Hillary Spins Primary Wins
Template for candidate messages in a primary:
“(Insert any old accomplishment) is a sign we are on the course to victory. Any candidate who (repeat any old accomplishment) is certain to be the next president.”
Let’s all forget about those other states that would have been really good to win for the Clinton campaign. As of Tuesday night, Ohio is the bellwether state of all bellwether states, a must-win state for any serious Democratic contender.
That’s the spin from Hillary Clinton, and she’s standing by that story.
Of course, if the votes from Texas had come in sooner, and the Ohio votes had been delayed, you can bet what her speech -aimed at prime-time viewers - would have said:
“If a Democrat can win Texas, they can win the country!”
Instead, the spin was:
“No candidate in recent history — Democratic or Republican — has won the White House without winning the Ohio primary. We all know that if we want a Democratic president, we need a Democratic nominee who can win Democratic states just like Ohio.”
Thankfully, we were spared the spectacle of her trying to explain why winning Rhode Island was a sure sign of eventual victory.
Six months ago, the prospect of losing 11 straight primaries would have seemed both improbable for the then-front runner, and a sure sign of a doomed campaign.
Having pulled survival from the jaws of defeat, Clinton must now try to capitalize on her standing as a credible candidate, and play up any opportunities that come her way. With 800 super delegate votes up for grabs at the Democratic Convention, she doesn’t have to best Obama in the primaries. She just has to limp into the convention with enough delegates and enough momentum to make her last stand.
New York Times; Washington Post; New Zealand Herald; Brianmovinginvan, Joseph Palermo, HuffPo.
Photo via Flickr by Roger Goun, used under a Creative Commons attribution licence.
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POSTED IN: Communication Tactics, Key Messages, PR, Politics, Speechwriting, Spin
1 opinion for Hillary Spins Primary Wins
Geoff Livingston
Mar 6, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I have to say, it’s the most fascinating election I’ve seen in my lifetime. The back and forth between Obama and Clinton has been stunning. I think Obama focused on McCain a little too soon and let Hillary back into this thing.
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