of donations to the Clinton Library.
Yes, the campaign is likely to get nastier and more spirited in the coming weeks. You’re not likely to see any valedictorian concession speeches from Clinton, saying how proud she is to be running against Barack Obama; nor will we likely to hear Obama going on about how similar his policies are to his Democratic opponent. If Obama hopes to seal the nomination and convince the superdelegates he is the best bet to return the Democrats to the White House, he’s going to have confront Clinton with some sharp jabs, much like he did during the Myrtle Beach S.C. debate. back in January.
If Obama learned nothing else from his Texas and Ohio losses, it’s the road to the White House is filled with mines and traps that requires frontal assaults and stealth attacks, with no room for passive retreats.
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net
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