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Gandalf Grey
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Hillary Sinks with the 'Kitchen Sink'
By Robert Parry
Created Mar 28 2008 - 8:55am
Ever since George H.W. Bush went into "campaign mode" in 1988 and exploited
black convict Willie Horton to dirty up Michael Dukakis, it's been a staple
of modern politics that you can negate your own high negatives by driving up
those of your opponent.
Except in 1992, when the "Passportgate" scheme for demeaning Bill Clinton's
patriotism blew up in Poppy Bush's face, some effective smear has been
associated with every Bush national campaign. Think of John McCain's "black
child," Al Gore's "delusions" and the Swift Boat lies about John Kerry's
heroism.
Indeed, dirty politics has been a hallmark of the Bush Family Dynasty - and
Bill and Hillary Clinton clearly were taking notes. [For details on the Bush
schemes, see Secrecy & Privilege [1] and Neck Deep [2].]
So, perhaps it should have been expected that Hillary Clinton would borrow
the Bush family's playbook when her presidential campaign prepared to throw
"the kitchen sink" at Barack Obama. Sen. Clinton, who has long suffered from
high negatives, needed to boost up those numbers for the Illinois senator.
Sadly for the Clinton campaign, however, the strategy appears to be
backfiring. Though the coordinated attacks against Obama's character and
judgment may have damaged him some, a new poll shows that Sen. Clinton may
have hurt herself more.
"Both Democrats, and especially New York's Sen. Clinton, are showing wounds
from their prolonged and increasingly bitter nomination contest, which could
weaken the ultimate nominee for the general-election showdown against Sen.
McCain of Arizona," the Wall Street Journal reported.
"Even among women, who are the base of Sen. Clinton's support, she now is
viewed negatively by more voters than positively for the first time in a
Journal/NBC poll." [WSJ, March 27, 2008 [3]]
In a Journal/NBC poll just two weeks ago, Clinton was in positive numbers
with voters overall, 45 percent to 43 percent. However, in the new poll,
Clinton's overall negatives rose to 48 percent and her positives sank to 37
percent.
Even more stunning, Clinton is now drawing a net-negative rating among
women, with 44 percent of women having a negative impression of Clinton
versus 42 percent with a positive view. Two weeks ago, 51 percent of women
had a positive opinion of Clinton.
Clinton also is sinking among white voters, who view her negatively by 51 to
34 percent. Obama has slipped, too, with white voters, down five points, but
he still gets a net positive rating of 42 to 37 percent.
Among all voters, Obama is rated positively by 49 to 32 percent, roughly
parallel to Republican John McCain, who registered a 45 to 25 percent
positive rating.
The bottom line for Sen. Clinton may be that in throwing the "kitchen sink"
at Obama, she didn't realize that it was tied to her ankle.
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
By Robert Parry
Created Mar 28 2008 - 8:55am
Ever since George H.W. Bush went into "campaign mode" in 1988 and exploited
black convict Willie Horton to dirty up Michael Dukakis, it's been a staple
of modern politics that you can negate your own high negatives by driving up
those of your opponent.
Except in 1992, when the "Passportgate" scheme for demeaning Bill Clinton's
patriotism blew up in Poppy Bush's face, some effective smear has been
associated with every Bush national campaign. Think of John McCain's "black
child," Al Gore's "delusions" and the Swift Boat lies about John Kerry's
heroism.
Indeed, dirty politics has been a hallmark of the Bush Family Dynasty - and
Bill and Hillary Clinton clearly were taking notes. [For details on the Bush
schemes, see Secrecy & Privilege [1] and Neck Deep [2].]
So, perhaps it should have been expected that Hillary Clinton would borrow
the Bush family's playbook when her presidential campaign prepared to throw
"the kitchen sink" at Barack Obama. Sen. Clinton, who has long suffered from
high negatives, needed to boost up those numbers for the Illinois senator.
Sadly for the Clinton campaign, however, the strategy appears to be
backfiring. Though the coordinated attacks against Obama's character and
judgment may have damaged him some, a new poll shows that Sen. Clinton may
have hurt herself more.
"Both Democrats, and especially New York's Sen. Clinton, are showing wounds
from their prolonged and increasingly bitter nomination contest, which could
weaken the ultimate nominee for the general-election showdown against Sen.
McCain of Arizona," the Wall Street Journal reported.
"Even among women, who are the base of Sen. Clinton's support, she now is
viewed negatively by more voters than positively for the first time in a
Journal/NBC poll." [WSJ, March 27, 2008 [3]]
In a Journal/NBC poll just two weeks ago, Clinton was in positive numbers
with voters overall, 45 percent to 43 percent. However, in the new poll,
Clinton's overall negatives rose to 48 percent and her positives sank to 37
percent.
Even more stunning, Clinton is now drawing a net-negative rating among
women, with 44 percent of women having a negative impression of Clinton
versus 42 percent with a positive view. Two weeks ago, 51 percent of women
had a positive opinion of Clinton.
Clinton also is sinking among white voters, who view her negatively by 51 to
34 percent. Obama has slipped, too, with white voters, down five points, but
he still gets a net positive rating of 42 to 37 percent.
Among all voters, Obama is rated positively by 49 to 32 percent, roughly
parallel to Republican John McCain, who registered a 45 to 25 percent
positive rating.
The bottom line for Sen. Clinton may be that in throwing the "kitchen sink"
at Obama, she didn't realize that it was tied to her ankle.
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
