One of the more revealing elements in this primary fight has been the utter cluelessness of the Clinton campaign in a modern media environment. It’s pretty wild considering these were the same folks who brought the Democrats out of their 1970s and 80s mindset with the exact 
set of skills needed to deal with the press in the 90s. What a difference a decade makes. Today you’ve got Lanny Davis making yet another ridiculous pro-Clinton argument in the pages of the Wall Street Journal editorial section. To the modern progressive, he may as well be making his case in The Hitler Times.
In the modern communications sphere we operate in, there is a constant flow of information between the blogs, the print press, and cable news. It is from that flow that the increasingly ineffective broadcast news gets a clue as to what their stories will be. Right now, oddly enough, the left is better at it. Without existing communications infrastructure we completely by accident created our own. Like the right’s existing network of using talk radio to make issues rise up into the mainstream press, the left has the web to push our ideas.
The Clinton campaign – even with knowledgeable people on board – has kicked the ball down the field on this. They have been satisfied to use the existing conservative leaning network to get their message out. But it taints the message. Democrats do not respond well to op-eds from the freaking Wall Street Journal, or sales jobs during The O’Reilly Factor. Granted, the major factor at play here is that the Clinton message just isn’t selling, but their choice of a storefront for that message is killing them as well.
It’s not even so much that the Obama campaign is doing something innovative. Much like a football coach suddenly thrust into action with a new team, he’s using the players he has to the best of their ability, rather than rely on the playbook he used at his last job. That old playbook may have won the big game at some point, but that old team is long gone.
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Just thinking, maybe it’s time to stop criticizing the Clinton campaign and instead focus on McCain? We hope the Clinton supporters will support Obama once the primaries are over, right? The constant Clinton campaign criticism isn’t going to convince them to join our team.
I enjoy reading your blog and, of course, you have the freedom to write about whatever you want to write about. This is just my humble opinion.
maybe it’s time to stop criticizing the Clinton campaign and instead focus on McCain?
Indeed. He doesn’t get it either.
Yes, I never write anything about John McCain.
I write about what’s in the news. I don’t set the news agenda. I haven’t written a lot about the Redskins lately either, does that mean I’m not a Redskins fan? No, it means its the offseason and the Skins aren’t in the news.
“- North Carolina: Despite a substantial primary victory, Sen. Obama is down 8% vs. Sen. McCain, (51%-43%), while Sen. Clinton leads by 6% (49%-43%).”
I don’t recognize many of the poll results, he’s clearly picking and choosing, and he helpfully mostly doesn’t say which ones he’s picking from. But I can tell you that there’s nothing like this in NC, unless he’s bending numbers backwards.
All the major NC state candidates endorsed Obama, including (surprisingly at the time), Beverley Perdue, who may have helped seal her nomination for the governorship by doing so.
By the fall there will be 300,000 new registrants, mostly Obama driven.
Obama is way better positioned in NC, and I think he’ll take it. Clinton is just not very popular in NC, thus the drubbing she took here.
To be fair, Lanny Davis hasn’t gotten it for quite some time now (and always seems to use the WSJ as his preferred vehicle to drive home the cluelessness).
Thanks for the thoughtful analysis, Willis.
The most amazingly boneheaded Clinton supporter has been FOX commentator Ferraro complaining about media bias.
FOX COMMENTATORS COMPLAINING ABOUT MEDIA BIAS!
FOX was designed as an extreme RIGHT-WING PROPAGANDA MACHINE from the beginning and here purported Democratic leader Ferraro is now one of their commentators complaining about MEDIA BIAS. (”THE STUPID, IT BURNS!”)
Clearly Ferraro is mainlining RED Kryptonite and she’s now betraying her darker impulses to the world (along with some of the angrier Clinton supporters).
Fortunately for Clinton the MSM is to polite to note just how SEXIST many of Clinton’s WOMEN supporters are (leaving aside the “R” word for being to Radioactive).
And yes, the news focus needs to be on John McCain, that’s part of the complaint with the Clinton’s threat of dragging this out until August, serious John McCain news is getting a FREE PASS.