Via AP:
Hillary Rodham Clinton's deputy campaign manager wrote a memo this week urging the Democratic front-runner to bypass the Iowa caucuses, in order to spend time and resources in New Hampshire, South Carolina and several larger states hosting primaries next Feb. 5.See related post by Jim Addison below.The memo emerged days after a new Des Moines Sunday Register poll of likely caucus goers showed Clinton trailing rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama in Iowa, which is scheduled to hold the first voting contests next January 14.
"I believe we need a new approach to winning the Democratic nomination," deputy campaign manager Mike Henry wrote. "This approach involves shifting the focus away from Iowa and running a campaign that is more focused on other early primary states and winning this new national primary."
There was no indication Wednesday that Henry's advice would be heeded. Campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said both the candidate and her top advisers are committed to campaigning in Iowa and that Henry's views were not shared by others in the campaign.
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2008 Presidential Race, Hillary
Comments (4)
It wouldn't look good to sk... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Paul Hamilton | May 23, 2007 11:19 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It wouldn't look good to skip it completely, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to lower expectations a little. Make it seem like they'd consider second place to be as good as a win.
And the truth is that if Hillary could come in second in a heartland state, it really WOULD be a win.
1. Posted by Paul Hamilton | May 23, 2007 11:19 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 23, 2007 23:19
2. Posted by Jim Addison | May 24, 2007 1:15 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It worked pretty well for McCain in 2000. If you're going to lose anyway, why not skip it?
It saves $ millions for later use (the cost of each Iowa delegate won at the caucuses is the highest of any state, judging by the money spent to earn them). It lets the others duke it out and empty their treasuries to winnow down the field while you work on the following states - and aren't subject to the "winnowing," since you can't "lose" if you didn't compete.
It could be a good strategy for Hillary, BUT she needs to be the first to do it. Edwards can't, because he has invested so heavily in the state already, and it would look silly for Obama to follow. The rest are on the block anyway: only the vanity candidates Kucinich and Gravel can continue after a drubbing, since they have little or no money in any case.
Her dream situation is that leaving Iowa a two-man race increases the chances of friction between Edwards and Obama, a welcome possibility for her with the two candidates vying to be the "Anti-Hillary."
2. Posted by Jim Addison | May 24, 2007 1:15 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 24, 2007 01:15
3. Posted by Jim Addison | May 25, 2007 1:29 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I should note that Hillary's camp is saying this was an internal memo expressing the author's opinion, and is not their strategy (at least not yet).
This seems reasonable to me. In a campaign, advisers suggest and argue for various strategies all the time. Unfortunately, the tactic of leaking the memo with which you disagree has become the tried and true method of derailing an idea.
The bigger question for Hillary might be the leaks from her campaign. If she can't keep "internal" memos secret, how well could she guard the nation's secrets?
3. Posted by Jim Addison | May 25, 2007 1:29 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 25, 2007 01:29
4. Posted by Lorie Byrd | May 25, 2007 1:38 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I think it is possible that the memo was leaked by the campaign as a trial balloon to see what reaction to the possibility of her skipping Iowa would be. Am I giving Hillary too much credit?
4. Posted by Lorie Byrd | May 25, 2007 1:38 AM |
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Posted on May 25, 2007 01:38