I believe that Hillary Clinton is actively trying to undermine the Democratic Nominee for President out of spite. Her campaign staffers are betraying the party and the causes they claim to support. The truth of the matter is that this is about money, and shills need to pay their bills from renovations of their mansions. They want us, the people who are struggling to buy a tank of gas to get to work, to do it. They, like the politician they represent, are shameless.

  Mark Penn hates you. Everything Penn believes in--or, at least, everything he does to make money--runs counter to the very change that millions of Americans are thirsting for. Barack Obama has signaled to his top contributors that they should help retire Sen. Clinton's campaign debt. There should be one demand by those willing to make such a contribution--not a dime for Mark Penn.

Gail Sheehy's Vanity Fair piece "Hillaryland at War" is a must-read for political junkies.

I'll give credit to Sheehy. How can one NOT read a piece about Hillary's campaign that starts:

Are you here for the Deathwatch?"...That was how my friends in the traveling press corps welcomed me into the bub­ble of the Clinton campaign plane. It was three days before the March 4 Democratic primaries in Ohio and Texas, and they were boarding the 737 with the sullen obedience of inmates after an outing in the yard. Some had been following the once inevitable front-runner since the January 3 Iowa caucus when she was first pronounced to be in a "slump."

The ludicrous idea that votes from Clinton supporters would somehow make up for McCain defectors is merely the latest fairy tale brought to you by those same Washington soothsayers who said Fred Thompson was the man to beat and that young people don’t turn up to vote.

So reads the final paragraph of Frank Rich's column this morning, entitled Angry Clinton Women ♥ McCain?.  It is worth reading, full of the cogent observations and pointed prose we have come to expect of Rich.  I will leave most of that for you to read on your own.  In this diary I want to explore the analysis he makes of the data from the poll itself.

I guess taking a lead from Sunday's DailyKos post-mortem on the 2008 Democratic Primary, Clinton campaign strategist (and Jabba the Hutt impersonator) Mark Penn sat down with GQ to discuss Why She Lost.

A New York Times article reports that Bill Clinton played a big role in the Clinton Campaign adopting an aggressively negative tone, emphasizing sharp attacks on Barack Obama.

The Long Road to a Clinton Exit

Backed by Bill Clinton, Mr. Penn pushed for aggressive attacks on Mr. Obama, something other advisers resisted. At one point, Mr. Penn argued that Mrs. Clinton should find subtle ways to exploit what he called Mr. Obama’s "lack of American roots," referring to his Kenyan father and his childhood years in Indonesia and even the offshore state of Hawaii, the campaign officials said. Mr. Penn recommended that Mrs. Clinton own the word "American"

As the campaign went into the Spring Bill Clinton took a larger role in calling the shots in Hillary's Campaign.

Theme of the day at DK, continued courtesy of the NY Times...for better or worse, it's newsworthy, timely and we need to get the laundry aired out sooner than later so we can all focus on the prize...

The handiwork of Mark Penn

Backed by Bill Clinton, Mr. Penn pushed for aggressive attacks on Mr. Obama, something other advisers resisted. At one point, Mr. Penn argued that Mrs. Clinton should find subtle ways to exploit what he called Mr. Obama’s “lack of American roots,” referring to his Kenyan father and his childhood years in Indonesia and even the offshore state of Hawaii, the campaign officials said. Mr. Penn recommended that Mrs. Clinton own the word “American” — she should talk about the “American century” and her “American Strategic Energy Fund,” and so forth. She should add flag symbols to her logo, he suggested.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

What a tool. Rather than congratulating Obama for winning a great race, fairly and graciously, with more elected delegates from those who voted in primaries and caucuses, Mark Penn, in a New York Times op-ed instead credits the superdelegates for pushing Obama over the top, and blames "low-turnout caucuses" (a talking point throughout Clinton's campaign as being "undemocratic" and "unfair"), blames the media, and blames just about anything and anyone but himself, for the loss.

...as Barack Obama gained enough superdelegates to put him over the top. ... But she went from a lead of 120 superdelegates in early February to a deficit of 40 before last Tuesday.

Given her successes in high-turnout primary elections and defeats in low-turnout caucuses, that simple fact may just have had a lot more to do with who won than anyone imagines.

more...

I saw that the entire Kos crew was going to be doing the Clinton campaign post postmortem tomorrow and thought I would do one too. My general perception gleaned from comments spread around the sight is that most people focus on her Iraq war vote. I do not feel that is the biggest reason for her loss. I believe that there are two things that combined to cause the Clinton campaign defeat. The first is the hiring of Mark Penn as Chief Strategist and Pollster and the second is Hillary Clinton’s choice of loyalty over results.

Throughout the Primary season, we've heard about how sexism has hobbled Hillary Clinton's Presidential bid. Some of those charges are spot-on; are are mere hyperbole and hyperventilation. But could it be that the largest bastion of sexism was within the Clinton campaign itself?

