New Rasmussen Poll breaking on Drudge: Hillary loses lead in South Carolina

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FLASH: Rasmussen at 11 AM ET: South Carolina: Clinton loses lead… It’s now Clinton 36% Obama 34%... last month, Clinton had ten-point lead… in September, she was up by 13... Developing...

http://www.drudgereport.com/

[Otto 83]

And only 334 Days, 1 Hour, 32 Minutes remaining until the elections...

Countdown

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And only 334 Days, 1 Hour, 32 Minutes remaining until the elections...

Countdown

Actually, this poll refers to the South Carolina primary on January 26 2008.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

I would love to see whats goin on in the Clinton household

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Obama's campaign is doing a lot of things right.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I truly like these trends. You go and show them Mr. O!

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Hillary Clinton was supposed to know how to rumble

In a recent Newsweek article, a Clinton adviser said that when Barack Obama makes it to the general election, Republicans will eat him like "snack food." (Not Huckabee, presumably.) The quote deliciously captures the battle-hardened nature of a Democratic team that's been through almost two decades of political fighting and has slight regard for the current opponent. (Clinton aides refer to Obama's "three years out of the state senate" so often they should just call him "3-years.")

The snack-food barb is also a sign that at the moment, Obama is taking Clinton's lunch. Allies must make dire threats about the future because the present isn't looking so good for their candidate. It's not that Hillary Clinton is losing. The top three candidates are in a statistical tie in Iowa and she leads nationally and in other states. But for a favored candidate who is supposed to be a great fighter, she isn't winning as many hand-to-hand rounds as legend would suggest.

In some of the back-and-forth, Hillary Clinton's campaign has looked amateurish. Clinton has seemed to delight in the prospect of going after Obama's character, but she looks unseemly doing so and like she can't win the fight on policy grounds.. Last week, the Clinton camp attacked Obama for harboring a lifelong White House ambition: Included in the litany of evidence was his kindergarten third-grade wish to be president. In a blog post headlined "Why is HRC Stooping So Low?" former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich—who calls Clinton a friend but whose relationship with her is textured—said she was leveling a "series of slurs" against Obama. Meanwhile, although the Clinton team has insisted that Obama isn't tough enough to handle the political battles of Washington, he has gone up in the polls since he started challenging her.

How well Clinton fights matters because Clinton and her campaign aides put her combat skills at the center of her campaign. They have repeatedly argued that only she can go up against the GOP attack machine in the general election, even making the point in a television ad. It was the theme of her speech to Iowa Democrats at the influential Jefferson-Jackson dinner last month, in which she promised to "turn up the heat" on the Republicans. Clinton and her aides continue the argument into her future presidency, saying that only she has the political fighting skills to implement health-care reform and restore fiscal restraint.

Many in the Clinton camp, including the former president, blame the press for the uneven state of the competition. Clinton's every move is scrutinized as if she were the front-runner, but Obama doesn't get the same examination despite pulling even with her in Iowa and moving within single digits in New Hampshire,. This means Obama not only doesn't have to spend time defending himself but that Hillary must do the dirty business of pointing out his shortcomings herself.

Clinton may be having trouble because, while she is practiced at combat with Republicans, she has less experience with her own party. "You need to pull your punches and calibrate," says a Clinton aide about attacking a fellow Democrat. "You can't do the kinds of things you would do to a Republican because you feel guilty or worry about turning people off and alienating your base."

Clinton is also hemmed in by the rap against her that she is too divisive. Her unfavorable rating has gone up in the latest Gallup poll. Obama quickly pointed this out in an interview with the Des Moines Register, as further proof that she would lose the general election. If things were going better for Clinton, she could point out that it was this kind of stereotype about her that Obama used as an example in his book The Audacity of Hope to show how Republicans exploit unfair "narratives" about Democrats. As it is, her team has been able to make the charge stick that while he may write and speak about a new kind of politics, he doesn't always practice it.

In the end, the election calendar could help Clinton overcome her middling performance as a pugilist. Candidates usually stop squabbling as Election Day nears, focusing their remarks on convincing voters that they can deliver health benefits and keep them safe. Since the Iowa caucus comes so soon after Christmas, the cooling-off period may start earlier, as candidates begin their final appeals before voters tune out to do their shopping. That will focus the debate back on policy, which voters say they prefer, and allow Clinton to return to the case she's had better luck selling—that she has the experience to deliver what voters want on issues like the economy which was the topic of her speech Wednesday. She just has to hope that by the time she gets to the final stage of the campaign, Obama hasn't taken too big a bite out of her.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Hillary's campaign has had too many snafu's.....Mr. Hsu, who is now indicted, the planted question, and most recently the volunteer who sent out the emails claiming that Obama was a Muslim.

