HILLARY GOOFED IN DEM DEBATE
Jo
By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
July 30, 2007
(This column has not been published, but is being sent exclusively to
our list of subscribers)
The polling is in and Hillary made a big mistake in her sharp
disagreement with Obama over whether the president should meet with
leaders of rogue nations. According to the Rasmussen Poll, Democrats
agree with Obama over Hillary by 55%-22%. Without a poll to pretest
her comments, Hillary instinctively took the "insider" position that
the president should only meet with such leaders after extensive
probing by subordinates to assure that the meetings would be
productive. But she was wrong. Democrats want the president to meet
with leaders of such nations without pre conditions.
At the South Carolina Democratic Presidential debate, Hillary and
Obama clashed over Obama's statement that he would meet with leaders
of rogue nations like North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran if he
were president. Hillary said that she would not do so and would not
allow herself to be used for "propaganda purposes."
All week, Hillary pounded out her message, enlisting former Secretary
of State Madeline Albright and her possible future Secretary of State
Dick Holbrooke to speak up on behalf of her position. She blasted
Obama as "naïve," one of her few direct attacks on her opponent. For
his party, Obama ridiculed her position as "Bush Cheney lite," a
comment that got under Hillary's skin.
The exchange had little real significance during the two hour debate,
but Hillary's obsession with the issue all week has given it real
importance. She made a big mistake in the debate and amplified it all
week.
Why? Perhaps Hillary is not using polling the way Bill always did -
to pretest and post test all important issues. If she had, she would
not have locked into the minority position among Democratic primary
voters and would not have stayed with that view all week.
Maybe her campaign staff was caught flatfooted for once.
The fact is that this week's debate was the first time the two
Democrats have clashed seriously since the contest began early this
year. This round definitely goes to Obama.
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