Hillary Clinton has the Democratic nomination almost sewn up?

October 5, 2007

No one is a louder, zestier cheerleader for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential prospects than her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, a man who is not known for having a light touch.

Hillary has the election in the bag?

Some Democrats get a kick out of Terry’s rah-rah roadshow for Hillary, which he has performed for voters in Iowa and other states in recent months. And some Democrats are decidedly turned off by his exuberance and confidence, especially those who aren’t too keen on Mrs. Clinton themselves.

Indeed, Mr. McAuliffe seriously alienated two Iowa Democrats during a drop-by at the Glenn Restaurant in Manchester, Iowa, on Wednesday. One of the Democrats, though, is a county precinct captain for Barack Obama, and another one is leaning pretty seriously toward Mr. Obama — and neither like Mrs. Clinton.

Their lack of neutrality aside, their description of some of Mr. McAuliffe’s remarks was intriguing. According to the two women — Pam Vislisel and Emma Edgington — Mr. McAuliffe argued:

Mrs. Clinton had the Democratic nomination almost sewn up;

If the election were held now, Mrs. Clinton would win Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and enough other states to win more than 350 Electoral College votes;

Mrs. Clinton was virtually moving to Iowa during the next three months to work her tail off to win the state’s first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses in January;

The Democratic nomination fight would be over after the Super-Duper Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5.

Neither woman could produce a recording of Mr. McAuliffe, nor were his remarks apparently covered by the local media. The women said in interviews that they found Mr. McAuliffe to be arrogant and boastful.

“I’m just getting a little tired of hearing — and I hear it on the news, too — that the election is in the bag, she’s going to win, she’s the only one, it’s over,” said Ms. Vislisel, the Obama precinct captain, who said she attended the McAuliffe event because she was curious about the Clinton campaign.

“I don’t think he should be coming into Iowa and talking about she’s going to win all these states,” added Ms. Edgington, who is torn between Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards. “It just seemed arrogant.”

Mr. McAuliffe was traveling and not reachable for comment. His spokesperson referred questions to Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, who knows Mr. McAuliffe well and works with him.

Mr. Wolfson, who was not at the Iowa restaurant and did not hear Mr. McAuliffe’s remarks, said he would be “very surprised” if Mr. McAuliffe said she had the Democratic nomination sewn up, because Mr. McAuliffe has been reported as saying that while the campaign was doing great, Mrs. Clinton was running like she was 20 points behind.

“He likes where we are, he thinks that we have a long way to go, the election is not today, and you’ve got to run like you’re down,” Mr. Wolfson said. “I would hope that one of our most important supporters is enthusiastic about our prospects.”

Mr. Wolfson also said that in the past, Mr. McAuliffe has expressed confidence that Mrs. Clinton would win the election if it was held today, carrying New York and California against Rudolph W. Giuliani and also Florida, Ohio and Arkansas (once her home state and, as I’ve reported before, an electoral target of some obsession for Bill Clinton).

“Rudy put out a memo saying he can beat Hillary. I don’t think it’s unusual for us to say, in response to that, that the polls show the opposite and that Hillary is doing well,” Mr. Wolfson said.

He also tamped down the notion that Mrs. Clinton was putting all of her time and energy into Iowa, akin to what John Kerry did in December 2003 and January 2004, when he virtually moved into the state to campaign non-stop before winning the caucuses.

“She’s doing to be spending a considerable amount of time in Iowa, and she’s going to continue to spend time in all of the early states,” Mr. Wolfson said.

Mr. Wolfson did concede one point to the two Iowa women — Mr. McAuliffe has said in the past that he believes the primary fight will be over after the Feb. 5 primaries.

Source: The New York Times

Posted by Hillary · Filed Under 2008, Hillary Clinton, News, Top Story

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