At the New Yorker, Ryan Lizza writes a piece title “The Iron Lady,” which is about as friendly to Hillary Clinton’s campaign as reality will allow – and occasionally a little friendlier.
For example, Lizza notes:
There is now, and has always been, a certain joylessness in her bearing. She has been trying to make discipline a selling point since her first “listening tour†of New York State, in the months before she ran for the United States Senateâ€â€a device designed to portray tireless commitment to voters suspicious of her carpetbagging and celebrity.
However, despite the now-typical passage on how unpopular strategist Mark Penn is with everyone in the campaign other than the Clintons, Lizza cannot bring himself to suggest that much of Clinton’s failure as a candidate is due to a lack of organization and discipline. Indeed, the “success” the Clinton campaign enjoyed in Texas and Ohio was more accident than design, the result of a “kitchen sink” attack than any finely honed message or strategy. (Even the New York Times has figured out that much.)
Even with that “success,” Lizza correctly notes: “For Clinton, it will be vital in the weeks ahead to maintain the public perception that she can still win.”  Obviously.  Although there is little to no chance that she can pass Obama in the pledged delegate count and could at best have a “moral claim” to the nomination based on the popular vote, Lizza seems to indulge the Clinton campaign spin that it could happen.
As Lizza writes near the end of the article:
This electability argumentâ€â€that Obama can be easily caricatured, that he’s weak on national security, that he’s too liberalâ€â€is not so very different from the Republican case against Obama, although the charges might be more damaging coming from a member of one’s own party, especially in a bruising campaign that may last until the Convention this August in Denver. It is tempting to say that the Clinton campaign’s plan is to burn the village in order to save itâ€â€that Hillary Clinton believes that Democrats, hypnotized by Obama, are making a historic mistake from which only she can rescue them. And it is tempting to add that this means the political destruction of the man who is still most likely to be the Democratic nominee.
Indeed, which is why Hillary Clinton is not “The Iron Lady.”  Lizza’s article actually opens with a more apt comparison:
To watch Hillary Clinton during the final two weeks of the Ohio and Texas primary campaigns, as she defiantly ignored the pronouncements of her political demise and pounded away at her opponent in one more interview, at one more rally, was to bring to mind Jason or Freddy Krueger or the sitting governor of California, those Hollywood cyborgs and zombies who, despite bullets and stakes and explosions, will not under any circumstances be vanquished.
Having stumbled into the cyborg reference, Lizza missed a better pop culture allusion: Clinton is the Terminatrix (though admittedly she is no Kristanna Loken or Summer Glau).
Lizza tries to rationalize Clinton’s campaign in his conclusion:
As ugly as it looks nowâ€â€and as ugly as it is likely to becomeâ€â€if Barack Obama becomes the Democrats’ nominee, he may thank Hillary Clinton for making him a better candidate.
But the Nietzsche by way of Conan the Barbarian rationale withers in light of what Lizza has already written.  Any GOP attacks on Obama in a general election will have more credibility because his colleague Clinton will have made similar atatcks in the nomination fight. Clinton raising questions about Obama’s relationship with Tony Rezko, currently on trial in Chicago for extortion, money laundering, and fraud has finally awakened the media to investigate the issue — much as Al Gore first raising Willie Horton in 1988 or Jerry Brown raising Whitewater in 1992. Clinton’s now famous “3 a.m. phone” ad produces a poll showing that 42% of voters most want John McCain to answer the phone, as opposed to 25% each for Clinton and Obama.
Hillary Clinton is the Terminatrix. To all appearances, she will not stop until she reaches the convention in Denver, where her liquid metal construction will allow her to morph into Jesse Jackson.
Political Undead.
– Terminatrix, RoboBitch, whatever, just keep the hits coming. Even sans the present state of circular firing squad, the Dems were always in the process of chosing which of their braindead ideologs would live to be chrushed in the 40 ton press in the general election. I’m still trying to figure out what mental midget thought that a national campaign based og cowardly retreat from a vicious enemy, increased tax burdens in the face of economic weakness and runaway fuel costs, open borders so the bankrupted edge states would be assured of no hope what so ever, and a disasterous Federally operated and funded health system as a platform was fated to resonate with anyone in America without a death wish.
