The lay of the (Democratic) land

Well, as we all head into the annual Thanksgiving nap -- maybe it has less to do with turkey tryptophan than football matchups like this -- we thought it would be useful to boil down the recent shifts in the Democratic landscape.

The two most significant shifts: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama talking smack (we're keeping the football theme going here) about each other, which lets John Edwards off the aggressor hook a bit and maybe revert to the nice-guy persona that marked his 2004 campaign. That strategy only landed him the No. 2 spot on the losing ticket, so maybe a toughening up was due -- but is snarkiness presidential?

How the verbal knock-around will play out is anyone's guess, since there's a fine line between pointing out differences with your opponents and coming off as a negative campaigner (Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean went negative in Iowa in 2004, contributing to their weak showing and early exits).

In this year's race, the most recent poll in Iowa contained good news for Obama, though one survey does not necessarily a trend make. If it is indicative, with only six weeks to go, this is getting to be the time where momentum begins to be good.

In New Hampshire, Clinton has been losing some support, though still has a lot of ground to give. And she has comfortable leads in Nevada and South Carolina, as well.

So the challenge for Clinton is to keep Obama far enough back that a tight finish or even a loss in Iowa will, in hindsight, seem like an aberration as she racks up wins in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, then heads into Feb 5. with the big states -- California, New York and Illinois among them -- up for grabs.

Shifting to a pool metaphor, she might not run the table, but it's looking pretty good for her. Which is why you're seeing sharper attacks by her rivals. As Clinton said in the Las Vegas debate, they're not going after her because she's a woman, they're going after her because she's ahead.

Now wake up -- there's only 32 shopping days left till Christmas.

-- Scott Martelle

Comments

[vwcat]

Clinton peaked. I feel as people start to pay real attention to the race they don't like what they see in Hillary. And the trash talk only highlights the very things people have reservations about with her.
And as her numbers fall, more people are seeing they don't have to settle. those people are realizing the build up the media gave to Hillary and that there are other, far better choices in the other candidates.

[Jeugenen]

HILLARY-PUPPET THE LEFTIST DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE

Lacking for a strong real candidate, the dominant Leftist Democrats have run the Hillary-Puppet. The problem is that she has long been observed to be emotionally and intellectually deficient - the most intensely disliked of all the candidates; Google, Rasmussen Report.

Their clever solution is to systematically change her image; under the assumption that the American People are for the most part too simple minded to know the difference between realities and illusions.

To make the Hillary-puppet appear to be compassionate, meticulous studies are made of the social and economic needs of various social and economic groups, such as homosexuals and low income elderly voters.

To make the Hillary-puppet appear to be mentally superior; questions are planted in the audience, and her answers are rigorously rehearsed.

The fatal flaw is that the small group of Leftist masterminds behind this Hillary-puppet Show is just not quite clever enough to successfully pull off their scam. Moral depravity and intellectual bankruptcy are their own self-limiting handicaps.