What's Next for the Clinton Campaign?

I for one have been wondering why Hillary Clinton has been seemingly holding back against Barack Obama. The Clintons have a reputation for taking no prisoners in political contests. Coming off of ten straight primary losses, tightening up of the point spread for Texas and Ohio and a new Zogby poll giving Obama a 14-point lead nationally, we can't expect the senator from New York to go gentle into that good night, can we?

Two new things that we've been seeing around the blogs and news sites tell us that definitely is not that case - Mrs. Clinton will go down fighting.

There's some pretty good evidence that some Clinton supporters have come together to start a politcal 527 group for the purpose of raising money for some "non-approved" attack ads against Obama in Texas and Ohio.

From ABC News Political Punch:

Jake Tapper reports:

ABC News has learned that a group of Democratic politicos have set up a new independent 527 organization called the American Leadership Project (ALP) with the express purpose of helping Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, beat Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, in Ohio, and possibly Texas and Pennsylvania as well.

Free from campaign finance rules, ALP will not be legally permitted to coordinate with the Clinton campaign, but it is clearly intended to help her.

Marc Ambinder from The Atlantic adds:

Allies of Hillary Clinton plan an expensive, stealth campaign to buttress her standing in the must-win states of Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.

They're canvassing Clinton donors for pledges of up to $100,000 in the hope of raising at least $10M by the end of next week. The money will be placed in the account of a political committee organized under section 527 of the tax code.

Both Tapper and Ambinder say the name of the group is The American Leadership Project and has several ex-Clinton administration veterans involved. A title for an upcoming ad campaign is thought to be "If Speeches Could Solve Problems". Fun! Tapper has the list of organizers and donors.

The Clinton campaign has also started (whois search) a new website - Delegate Hub - to focus on getting the Florida and Michigan delegations seated at the Convention in August. It also seems to push the idea of getting the Super Delegates™ (apparently renamed Automatic Delegates) to "vote their conscience" rather than the will of the people. Here's some fun facts from the website:

FACT: Pledged delegates and automatic delegates are the same - they each count for ONE vote.

The Democratic Party chooses its delegates in three ways: 1) through primaries where millions vote; 2) through caucuses where thousands vote; and 3) it gives a role to elected leaders and other party activists in the process.

FACT: Neither candidate can secure the nomination without automatic delegates.

The Obama campaign is trying to shut down the Democratic race before the rest of the country votes. There are still many states and territories that have not voted with over 1000 delegates at stake.

FACT: Automatic delegates are expected to exercise their best judgment in the interests of the nation and the Democratic Party.

The Obama campaign is claiming that automatic delegates must follow the lead of pledged delegates and switch their vote to Sen. Obama.

FACT: Florida and Michigan should count, both in the interest of fundamental fairness and honoring the spirit of the Democrats' 50-state strategy.

An important part of the debate over delegates is the role of Florida and Michigan. Hillary Clinton believes that the voices of 600,000 Michigan primary voters and 1.75 million Florida primary voters should be heard at the Democratic convention.

FACT: There is a clear path to an overall delegate majority (pledged + automatic) for Hillary Clinton after all states have voted -- with or without Florida and Michigan.

Contrary to the Obama campaign's claims that the race is over, all voters should have their say before a candidate declares victory and tries to circumvent the democratic process. The race is currently a virtual tie, with the campaigns now separated by a small handful of delegates, barely 1% of all the delegates to the Democratic Convention.

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Whew! And very interesting after yesterday's revelation by Politico that the Clinton Camp is actively trying to pick off pledged delegates. Note that the "pledged" delegates are anyting but. DNC rules do not bind them to the candidate their state elections picked them for, so they're absolutely pickable. Illegal? no. Rude? You betcha!

The Clinton campaign denies that have been doing that or that they will. The Obama also says it does not approve. Let's see what happens after Pennsylvania. If you have any thoughts that Clinton will drop out before then, think again. The actions above show she's "in it to win it" any way she can.