Hillary loses her asset

Michael Tomasky:

Just three weeks ago, it was an article of faith that was beyond questioning: Bill Clinton was his wife's greatest asset in her presidential campaign. The former president was loved by all Democrats. Practically all he had to do was walk into any roomful of Democratic voters, remind them of the prosperity of the 1990s, and the deal would be closed. All but the most truculent would leave the room committed Hillaryites.

Today? Consider this exit-poll data point from Saturday's voting in South Carolina, where Barack Obama romped to a two-to-one victory over Hillary Clinton. Voters were asked to rate the importance of Bill Clinton's campaigning as a factor in determining how they voted. A majority, 58%, said that the former president's campaigning - he spent last week in the state lobbing volley after boorish volley at Obama (and at the media), while his wife was mostly elsewhere - was important. And guess what? Those 58% voted for Obama, 48% to 37%.

Granted, Obama won by far more among the 39% who said that Bill Clinton's role wasn't an important factor. But the fact that Obama carried the day among the 58% is staggering. As we move to the 22-state primary-palooza of February 5, the key question for the Clinton campaign - in a way for Obama's team as well - is what to do about this.

Early signs from camp Clinton suggest that the former president has not been given his sedative. Saturday evening, after it was known that Obama was cruising to victory, Bill Clinton made the less than gracious observation that "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in 84 and 88". The comment struck a lot of people as one more inappropriate and dismissive attempt to pigeonhole Obama as "just the black guy".

That could be written off as one more instance of Bill Clinton's off-the-cuff freelancing. But on Saturday night, his wife's campaign made the bewildering decision to send Mr Clinton out to deliver what was in essence her concession speech. Hillary Clinton spoke only much later - after Obama, which broke with custom. By that time the cable channels had lost interest, and they cut away from her after a few minutes.

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Perhaps they sent him out because it was his election to lose and he did. With the Clintons the comment about Jesse Jackson was probably more spin than racist. These people spin everything including their vacation destinations. But what is clear is that they gave South Carolina their best shot and lost big time.