The Gloves Come off
They say politics ain’t beanbag (confused? think hackey sack) so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the gloves have come off in the Democratic race for President. Hillary Clinton’s campaign is running ads here in Wisconsin attacking Barack Obama for not agreeing to debate and for falling short of promising universal health care coverage for all Americans.
The interesting thing is that she is basically correct on the merits but it doesn’t seem to matter. Obama deftly dismisses her criticisms as old-style politics and calls attention to her past support for NAFTA and bankruptcy reform which were not in the best interests of the poor and middle class.
His rhetorical jujitsu is something to behold. He is such a natural politician, combining a remarkable personal history with an outstanding command of policy and a riveting speaking style that people are falling victim to the Obama swoon.
At one time, Bill Clinton was the reigning practitioner of this art. As recently as fall, 2006, the former President had the touch. He filled the Milwaukee Theatre at a rally in support of Gov. Jim Doyle’s bid for reelection and he was in fine form. The place rocked as Bill segued from praising Doyle to critiquing President Bush and the crowd loved him (the Clinton swoon was in the air).
Shift back to the present and the bloom seems off the Clinton rose; a development nobody could have predicted mere weeks ago. Obama is the rock star at this point in time and Bill Clinton seems like yesterday’s news.
Obama drew 18,000 to the Kohl Center in Madison, and thousands more in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Green Bay and everywhere he goes. President Clinton, the most popular Democrat since John F. Kennedy, has only been drawing much smaller crowds including 2-300 here in Milwaukee on Thursday.
Arguably, Bill Clinton has only himself to blame with comments about Obama like the “fairy tale” remark in New Hampshire and the comparison to Jesse Jackson in South Carolina. Here in Wisconsin he’s been more careful. He gave a fine speech Thursday but he comes across as a link to the past and that’s not a formula for success this year.
Obama still needs to finish strong and I know better than to count out the Clintons but there’s an undeniable feeling in the air that this Obama thing is the real deal.
The ad wars are nicely documented here by the New York Times. If you want to dig further and try to make sense of the differences on health care reform check out http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/theyve_got_you_covered.html.
Finally, Doyle’s appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews is worth watching. Wisconsin is the center of the political universe for a few days so enjoy the ride.
Obama and Clinton are both scheduled to speak at tonight’s Democratic dinner at the Midwest Airlines Center. The fireworks may be visible all the way to Superior.
