Obama needs to join Hillary in the gutter
Attacks tipped scales her way, and now it's time to fight back
DALLAS, Texas -- A lot of Barack Obama supporters woke up Wednesday with a Texas-sized headache.
After fighting their way through a convoluted caucus procedure set up to dole out a third of the state's delegates, and staying up half the night watching the vote returns push Hillary Clinton three percentage points ahead to win the state, an adage held up:
After fighting their way through a convoluted caucus procedure set up to dole out a third of the state's delegates, and staying up half the night watching the vote returns push Hillary Clinton three percentage points ahead to win the state, an adage held up:
Too often, good guys finish last.
Too often, good guys finish last.
When the dust settled, Clinton -- who went with attack ads targeting Obama's lack of experience on international issues -- won Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island and turned the conversation from Obama's delegate lead to her dramatic comeback.
Despite the hype about the public detesting negative campaigning, in the days leading up to the showdown the Clinton campaign was able to spin the media on its heels with complaints that we were soft on Obama.
Her well-orchestrated assault began when Clinton took the media to task during the MSNBC debates, actually referring to a "Saturday Night Live" skit. Journalists turned up the heat on Obama, pressuring him about his friendship and professional dealings with Tony Rezko, the Chicago developer who went to trial this week on corruption and fraud charges.
Granted, it's merely a coincidence that the Rezko story ripened days before the big Texas and Ohio primaries. But Obama was practically skewered by the press on questions related to Rezko. Meanwhile, Clinton's stonewalling on the release of her tax returns, and the Clintons' friendship with people who ended up in legal trouble weren't mentioned.
It didn't help that Obama mishandled the dust-up surrounding his campaign economic adviser and University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee. After initially denying Goolsbee met with Canadian officials to smooth over Obama's strident comments regarding NAFTA, a memo surfaced that indicated some kind of meeting did in fact take place.
Whether or not Goolsbee told officials Obama's views were just "rhetoric" remains unclear since Goolsbee denies that the memo accurately reflected his conversation. But that isn't the point. The point is Obama should have known exactly what took place before he talked to the media. That he was put into the position of appearing to be less credible days before the high-stakes primaries cost him.
For some voters who were still on the fence, the repeated sound bites on the NAFTA gaffe were enough to push them into the Hillary camp.
Although Obama still holds on to his lead with elected delegates -- 1,520 to Clinton's 1,424 -- his defeats in Texas and Ohio should cause a shift in his campaign strategy.
"He may have to change his tactics," noted Emil Jones, the Illinois Senate president and Obama's longtime political sponsor.
"He is a person who doesn't like gutter politics. That is why he hasn't done all that. He doesn't like that type of politics," Jones said. "He would never attack Blair Hull [Obama's opponent in the primary for the Senate seat] for his problems. The Clintons will do anything. He needs some attack dogs."
So far, Obama has shunned the cadre of old guard grass-roots organizers who were seasoned in political battles where opponents sought to exploit class and race divides. Despite receiving the public endorsement of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, for instance, Obama has kept his distance. On the campaign trail, Obama has been surrounded by a new guard of highly educated, successful African Americans who, to their credit, have taken the high road when the campaign has been under scurrilous attacks, such as the mysterious dissemination of a photograph of Obama in a turban.
But Tuesday's defeats may have been a turning point.
On Wednesday, the Obama campaign circulated a memo to reporters that raised questions about Clinton's refusal to release her tax returns.
"In the face of her unwillingness to release her tax returns, Hillary Clinton has made the false case in this campaign that she is more electable because she has been fully vetted," the memo stated.
Unfortunately, the memo is a little too late.
Given the fierce nature of the battle for the Democratic nomination, Obama is going to have to find himself some attack dogs.