Voters and Superdelegates Rejecting Clinton's Tactics

The Obama campaign sent out this memo today...

Weeks ago, as Senator Obama began to build momentum in the race for the Democratic nomination, the Clinton campaign put into motion their “kitchen sink” strategy—what one Democratic official called the “Tonya Harding” strategy [ABC, 3/25/08]: say and do anything to make Barack Obama an unacceptable candidate and win over the remaining superdelegates. But as new polling and news reports show, voters and superdelegates are soundly rejecting the Clintons’ tactics.

The Clintons have made no secret of the fact that they relish negative campaigning. Just before the first votes were cast in this race, Senator Clinton called attacking Senator Obama “the fun part.” Earlier this week, during a campaign stop in West Virginia, Bill Clinton signaled that the attacks won’t be letting up anytime soon: “If a politician doesn’t wanna get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office. If a football player doesn’t want to get tackled or want the risk of an occasional clip he shouldn’t put the pads on.” [MSNBC, 3/2608]

There’s just one problem: the only candidate paying a price for Senator Clinton’s desperate attacks is Senator Clinton herself.

How are the voters responding to Clinton’s tactics?

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday night shows the extent of the damage that Senator Clinton has suffered in the eyes of voters. As the Wall Street Journal writes, “The negativity of the Obama-Clinton contest seems to be hurting Sen. Clinton more, the poll shows.” [Wall Street Journal, 3/27/08]

After her latest round of attacks on Barack Obama, Clinton’s overall favorability rating is her lowest of the campaign, showing a significant drop from just two weeks ago. Clinton’s supporters give Obama a net-positive rating, while Obama’s supporters give Clinton a net-negative rating. NBC notes that “Taken together, this appears to be evidence that Obama, intially, should have the easier time uniting the party than Clinton.” In addition, Obama is “still much more competitive with independent voters when matched up against John McCain than Hillary Clinton is.” [MSNBC, 3/26/08]

Key findings:

* Overall Favorability:

Clinton: 37% positive, 48% negative

Obama: 49% positive, 32% negative


* Favorability Rating Among Opponent’s Supporters:

Clinton: 35% positive, 43% negative

Obama: 50% positive, 29% negative

* Can Unite the Country:

Clinton: 46%

Obama: 60%

* Shares Your Values:

Clinton: 43% yes, 57% no

Obama: 50% yes, 39% no

But it’s about the superdelegates now, right?

Given Barack Obama’s lead in pledged delegates and the popular vote, Senator Clinton’s only path to the nomination is to somehow convince uncommitted superdelegates to overturn the will of the voters—and her attacks on Senator Obama in recent weeks appear designed to do just that.

But there is mounting evidence that superdelegates are rejecting the Clinton tactics even more resoundingly than rank-and-file Democratic voters. A new report from NBC shows increasing concern among superdelegates that Clinton’s desperate attacks “are hurting the party and its chances in November, and also say it is showing a calculated, desperate-to-win side of Clinton that they dislike.” [NBC, 3/26/08] One uncommitted superdelegate put it this way: “A full and fair debate about issues and differences and even fights is good. Mud slinging, personal attacks and lying is never good for any political fight or party. And I see a lot of that coming from one side more than the other.” [NBC, 3/26/08]

Even Paul Begala, one of Senator Clinton’s most public supporters, is critical of the depths to which Clinton has sunk. As he told CNN on Wednesday: “I criticize Hillary, too. She shouldn’t be saying [Obama’s] not qualified to be commander in chief. Of course he is.” [CNN, 3/26/08]

The stakes

After nearly eight years of one of the most disastrous administrations in history, Democrats are adamant about taking back the White House. With the race for the nomination drawing to a close, the Clinton campaign’s scorched-earth tactics only make that goal harder to reach.