Their original plan appears to have been:

1. Raise a bunch of money from a few rich donors
2. Make speeches carefully worded to pander to voters without saying anything substantive that might be used against her
3. Put an organization in place to go after the big primaries, and ignore those annoying little caucus states for the most part
4. Be so far ahead after ‘Super Tuesday’ (Feb 5, 2008, a day that will live in infamy) that money will continue to roll in for the general election and coast to the nomination and crowning!

So what went wrong? Well everything really! Obama won the first ‘event’, a caucus, in Iowa. I’m sure the Clinton team thought “pfft, it’s a caucus, big deal, and we only just lost (well, ok, third), and we’ll be ahead shortly, stay the course”. She wins New Hampshire and they must feel like they’re back on track (remember ‘comeback kid’ in 1991?). February 5 comes along, and she doesn’t get the big lead. Money is POURING into the Obama campaign and the organizations are getting put together in EVERY state. Maybe they realized team Clinton had ignored the caucuses and went after those. Edwards doesn’t drop out which probably hurt Clinton further.

After a string of losses in caucuses and small state primaries, despite winning some HUGE STATES (CA, NY, PA, TX sorta, etc.), she still found herself behind, but the strategy had STILL NOT CHANGED except perhaps by highlighting her ‘experience’ over Obama’s message of ‘change’. ‘Experience’ came across as “more of the same” and “old”. Meanwhile Obama got a GIGANTIC push from Oprah Winfrey. “He is the one” she said, over and over. The crowd went nuts. Even I got goosebumps.

After it was already too late, her stump speeches began to get more specific, less boring, and less condescending and self-congratulatory. After agreeing that the results in Florida and Michigan, two HUGE and IMPORTANT states, wouldn’t count because they moved their primaries before Super Tuesday, team Clinton THEN decides they want to fight for them. Everyone saw through this as typical Clinton old school spin. But it was too late. Despite Obama scandals and distractions, he would not be denied. CNN, NBC, MSNBC, most bloggers, and idealistic twenty somethings had already fallen madly in love with him.

And then there’s Bill. The ex-President who is loved by so many as the creator of peace and prosperity in the 90′s. Well he quickly reminded people he has a temper and a mean streak too, and, like Hillary, is astoundingly arrogant. He did his wife NO FAVORS in this campaign, and without question cost her a ton of votes.

Other nails in the coffin were Hillary and Bill’s ‘flubs’, probably the most notable was her claiming to have landed in Bosnia under sniper fire when video showed she was greeted casually by smiling children with flowers! Unfairly or not, I think in people’s minds this might have subconsciously become linked to Bill’s “I did not have sex with that woman…” finger wagging bold faced lie. So she faced a credibility gap too.

And so today she finally conceded. Ms. “Inevitable” barely smiled. She wanted the speech to be historic, but it was still painful for her to deliver. She now clearly wants the VP spot, and I currently think it WOULD help Obama win the Presidency, BUT once he’d won it, then he’d have to put up with Hillary AND Bill for 4 or 8 years, a prospect he is no doubt thinking about.

It’s incredible that she and her oh so talented team blew this perfect opportunity. It just shows… you never know.

I have conflicted feelings about this. On the one hand I am glad she lost as I don’t like the calculating, cynical, manipulative, poll-driven way the Clintons operate. On the other hand, I’m sure this loss is very painful for Hillary Clinton and I feel bad for her. I do believe she was treated VERY poorly by the media.

I’m still wading through “Dreams of my father” by Barack Obama, a dreary, depressing book so far.

Maybe it will get more interesting when the Obama/Clinton battle is officially over and the McCain vs. Dem. debates occur.

The article also lays out nicely why Hillary Clinton‘s “skills” and her campaign are so lacking. Despite her, her husband, and surrounding team having just about all the credentials and contacts anyone could dream of, they have almost succeeded in snatching defeat from a certain victory.

The Rolling Stone piece also mentions Barack Obama’s semi-autobiographical book, Dreams from My Father, which I just ordered from Amazon.com.

