Trumping Hillary's victim card

Thomas Lifson:

Has Hillary Clinton's candidacy for the Democrats' nomination gone from "inevitable" to "doomed" in the space of a few weeks? Momentum always is a precious factor as the compressed primary season looms, with undecideds making up their minds and contributors wanting to back the likely winner

But special circumstances surround the junior senator from New York. For years she has exercised what seem like special powers, as well-entrenched Clinton allies in the press and a political machine unmatched in resources and ruthlessness served to support her version of the narrative in major conflicts with her enemies. Generous use of victim status also has always been a winner for her in then past.

Think of the treatment poor Rick Lazio received when he "violated her space" during a debate in her run for the Senate. I have never, before or since, heard of another candidate using the concept of personal space to target and demonize an opponent. But with Hillary's superpowers, such narratives could be made to stick, at least among those members of the voting public who don't expose themselves to much beyond the New York Times/CBS/NBC/ABC/CNN media bubble.

But the old tactics she has used with success no longer work against Barack Obama. Hillary's superpowers have met their version of kryptonite.

Obama is a seemingly nice guy, inspiring to some with his rhetoric of change and hope. And of course he is black. She can't really out-victim him. To switch metaphors, his victim card is a King, while hers is only a Queen. And being a sympathetic character to many, attacks on him, such as the accusation of little Barry being a kindergartener consumed with ambition to be president, have a way of backfiring on her.

It doesn't help at all that she is not at her best when straying from well-crafted talking points, as demonstrated by her inability to give a straight answer on drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants under repeated debate questioning. She is simply not very experienced at responding to cross examination from the media or opponents. Hers has been a regal approach, and it worked until very recently.

Obama, in contrast, can be quick and even funny on occasion, as with his Des Moines debate wisecrack about hoping she will be his advisor. Her established repertoire of soundbites and poses has been falling flat, but she does not seem to be coming up with any new winners so far. The cackle gambit, introduced on Meet the Press, and then revived when baiting the intended trap for Obama in Des Moines with the question about ex-Clinton advisors on his team, has been a disaster.

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there is much more. Obama does come across as a nice guy, but his policies would be a disaster for this country. Clinton's problem is that she fears attacking him on his worst policy, the war in Iraq, because the kooks in her party are singing Barak's tune. So, she piddles around the edges attacking on other weak policies and comes off sounding shrill. If she can't attack him substantively on his weakest polices and get off the defensive about the things she has done right on Iraq and Iran, she is going to have a hard time winning.