Hillary Clinton's Winning Strategy

The London Times reports that the Clinton campaign has a feasible strategy to legitimize their candidate's claim to the Democratic Presidential nomination:

Hillary Clinton sets her sights on three ways to win:

Clinton aims to win the popular vote, secure reruns in Florida and Michigan and undermine Obama's credibility as the candidate to beat McCain

That's just the headline, but it is an apt summation. Leaving aside the effect of such a strategy on the general election against John McCain, it does give her an excellent chance to overtake Barack Obama as the nominee. Even with regard to the race against McCain, two-thirds of this strategy are rock solid.

After the jump, how scared should Barack Obama be, who are the "wild beasts" in the Clinton campaign, and who is accusing Hilary of lying now? And what about that other third of her strategy? The answers might surprise you.
Here's what I like about the strategy: people respond to the Popular vote" argument. If Hillary can overtake Obama in the popular vote, pledged delegates notwithstanding, she will have a very persuasive argument to use with the Superdelegates. It's a mighty big "if", but much smaller than it was a week ago. Obama's campaign has had a hard time regaining it's footing after setbacks in Tuesday's primaries and several negative stories.

Former Senator Bill Bradley weighed in on the strategy:

"The bigger the lie, the better the chance they think they've got. That's been their whole approach," he said. "She's going to lose a whole generation of people who got involved in politics believing it could be something different."

Bradley believes that Clinton will stop at nothing to tear down Obama even if it boosts John McCain, who was confirmed last week as the Republican nominee: "The Clintons do not do long-term planning. They're total tacticians and right now their focus is on Obama, not McCain."

Obama is not going to regain momentum by having Bradley call for a "Wahhmbulance." Obama's posturing as the front-runner doesn't allow him to make as credible a case in a split decision. If the Clinton campaign has an opening, they will thread that needle. Obama's people should concentrate on maintaining all of their leads, not preemptively complaining about losing one.

Much of this depends on the outcome of Michigan's and Florida's delegates, who were previously stripped due to violations of DNC rules. The DNC has signaled a willingness to ratify new results from the states, but practical considerations make caucuses more likely, a format in which Clinton has done poorly.

As for running to McCain's strengths to beat Obama, I have already registered my reservations about that tactic, and proposed my own, but assuming the Clinton campaign maintains this course, how can they get past McCain in November?

McCain may have handed them an opening, but it is one that they need to hold open until the nomination is settled. Revelations this week about McCain's temper have raised questions about his fitness to be commander-in chief. From Countdown:

Of course, once you scare people enough, the question becomes, "Will voters care if the Commander-in-Chief is too trigger-happy?" It is a risk, but apparently one Clinton's current strategists are willing to take.

The Times also reports a possible silver lining, in the form of dissension among that "Staff of Chiefs":

Clinton's team is divided by backbiting over how to confront the difficulties ahead. No sooner had victory been declared in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island than officials resumed rubbishing Mark Penn, the chief strategist, for her flawed performance. "A lot of people would still like to see him go," a senior adviser told The Washington Post.

Top aides such as Penn, Mandy Grunwald, Harold Ickes and Howard Wolfson have such combustible egos, according to one close observer, that "it's like caging wild beasts together".

I'm not crazy about the sourcing, but it jibes with other accounts. My Dad had an expression for someone who uses parsing and technicalities in place of an honest argument, a "Philadelphia Lawyer." Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson have been engaging in a lot of this, and Bradley has a point that it can turn voters off. The Democrats have enjoyed huge turnouts in their primaries, and retaining that level of excitement is crucial.

Another comforting thought for Democrats: Hillary Clinton has been left for dead twice now in this campaign, only to rise again like the Phoenix. Regardless of your feelings toward her or her positions, she is ten times the politician John McCain will ever be. In that fight, I wouldn't count Lazarus out.

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