17 December 2006 09:13
In the murky world of Hillary Clinton's undeclared run for the White House, official denials and bland statements are ubiquitous. But, as Kremlinologists did in the Cold War, it pays to monitor the guests shuttling in and out of her townhouse in Washington, DC. Last week that list revealed a campaign moving rapidly into top gear, spurred into action by the meteoric rise of Barack Obama.
Last Sunday, Clinton hosted a dinner with key officials from New Hampshire. On Tuesday, she held one with figures from Iowa. Both states are vital first battlegrounds in any nomination campaign. Then, last Wednesday, Clinton had a private party with old hands from her husband's two presidential campaigns, including James "The Raging Cajun" Carville, who masterminded Bill's rise.
 |
Obama is aggressively exploring a presidential run, scuppering Clinton's carefully laid plans and threatening her grip on the party's power structure. Her march to power, years in the making, is being speeded into action by Obama's unexpected emergence, which has blind-sided her close advisers.
| "In an America caught in the throes of Obama-mania, Clinton is suddenly having to seek publicity" |
Obama is a real threat. His first rally last week in New Hampshire drew screaming crowds. The week before he had been in Clinton's home turf of New York City, speaking at a fashion-industry dinner, where he pitched himself as a viable alternative to Clinton, saying that the country was keen to move on from the political battles of the 1980s and 1990s.
| "Believe again!" the [Obama] advert exhorts. |
It is easy to see why Obama is such a threat. His liberal politics appeal to many of Clinton's base supporters. He has been consistently anti-war and was not even in the Senate when Clinton voted for invading Iraq. Her hawkish support of the war has been a millstone around her neck in courting the Democratic base.