Jennifer Skalka over at The Hotline has a nice pull from a Clinton campaign conference call...
It was, in this reporter's opinion, the most interesting moment in today's Clinton campaign phoner with reporters. Responding to the release of HRC's new TX TV ad, which asserts in no subtle terms that only she has the experience to deal with a major world crisis, and, relatedly, to keep your children safe, Slate's John Dickerson asked the obvious question:
"What foreign policy moment would you point to in Hillary's career where she's been tested by crisis?" he said.
Silence on the call. You could've knit a sweater in the time it took the usually verbose team of Mark Penn, Howard Wolfson and Lee Feinstein, Clinton's national security director, to find a cogent answer. And what they came up with was weak -- that she's been endorsed by many high ranking members of the uniformed military.
(Audio of the question is in the link.)
Oooo...ouch. Maybe Hillary's 3 A.M. ad should be rewritten:
"It's 3 a.m. your candidate is fast asleep. But somewhere at campaign headquarters there is a phone ringing. Something is happening on the campagin trail. Your vote will decide which senior communications advisor will answer that phone, who knows the candidate inside and out, who knows that press, and is ready to field questions without giving any answers on day one on a dangerous campaign trail. It's 3 a.m. and your candidate is fast asleep. Who do you want answering that phone?
I'm Howard Wolfson and I approve this message."
Honestly, how does one run for President of the United States and allow for this kind of incompetence? It's one thing if you had some really low level staffer running this call BUT THESE ARE THE BIG WIGS! THE HEAD HONCHOS! And remember when the Obama camp got slack for having a supporter get sandbagged by Chris Matthews for not knowing Obama's accomplishments in the Senate? This Clinton debacle should be used by every Obama supporter everywhere.
This just goes to show that Clinton's campaign is sputtering along on it's last legs. Let's say if, and ONLY IF, she manages to comeback and beat Obama for the nomination, could you image this campaign with these same people taking on McCain in the general? They'd be limping along and then if she gets elected in November, Wolfson and Penn would be dictating positions in the Oval Office. Good times.
I haven't been able to find the quote yet, but Barack Obama once said that to show how he would be a Chief Executive or his ability to manage people as President is to look at the way he runs his campaign. I agree completely. There is no back biting, no pollsters given campaign spokesperson roles. Sure it's easy to say that when your winning. But does Clinton's campaign look like a winner's?
(And yes, Clinton has no more foreign policy experience than Obama. None. Which is odd for someone who serves on the Senate Armed Services committee wouldn't make that the focal point of her defense policy background.)