The Wall Street Journal kicks off the Hillary Clinton for President 2008 Post-Mortem Field Day with a long article analyzing the mistakes of her campaign. Jackie Calmes sings the familiar refrain that Clinton didn't let the voters see her true colors:

Mark Penn is again revealed as the worst political consultant in Washington in an interesting article in today's Boston Globe. Among the many, many examples of his incredibly bad judgement, this one is particularly memorable:

At a social event last spring at the home of Mark Penn, then Hillary Clinton's chief strategist and one of the most prominent and well-compensated Democratic consultants in the business, a fellow Democrat wondered aloud if freshman Senator Barack Obama might wrest the nomination from the well-connected New York senator.

Penn, the dinner guest said, waved his hand dismissively. "Flash in the pan," Penn said, adding that the Clinton campaign saw former North Carolina senator John Edwards as her biggest challenge.

There, in a nutshell, is the arrogance, entitlement and bad judgement of the chief strategist to the Clinton campaign.

Why exactly is this guy the "one of the most prominent and well-compensated Democratic consultants in the business"?

As I listened to Hillary's "I" speech tonight, I was reminded how many times I mentioned she was a Republican. Some people laughed, others agreed and others scratched their heads.

Tonight's "I" speech and gracious less performance cemented any doubts I may have had.

Hillary had a chance to be gracious in defeat and mend fences, but she chose Penn/Rove style politics.  

Hmmmm...

Even if reports that Hillary Clinton will acknowledge Barack Obama has enough votes to win, one man is urging her to stay in it.

Former top strategist Mark Penn, reviled by many on Hillary's staff but still an important voice in the candidate's ear, has emerged (to no one's surprise) as the strongest advocate of her remaining in the race regardless of what happens in the next 24 hours, according to sources inside the campaign.

In contrast to the "realist faction" (which reportedly includes Penn's replacement Geoff Garin, communications chief Howard Wolfson and others), Penn is advising the Clintons to remain in the race through the convention -- just in case another Rev. Wright-type scuffle breaks out.

His argument: Suspend the campaign if you must, but don't end it, because all those Obama supers will flock to Hillary if more dirt on O emerges before the convention.

I fired up my computer this morning to be confronted with the news that Clinton is STILL trying to poach superdelegates from Obama.  In spite of all the calls for her to drop out, in spite of all the marshaling of facts and figures, she will not concede.  I've felt for weeks now that she is very likely to take this fight all the way to the convention, and that feeling is growing stronger, not weaker, as time goes by.

Why are Clinton and her diehard supporters refusing to give up in the face of impossible odds?

I’ll make this statement one last time and then I’ll hopefully never "utter" these words again.  I gave up on the Clintons in S. Carolina.  It was the final straw for me.  I gave up on the Democratic Party for not standing up to them.  I became an Independent, but I can’t walk away from the party completely.  I was born a Democrat, and in my heart, I will probably always be one.  I keep waiting for the party to show its courage (and with Barack Obama and Howard Dean’s help, it just may at some point in the future).  What I saw after S. Carolina, was a man who wanted to change the face of politics being battered by politicians who couldn’t let go of the old ways.  Because of his colleagues’ fear, Obama  might have stood alone if it weren’t for the bravery of his supporters who refused to accept "politics as usual".  Has this primary process engendered a bit of bitterness for some of us?  You bet.  Is it helpful to hang onto to it? Probably not.

(Update: Read this diary through CAREFULLY. I've supported Sen. Obama's campaign wholeheartedly. Think that through as you read and put down the red meat).

It's about Character Assassination, not physical assassination.

Hillary isn't calling for you to assassinate Obama, she's calling you to THINK and WORRY about it.

She doesn't think he'll be assassinated, as far as she knows.
He's not a Muslim, as far as she knows.
He doesn't have the support of working whites, as far as she knows.

It's just another part of her "waiting for the horse to talk" strategy.

It is early morning down at the Clinton headquarters, and a serious strategy meeting about their upcoming tactics toward the nomination is about to begin. In a smoky backroom, a number of high-ranking Clinton team members eat breakfast. Sitting at a table are Maggie Williams, Terry McAuliffe, James Carville, and Hillary Clinton. They’re flustered, exhausted, and a little ambivalent.

Maggie Thank you all for coming in this morning. We have a lot of business to discuss.

McAuliffe Bloody Marys?

Maggie What?

McAuliffe Do you have Bloody Marys?

Maggie Are you kidding?

Enter Mark Penn.

Penn Sorry I’m late.

Maggie Hillary, what is he doing here???

How Ironic that the two people who single handedly ruined her chances to win the democratic nomination are subjecting her to a public humiliation. How sad
Bill Clinton whose lack of self discipline played a significant role in derailing his wife's campaign and still does to see it, is another sign that the HRC’s Campaign was all about Bill.

However, faced with growing pressure to drop out of the race, Sen. Clinton is getting hit with conflicting advice from within her own camp. Some of her top strategists are warning that she is injuring her political future by staying in. Others -- notably her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and strategist Mark Penn-- are urging her to remain in the race. She has beaten Sen. Barack Obama in key swing states, they argue.