11 Observations On Clinton's Crash & Burn

(1.)

First and foremost, Hillary Clinton never seemed comfortable with herself in stark contrast to Barack Obama, who as one speech analyst put it, can sound rousing while being conciliatory. Clinton’s discomfort sometimes translated into a sense of phoniness and was exacerbated by her mood swings – from crying on cue early in the primary season to angrily pounding the podium as she became increasingly beleaguered.

(2.)

Clinton’s early and enthusiastic approval of the Iraq war dogged her throughout the campaign. Hypersensitive to being viewed as a flip-flopper and apology averse to begin with, she never made a clean break with the war and might not have wanted to. What she did do is dodge the issue by saying that she would not vote for the war if she had it to do over again.

(3.)

When Clinton’s initial strategy of campaigning as an incumbent flopped in the face of Obama's seductive hope-and-change mantra, there followed a series of ill-conceived course corrections. The first was her as Ms. Policy Wonk, then as Ms. Race Baiter and finally as Ms. Voters Are Idiots in which she pandered by backing a gas-tax holiday scheme that no economist will touch, emptily threatened to destroy OPEC, and prattled that elitists are what ails America.

(4.)

Clinton relied on insiders who were out of touch with the mood of the electorate. This was especially egregious in the case of strategist Mark Penn, a pollster who used his own data as ends to justify predetermined means much like Bush used ponied up intelligence to justify the Iraq war. Penn eventually embarrassed her campaign almost as much as the other big insider -- her husband.

(5.)

Clinton painted herself into a corner by stressing her Washington experience in a campaign in which many change-hungry voters viewed that has a handicap and a some already suffered from Clinton Fatigue. Compounding this problem was that some of her experience, notably the Tuzla Incident, were figments of her imagination.

(6.)

Clinton got creamed at the grassroots level. While Obama had substantially more money to spend, his staff went to extraordinary lengths to understand the lay of the electoral land all the way down to detailed profiles of each of the 435 congressional districts, and had a substantial volunteer presence in all 50 states. Clinton concentrated her ground operations in a few large states, didn't bother to organize in caucus states and had to continually play catch up.

(7.)

Although Clinton and Obama took substantially similar positions on most issues, she failed to make the case that she would be an agent for change because she often blurred her message, Bill Clinton stepped on her lines and, as the primary season dragged on, Obama became adept at quickly responding to her increasingly bellicose pronouncements, including using nuclear weapons against Iran.

(8.)

Clinton never was comfortable with her role as the first serious woman presidential candidate, which may have had something to do with the fact that her feminist credentials are suspect. In any event, she used her gender more as a cudgel than a talking point, and the feminist notion of liberation -- which was one of Obama's memes, was AWOL from a campaign that was run like a patriarchy.

(9.)

Clinton was not a natural campaigner but grew into that role. But compared to Obama, she simply did not inspire. This would not have mattered against a less charismatic candidate and less capable speaker as a primary foe.

(10.)

Becoming a vice presidential running mate is not something that is negotiated like a labor contract, but from appearances Clinton is determined to do just that. Problem is, Obama would be foolish to ask her to come on board because a belated endorsement would seem insincere after all of the bile that she has spilled and adding her negatives to his negatives would not be a winning combination. Giving her another go at heading up a health-care reform initiative is a much better idea.

(11.)

Beyond her own negatives, Clinton's biggest handicap was her inability to come to terms with Bill Clinton both as husband and campaigner, and he with his own role. It almost seemed as if he was out to sabotage her campaign with his angry outbursts, and it probably will only be a matter of time before he becomes enmeshed in another sex scandal. We can be thankful that it did not happen during the primary season. Or, God help us, if Hillary Clinton became president. Or becomes vice president.

Photograph by Carolyn Cole/The Los Angeles Times