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Hillary's campaign has had too many snafu's.....Mr. Hsu, who is now indicted, the planted question, and most recently the volunteer who sent out the emails claiming that Obama was a Muslim.

MisterFP,

And this, from the Dem debate on Oct 30. First, she denies saying she thought it made sense and then she says it makes sense. Make sense of that.

Senator Clinton, Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer has proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. He told the Nashua, New Hampshire, Editorial Board it makes a lot of sense.

Why does it make a lot of sense to give an illegal immigrant a driver's license?

Clinton: Well, what Governor Spitzer is trying to do is fill the vacuum left by the failure of this administration to bring about comprehensive immigration reform. We know in New York we have several million at any one time who are in New York illegally. They are undocumented workers. They are driving on our roads. The possibility of them having an accident that harms themselves or others is just a matter of the odds. It's probability.

So what Governor Spitzer is trying to do is to fill the vacuum. I believe we need to get back to comprehensive immigration reform because no state, no matter how well intentioned, can fill this gap. There needs to be federal action on immigration reform.

Russert: Does anyone here believe an illegal immigrant should not have a driver's license?

(Unknown): Believe what?

Russert: An illegal immigrant should not have a driver's license.

Dodd: This is a privilege. And, look, I'm as forthright and progressive on immigration policy as anyone here. But we're dealing with a serious problem here, we need to have people come forward. The idea that we're going to extend this privilege here of a driver's license I think is troublesome, and I think the American people are reacting to it.

We need to deal with security on our borders. We need to deal with the attraction that draws people here. We need to deal fairly with those who are here.

But this is a privilege. Talk about health care, I have a different opinion. That affects the public health of all of us.

But a license is a privilege, and that ought not to be extended, in my view.

Clinton: Well, I just want to add, I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do...

(Unknown): Wait a minute...

Clinton: And we have failed. We have failed.

Dodd: No, no, no. You said -- you said yes...

Clinton: No.

Dodd: ... you thought it made sense to do it.

Clinton: No, I didn't, Chris. But the point is, what are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants who are driving...

Dodd: That's a legitimate issue. But driver's license goes too far, in my view.

Clinton: Well, you may say that, but what is the identification?

If somebody runs into you today who is an undocumented worker...

Dodd: There's ways of dealing with that.

Clinton: Well...

Dodd: This is a privilege, not a right.

Clinton: Well, what Governor Spitzer has agreed to do is to have three different licenses, one that provides identification for actually going onto airplanes and other kinds of security issues, another which is another ordinary driver's license, and then a special card that identifies the people who would be on the road, so...

Dodd: That's a bureaucratic nightmare.

Clinton: ... it's not the full privilege.

Russert: Senator Clinton, I just want to make sure of what I heard. Do you, the New York senator, Hillary Clinton, support the New York governor's plan to give illegal immigrants a driver's license?

You told the New Hampshire paper that it made a lot of sense. Do you support his plan?

Clinton: You know, Tim, this is where everybody plays "gotcha." It makes a lot of sense. What is the governor supposed to do?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Senator Clinton, Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer has proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. He told the Nashua, New Hampshire, Editorial Board it makes a lot of sense.

I'm reading it as her stating the governor's position.

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Senator Clinton, Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer has proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. He told the Nashua, New Hampshire, Editorial Board it makes a lot of sense.

I'm reading it as her stating the governor's position.

That part, yes. Look at the text I've bolded though.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Senator Clinton, Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer has proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. He told the Nashua, New Hampshire, Editorial Board it makes a lot of sense.

I'm reading it as her stating the governor's position.

That part, yes. Look at the text I've bolded though.

I don't know...it's very diplomatic to see other points of view and even say those views make a lot of sense while still having an opposing view. I agree with Hillary talking about the 'gotcha game', but she could have rephrased her point so that it doesn't sound like she's purposely trying to play both sides.

Edited December 6, 2007 by Mister Fancypants

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Ok, Rasmussen has officially released the report. Obama is doing poorly with white voters. Also, it sounds like if Edwards bows out, Hillary would win most of his supporters. Could be racial, it is South Carolina after all.

Here's an excerpt:

New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s lead over Illinois Senator Barack Obama in South Carolina’s Presidential Primary has disappeared. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows Clinton with 36% of the vote while Obama is the top choice for 34% of the state’s Likely Primary Voters.

...

Fifty-one percent (51%) of Clinton’s voters name Obama as their second choice. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Obama voters name Clinton as their second choice. Among supporters of John Edwards, Clinton is the second choice for 34% while Obama gets the nod from 16%.

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...Obama’s showing has improved significantly among black voters. He now attracts 51% of the African-American vote in South Carolina while Clinton picks up just 27%.

...

There is virtually no movement among white voters in the state--Clinton now earns 43% of the white vote, Edwards 22%, and Obama 17%.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_con...ocratic_primary