Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Hillary's Campaign Blabber Mouths

During WWII there was a slogan - "Loose Lips Sink Ships." The Russian version at the left was "Don't Blab!" I just don't understand the Clinton campaign's habit of chatting up reporters on their campaign and convention strategies that common sense suggests be kept secret.
  • They had a strategy of focusing their campaigning on Hispanics as a "firewall." Objectively, that was a good idea - until they started bragging about it. Since then, her Latino support has been bleeding away.
  • They had a strategy of aiming for big wins in Texas and Ohio while sacrificing Wisconsin. I don't think it was a sound strategy, but at least it was a plan. They blabbed about it. Dissing the Badger State like that was risking getting blown out, so they had to abandon their plan and commit both money and Hillary to the state. Meanwhile, Obama's campaign hurried up their organizing in Texas and Ohio. The loose lips squandered any chance of gaining an organizational head start in those two states. Both Clinton and Obama have six field offices in Texas now; Obama has 17 offices in Ohio to Clinton's four.
  • They had a strategy of overcoming any Obama lead in pledged delegates by copping a huge majority of the superdelegates. This is a plan best kept secret. It wasn't. Oh Boy! Was it ever not kept secret. Clinton staffers were falling over themselves talking up the plan. When the plan became widely known those superdelegates, notoriously risk-adverse politicians, disavowed any participation. There has been no cavalcade of superdelegates joining Clinton after the plan was publicized. Indeed, there have been a slow trickle of defectors from her camp. Chatting up the plan doomed it.
  • Their latest strategy is to persuade pledged Obama delegates to switch sides. Setting aside the morality of this strategy, this is a plan that absolutely had to be kept top secret. Publicly announcing a plan to subvert election results at the convention is insane.
The Clinton campaign can't seem to keep their collective mouths shut. I am a advocate of open government but a little wisdom is required. For example, you don't chat up reporters about a good looking CIA chick whose running a network keeping an eye on Iran. Hillary's campaign staff is setting records for idle prattle. Clinton's staffers are drowning out the candidate with their mania for revealing secrets. Six months ago I wrote that Clinton had a well-run campaign. I was wrong. McCain will make mincemeat of this bunch of flibbertigibbets.

Note #1: I deliberately avoided words with sexist connotations. This is not a gender question, it is a matter of a campaign being sunk by its own amateurish, uncontrolled leakage.

Note #2: Yes, I know flibbertigibbet can mean "chattering gossip, flighty woman" but, come on, who knows that? I just think it is a damn, fine word.

Note #3: DailyKos discovered another amateur failure of the Clinton campaign. Her campaign failed to file a full slate of delegates for the Pennsylvania primary. Pennsylvania is supposed to be one of her firewall states and they pull an unnecessary blunder like this? Is it a bad time to remember that Clinton's new campaign manager, Maggie Williams, is a close personal friend of Hillary who has never run a campaign before in her life? Shows much?

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