– If you didn’t see it all going on with your own eyes you simply would not believe it.
I do agree with Lizza on one point. Should Barry O eventually become the nominee, and Hillary maintains her current strategy, it will force him to confront serious issues in his candidacy amongst the party faithful, and more finely hone his message prior to the general. Up until very recently, he had been able to respond to any question with “hope” and/or “change”. Stiff competition will result in him having to actively address these issues before Sen. McCain can dictate the terms of the campaign.
I agree with the prevailing thoughts that Hillary will not stop, even if it means the destruction of her party. It always was, is and always will be about her, not the country, the democrats or anyone else.
However, I doubt that ,
any more than Bush the Elder’s comments about “voodoo economics” had on Reagan’s first election.
In this case it will all be patched up and the media will conveniently forget. The MSM will unite against the republicans and revert to their usual role of cheering section for the democrats. Especially as they shill for the first black, female, fill in the blank president.
The Samson Option.
– “However, I doubt that….”
– You may doubt the effects of the Dem candidates visiting colateral damage on each other all you like, the Donkeys apparently do not share your feelings. They’d do anything to get this nomination in the bank and stem the bleeding, knowing full well every cross arrow that holds any sway with an already frustrated electorate is potential grist for McCains attack chest. As the point of the post lays out, its probably even worse owing to the very nature of the Dem candidates goals and hyper “Me-ism”, particularly in the case of Queen Hillery.
– Your example is a bad analogy. Reagan, the great communicater, brushed off the attacks on his platform with rigorous detailed responses that shattered the feeble attenpts to game the public perceptions. I remember quite well that the voters were frustrated, not unkike todays situation, and responded well to Reagans message of chamging the “good ole boy” status quo, and replacing it with an inclusion of the average working guy. Class warfare yes, but used in an entirely different way than with the Democrats deviseness. You probably had to be there to understand.
BBH–
Teh anti-Semite!!111!!!
– Dan, I for one profoundly miss the spell checker. The eyes are simply gone.
Tim P,
Please note that the example you provided is 28 years old — yet we all knew what you were talking about. Why do you think that is?
We’re a bunch of old farts?
For all her talk about how the press has demonized her and loves Obama I am waiting for the MSM to jump on her about Ireland and Rwanda. Obama may not have much experience but at least his shit isn’t made up. She seems to have the hindsight thing down pat.
Mmmmmmmm…Summer Glau.
Sorry about that.
No, no… that was my reaction, too. But you can’t think about Summer without thinking of Jewel Staite…
Mostly this sounds expensive.
Sean M.,
No one could reasonably fault you for assuming the Homer Simpson head-tilt with drool at the thought of Summer Glau.
I agree, happyfeet.
Oh, were you talking about the Dems, or Summer and Jewel… mmm… her line about batteries still gets me.
My preference is “Triangulatrix,” actually, but it hasn’t caught on yet.
Beldar! Belated happy wishes on your return to blogging. “Triangulatrix†is nice, but may never get the chance to catch on, based on current trends.
– Ok, so Sharpton isn’t waiting for the convention, or the nuclear option from the Clintons. He’s announced today he’ll sue the DNC unless they hold a full and proper primary in both Mich. and Florida. There are some prominent Dems who are Cinton supporters, trying to game it amy way they can, as long as Hildegarde gets the benefits, and they made the mistake of going public on the TV circuit over the weekend, which must have alerted him.
– First thing hes ever done in his entire career where hes got a ligitmate beef. Sen. Deb Wesselman (D,Fl) was ,mondo testy with Brit Hume on FOX on Sunday. An obvious shill for hillery, sge managed to tap dance for several minutes trying hard to not say anything. The Clintonesta’s are stuggling to find a way to game the decided upon approach in their Queens favor without being obvious. Unfortunately for the Hillery BOTs, the home boys aren’t going to go quiet;y without a real battle.
Summer Glau. Jewel Staite. Nice.
Oh, wait, I guess this post was about some political thing. I seem to have forgotten what, though.
So right, it’s embarrassing.
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