Senator Obama, I love your campaign and what you stand for, but it's time - past time - to leave South Carolina or risk falling into the Clinton trap. The expectations game burned you in New Hampshire and now they're setting you up for Saturday. Read on for my argument why you should get out of South Carolina now, and should have already...
With Hillary gone, the message from the media and foolish pollsters is that South Carolina is yours to win in a blowout. You've done nothing to tamp down the ridiculous expectations that you will win by a double-digit margin. But we all know that is not going to happen. The Clintons will paint anything less as voters rejecting your attacks, and anything more as a race-driven response from African-American voters, ensuring a white "backlash" a few weeks later. Welcome to the world of Dick Morris politics, Senator Obama.
It's time to stop playing their games and go on your own offensive to play catch up where it really matters now: the Feb. 5 states. Your competition is Hillary - not Bill - and she's off getting a head start, leaving her husband behind - hiding behind him even - so he can bait and goad you into foolish fights that you can't win. You should be going right after her, Senator, sending a message that you're in this race to win. She's campaigning in post-SC states and you should be going there as well. You're not taking the state for granted by getting on a plane immediately and heading to California. You're showing that you refuse to let the Clintons dictate the campaign to you. And you're responding to reality: South Carolina just isn't going to be as important now as it was. The media and everyone else have already declared this race is going to Feb. 5 and beyond. South Carolina is already old news.
It's time to change the dynamics. Tell the voters of South Carolina that you're off to campaign in the states of Hillary's focus, to try and hold her accountable for the things she says about you, and that you're leaving them in the hands of a capable campaigner who can give Bill more of a fair fight: your wife, Michelle. Build her up as your South Carolina campaigner for the end of the week and let her play the lovable underdog to Bill's pit bull. While she's at it, maybe she can ask him why the Clinton health care strategy this time around is going to go any better than last time around? If Americans want universal health care, why should they keep sending the same cast of characters to the White House, playing the same political games, expecting different results? Everybody's got a health care plan. We're not voting for a plan; we're voting for a leader.
That's why it's time to speak to a broader audience. Everywhere you have been Senator, voters have responded to your inspirational message. You were far behind in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina before voters there got a chance to know you. Now you claim 2 wins and a very close second in those 3 states. Fly to California, and back to Tennessee and Georgia where you can win through Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta. Do it now. And don't let Bill and Hillary knock you off your message. There's only one place she can beat you soundly - polls have proven this - and that's wherever you are not campaigning.
So long as you stay behind in an increasingly irrelevant South Carolina, and let Hillary speak to voters on her own, her big advantage will remain. You have 50-state money, a 50-state organization, and a 50-state message. Leave Michelle behind in South Carolina and let the spouses duke it out - a fairer fight for sure. Meanwhile, you take it to the candidate. And do it now. The Feb. 5 campaign will decide whether Hillary runs away with the nomination or is in a fight all the way to the end. The race now is won in California, Missouri, Tennessee and Georgia. It's a race that is passing you by, and can't wait for South Carolina to come to an end. We will hope the Palmetto State is yours - and could use some lowered expectations anyway. Meanwhile, the rest of America awaits you. Go get her.
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