Calculations Backfired!

One of the negative aspects of the Clintons (both Bill and Hillary) are their heavy dependence on pollsters. I sent money to the Democratic National Party with a message that I hated the extreme calculations of Bill to ensure that his policies and decisions were meeting the majority of the public. Obviously, one cannot cause much harm if they meet the majority's expectations, but I was angry that we were missing the opportunities to lead the public to places they did not want to go, but needed to go if we were to address some of our immense problems. And, I felt that Bill Clinton had the intelligence and charisma to be such a leader. His talents were wasted, from my point of view, when he relied so heavily on his pollster, Mark Penn.

Hillary's dependence on the same pollster was a hallmark of her campaign. She talked little with the press, answered few spontaneous questions from the crowds, and adopted a script designed by Penn to focus on her "experience", the defining element in what would be her inevitable nomination as the Democratic Candidate for the presidency.

Well, the strategy backfired!

Change, not experience, is the defining component of this primary season. Hillary cannot compete with Obama when change is the defining issue. She, with Bill, have been around too long, have done too much as well as well as too little in other areas, for her to be perceived as a change agent.

While no one would count someone out as this point in time, it will be interesting to see how she will ever overcome the liabilities associated with her calculating message based on experience.