October 30, 2007
Drama at Drexel?
If you’re listening to the media reports of the day, tonight’s Democratic presidential debate at Drexel University in Philly promises a bloodbath.
It is, the pundits say, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s moment to leave a floundering field of also-rans behind, to show, as her campaign has pitched again and again, that she has the strength and experience to be president.
Those same marketers of conventional wisdom assert that if Illinois Sen. Barack Obama doesn’t step up tonight with a firm and convincing argument for his candidacy, and with a meaningful critique of Clinton (see Iran or health care or her Iraq vote or the fear of a Bush/Clinton cyclical dynasty), he’s through. He is under enormous pressure to draw tangible distinctions, to get tough, to show his supporters (and funders) that he’s in the fight. Politics of hope, be damned. We’ll see.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, meanwhile, has so struggled to make headway in the polls that he, too, despite a solid following in Iowa, faces a growing challenge in defining how an Edwards presidency would actually differ from a Clinton or Obama administration. Talk of public financing of campaigns and Clinton’s special interest cash just hasn’t jazzed voters.
But with all the build-up, the candidates have only to look back four years to see that sometimes patience alone, coupled with a steady message of electability, wins out -- even if the on-fire frontrunner once seemed invincible. Frontrunners have a knack for fumbling.
Ask Howard Dean.
But a relentlessly-disciplined Clinton enters the Drexel face-off with undeniably strong national poll numbers and a growing lead in New Hampshire. According to a survey released late last week by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, HRC has a 21-point lead over Obama. And her team is prepping for those anticipated attacks, which could be levied by second tier candidates as well.
“Does the’ politics of hope’ mean launching attacks on one candidate?” wrote Mark Penn, Clinton’s chief strategist, in a memo posted on the campaign’s Website. “Or does it mean laying out a vision for the American people? Does it mean questioning a rival’s integrity? Or does it mean talking about the change we need?”
The debate – the Democrats’ seventh – will be hosted by NBC’s Brian Williams with questions from Tim Russert.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Posted at 08:36 PM
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