There are strong, and I believe valid, reasons why the U.S. should and should not have gone into Iraq, but frankly that doesn’t matter now – all that matters is what comes next. Whoever becomes the next President will have to deal with a struggling economy, a tense global situation, escalating arms and space races, out of control government spending, and much more. I think the U.S. will be served well by either John McCain or Barack Obama.

It was a great day for her, and with a very strong win in Ohio, it seems likely she will win the next big prize, Pennsylvania, especially since governor Rendell has endorsed here.

What does this mean? It means the race will likely go on all the way to the convention and the dismissed Florida and Michigan results coming back into play with legal fighting, major political spinning, constant poll watching, and dirty tricks.  Ah, the good old days of the Clintons.

Was I the only one who raised an eyebrow that Bill Clinton wasn’t on stage last night after Hillary gave her speech?  Chelsea was though.

What do you think?

I consider it unlikely Obama will win both states, especially since the governor of Ohio has endorsed Clinton, but if he does, and considering that Bill Clinton has already basically said his wife must win both states, will she gracefully bow out QUICKLY?

I somehow doubt it after strutting around for so long with an arrogant air of ‘inevitability’. And besides the 60 minutes show tonight and the Ellen show, has she done ANY interviews of any substance? I don’t think Obama has either. Strange times.

I think for most people Tuesday can’t come and go soon enough, but this ‘saga’ will be drawn out longer if it isn’t decisive for Obama.

Hillary Clinton (and Bill) are certainly not about to go down without a fight, but she’s looking increasingly like a flailing wrestler pinned to the floor. She’s being outspent, outperformed, and outclassed. You’ve got to hand it to Barack Obama and his team – they’ve done an amazing job. It’s not over yet, but if Hillary Clinton doesn’t win the Democrat nomination, I think it’s safe to say she blew it in many ways. Let’s go through some.

1. Massively overconfident. With a former President for a husband who had and has high approval ratings (despite scandals), with tons of money when they started, with huge leads in all polls, and with little apparent competition in sight, how could she lose?
2. Letting Bill Clinton play the attack dog. After her surprise loss in Iowa (of all places!), she ‘unleashed’ Bill. Problem is, when you unleash a pit bull it doesn’t always bite or fight in the way you expect. Well he went wild alright, and his angry comments, picking on audience people and the media, all made him look not only Presidential, but just a rank amateur. Maybe he’s just been out of the arena too long or maybe he didn’t have enough ‘handlers’, but I think he is a HUGE reason she may lose. I think voters began to think… oh yeah, that’s the other side of the Clintons.
3. Dirty tricks. First it was Barack’s use of drugs decades ago. Then it was (ugh) race (thanks Bill). Then it was some taudry barely reported scandal about Barack having gay sex in 1999. And now we get the picture of Barack in Kenyan garb put out by the Clinton attack team to make people think he’s Muslim and ‘scary’ and not ‘one of us’. These are despicable and may have worked in the past, but many of the old operatives don’t get the fact that the internet, bloggers (hey yeah), youtube, and the massive interest by the public in this race have changed the game forever.
4. Mismanagement. They thought they could deliver a knock-out blow on Super Duper Tuesday (Feb 5) and spent like mad, but it didn’t work. This left Hillary in a world of hurt.
5. And finally, I lost most of my respect for her when she DIDN’T dump Bill after the Monica Lewinsky saga. She might have stuck around until he left office. Maybe even used him to became a Senator. But to STILL be with him? WHY? It can only be because she believed he was very useful in her quest for the White House Part II.

A little part of me feels bad for Hillary if she doesn’t get the nomination, because she’s dreamed and schemed of this, and has worked tirelessly for this. But the much bigger part of me is ready to sing “Ding Dong The Wicked Witch Is Dead!” Have you watched her early speeches? The definition of vacuous, pandering, and insulting. She believes she’s smarter than everyone else, including Bill. She walks around, head stuck up, in her bumble bee yellow and black outfits (hello advisors? WHAT are you thinking?) pontificating about how great it’s going to be.

If she loses, my faith in the American public will be re-enforced. She deserves to lose.