Bill Clinton Calling

Just got a pro-Martin GOTV robocall on my cell phone from Bill Clinton. Get out and vote, we need someone who can work with Barack Obama to get our economy back on track etc. The most remarkable aspect of this expected weekend before strategy is that the call hit my cell and my husband's. As Jim Galloway pointed out earlier, the Obama campaign and the DNC have made ritual of gathering and using those numbers to reach "cell phone only" voters.

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Clinton Makes Case for Martin

Clinton Stresses the Importance of the Race

Clinton and Martin Salute the Crowd

President Clinton with Ambassador Wyche Fowler


Clinton Makes a Point as Martin Looks On

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Clinton in Georgia!

(Photo Credit: Lauren Benedict)

What charisma and wisdom. President Bill Clinton was in Atlanta tonight for Jim Martin. The event at Trois was sold out by late yesterday, and at least 450 people packed the room tonight.



The Martin Campaign brought in some serious cash tonight as President Clinton energized the crowd, reminding anyone who might've forgotten what Chambliss did to his friend of 20 years Max Cleland. (To laughter, Clinton pointed out that he and Max were friends long before anyone thought either would amount to what they ultimately became.) Clinton said that he wished he had done more when Chambliss launched the awful ads against Max. Today, he stressed the importance of this race in determining the direction of the country.

I can tell you this, as David Worley said in introduction, Bill Clinton could've been anywhere in the country tonight, stumping for dozens of candidates. But he was in Georgia. And that should tell us something about the state of this race.

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Bill, Meet Tivo; Tivo, Meet Bill

Certain to be fodder for many a late night comic, the Associated Press is reporting that President Bill Clinton has a thing for Grey's Anatomy. Stop snickering. Here's what they reported:

In the final campaign push, she's tried to humanize her mother and father. She told students at Omaha's Creighton University that her father built their night around ABC-TV's "Grey's Anatomy."

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No, Actually, I'm Not Going

It's great that President Clinton is coming to Macon tomorrow. Folks have been calling this afternoon asking about whether I am going. I can't go because have a previous commitment-that's it, nothing more. I'm sure that he will be charming, smart and charismatic as usual. His visit does beg a question. During this cycle, John Edwards has been to Macon and to Americus, and Elizabeth Edwards has been here twice and has also been to Savannah. With February 5th fast approaching, neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama have been to the mid-state.

Reckon they'll come? Now, that's a good question for Bill...

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He Won't Back Down

They've taken their best shots, and John Edwards is still standing. Clinton has spent nearly nearly $15 million. She's brought in democratic heavy hitters like Madeleine Albright and, of course, Bill Clinton. Obama, too, has spent millions more than Edwards and brought none other than Oprah Winfrey to the fight. Yesterday, the InsiderAdvantage poll put Edwards back on top, and within hours, the smears and lies began. But, they haven't been able to make Edwards go away. It must be terribly frustrating.

John Edwards has done the one thing that voters most admire: he has simply stayed the course. He has remained strong and consistent, and that makes it easy for voters to believe him when he tells them that he will fight for them. He has an extraordinary field team in Iowa, and now, the Clinton campaign is saying that their internal numbers are showing an Edwards surge. One has to ask why the Clinton campaign would put out a release like this one in the Washington Post, "Clinton Advisers Point to Edwards Threat." They point to it because they know that John Edwards is poised to surprise everyone but himself (and perhaps Elizabeth) on January 3rd.

And that leads to this question:

Has Hillary Clinton conceded Iowa? For the last three weeks, her campaign has vacillated between attacking Obama and Edwards and predicting her loss in Iowa. Even Bill Clinton said it would be a miracle if she wins Iowa. Fifteen million. Bill Clinton. Madeleine Albright. Tom Harkin. Miracle. Wow. The thing is, Register endorsement not withstanding (they have endorsed the winner of the Iowa caucus exactly never), she's been in a free fall that shows no sign of relenting. And, if you're really fighting for your life in Iowa and New Hampshire, why do you send your #1 surrogate-Bill Clinton-to Georgia and North Carolina to raise money no less? Isn't that, like, the thing she needs the least? It looks like she's conceding Iowa and now trying to build a firewall with the 2/5 states, and that may be not just her best, but her only viable strategy.

Here's her problem: Lots of undecideds will make their ultimate decision not on policy but on the person-on who they'd rather have over for dinner. It's hard to imagine that visceral vote going to Hillary Clinton. Either Edwards or Obama are much more likely to get those dinner invitations. And, she knows it.

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You Might As Well Be Polling Canada

In political circles, when talk of national polls surfaces, a phrase commonly heard is "you might as well be polling Canada." That refers to the lack of application of those polls to the actual, state by state, primary process. Well, President Clinton, in defending his wife's electability issue, has taken it to a whole new level-siting actual polls of foreign countries. See the quote below from the Washington Post:

The former president observed that George W. Bush won the majority of counties in New York in 2000 (Al Gore still won the state as the most populous areas are heavily Democratic). But in 2006, when Hillary Clinton ran for reelection, she won the vast majority of the Bush counties.
The ex-president even noted a recent survey by a Canadian polling group called Angus Reid showing that more than 40 percent of residents in Germany, France and other European countries wanted to see Hillary Clinton elected president, putting her far-ahead of the other candidates. Clinton noted Americans like to make their own decisions, but argued this was a very important consideration because many countries have been frustrated by the policies of the Bush administration. "You want to fix America's standing in the world, elect Hillary," Clinton said.

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Electability a "Hill of Beans?"

Campaigning today with his wife, Sen. Clinton, President Bill Clinton tried to counter arguments that she would have a tough time winning the general election. From the Washington Post:

"In Portsmouth, he sought to knock down arguments that his wife wouldn't be able to win a general election. He cited polling in several states showing her leading most Republicans in hypothetical matchups.
"This electabliity thing is a canard. It's a hill of beans," the former president said, adding he believed Americans would elect the best candidate."

Really? So, did Americans elect the best candidate in 2000 and 2004??? I admire President Clinton, but he is ignoring his wife's obvious weakness here. She does energize the Republican base in a way none of the GOP candidates can hope to do. In any candidate field, there are candidates who are easier to get elected than others, and in this field, Hillary does not win the "electability" contest, and frankly, the fact that the Clinton campaign is now addressing this directly underscores the fact that it is an issue.

Last week, at the health care forum, Edwards had her addressing his issue of lobbyist contributions, and today, she retools her speech to address the issue of whether she can be a change agent (something raised effectively by both Obama and Edwards). For the first time in the campaign, she is no longer controlling the message and the debate.

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