Senator Hillary Clinton has been a woman that has continually placed herself in various situations that have helped to put her in very prominent positions. She has been the First Lady and is now a Senator in New York fighting to be the Democratic nominee for the 2008 Presidential Election. Senator Clinton’s campaign has been greatly fueled by the fact that her husband is President William Jefferson Clinton. Senator Clinton has had the privilege of having a great deal of talented members as a part of her campaign. Although her campaign has a star studded crew, in the past few months her campaign has been riddled with problems. As time goes on, Senator Clinton will have to decide how she wants her campaign to be remembered and the steps she wants to take regarding her campaign.One of the greatest problems that the Clinton campaign has had to deal with has been the financial situation of the campaign. As the Clinton campaign goes on it has struggled to advertise, campaign, maintain good publicity and stay afloat with the small amount of funds that they have had available. In comparison to the McCain and Obama campaigns, the Clinton campaign had more overall support and funding coming into the nomination process. The steam of the Clinton campaign has been dying down as the race to the Democratic nomination and possible road to the White House continues. Senator Clinton continues to tell her supporters and those whose vote she is attempting to garner, that she is the only Democratic candidate that can "beat the Republican attack machine." Clinton assures her supporters that she will be able to run a successful campaign that will beat the Republican nominee, while she continues to have trouble with her staff and her campaign, in general.
A particular problem that the Clinton campaign has run into has been the resignation or forced
resignation of a number of prominent people involved in the campaign. Some were forced to resign because of slander directed at Senator Obama and his campaign, Geraldine Ferraro resigned from a position she claimed not to have held, and a change occurred at the top of the campaign in February, when Patti Sollis Doyle, Clinton campaign manager, resigned from her position. The most recent blow to the Clinton campaign has been the resignation of Senator Clinton's strategist Mark Penn. Senator Clinton and her campaign are attempting to spin the resignation, by showing that Penn met with Colombia on his accord for his PR company, and Penn even admitted that his meeting with the Colombian government was an error in judgment, an admission which resulted in his company losing the Colombian contract. The Penn resignation might be of some help to Hillary, rather than a hindrance because of the amount of division Penn brought to the campaign , in contrast to his advice. This only speaks volumes to what has already been going on in the Clinton campaign and has been hindering forward progress, resulting in the Obama campaign gaining momentum. The Clinton campaign needs to work on coming together and , at least outwardly, show that the campaign can stand as one and does not have any holes.There are a few questions that Senator Clinton must ponder in the coming weeks and possible months that may lay ahead. The biggest question is if she will stay in the Democratic nomination race and if she does, how will she and her campaign staff curtail some of the damage that has been done by Senator Clinton herself, and her campaign. A large number of people believe that it is time for Senator Clinton to drop out of the Democratic nomination race, although in the current polls (conducted by Rasmussen Reports), Senator Clinton is only losing by 8 percentage points. The call for Senator Clinton to step down and concede this race comes largely from a belief that Senator Obama has gained momentum. An issue that overshadows momentum in the Democratic nomination is trust. The American people have to believe that whomever the Democratic nominee is, they can trust that person and they way that they will run their campaign. Aside from the comments that Samantha Power made about Senator Clinton, the Obama campaign has run a fairly clean campaign thus far.
In the end, the final question is will the handicap that Senator Clinton began this Democratic nomination race with because of her husband and his success as the President of the United States hold up, or will the steady gait of the Obama campaign overtake the Clinton dynasty. The superdelegates and the American people have a say in whom the Democratic nominee will be, and they must keep in mind whom they are voting for. Those who are on the side of Senator Clinton need to remember that this will not be Bill's third term, if Senator Clinton is elected she will be the President not her husband.
1 comment:
Very interesting blog. As a public policy major I too am intrigued by the election, as you are, and am very curious about the situation between Obama and Clinton. I think your assessment of the current state of the election is accurate. I really find it interesting that you questioned whether or not Hillary’s husband Bill is going to hurt her more then help her. I have been wondering that exact same thing, and have been debating it often in my classes. I think that one of the reasons why Hillary might be loosing momentum, is because people are starting to realize that Hillary Clinton is not the same thing as Bill Clinton. I believe her initial boost in popularity can be partly attributed to the fact that she is a Clinton, and since many people feel that Bill was a great president, they felt as though Bill were running again through her. Im sure reality is starting to sink in that they are not one in the same.
I wonder however, how much her campaign “glitches” are truly contributing to the fact that she is loosing. I tend to think that these hiccups she is facing is not as much of an issue as is the fact that she is perceived as not being very likable. When you combine this with the fact that she is running against a man who has been compared to Martin Luther King in his likeability and speaking abilities, I can see how she would be falling behind.
On the whole, this was a strong post. Your links were useful in further assessing the issues and I applaud you for taking such an interest in our government. However, I believe that your post would have been even stronger if you had included some of your personal views on the topic. I would have liked to have known whether or not you feel the issues on Hillary’s campaign will result in her loss of the nomination. I would also be curious to hear more about whether you feel that Bill Clinton is hurting or helping her. Nevertheless, this was a strong post and one in which I take personal interest in.
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