Please, God, let it be.
Members of Hillary Clinton’s advance staff received calls and emails this evening from headquarters summoning them to New York City Tuesday night, and telling them their roles on the campaign are ending, two Clinton staffers tell my colleague Amie Parnes.
The advance staffers — most of them now in Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana — are being given the options of going to New York for a final day Tuesday, or going home, the aides said. The move is a sign that the campaign is beginning to shed — at least — some of its staff. The advance staff is responsible for arranging the candidate’s events around the country.
And by “it” I mean the Clinton campaign.
I believe they are preparing to bring in a team of specialists for the general election, which will be an arduous challenge judging from her extremely narrow victory in the primaries.
I think that they will be given two options: either an empty room and a revolver to commit suicide win in retribution for their failed mission (à la Erwin Rommel) or a suicide mission behind enemy Obama lines. No retreat! The Clintons have declared war on the Democrats!
The campaign is out of cash. Clinton does not want to spend more of her own. And with the end of the primaries, presumably she doesn’t need the same number of ground troops. [Yes, the campaign shouldn't gear down with the end of the primaries, but you go to the general election with the troops that you have.]
But that does not mean that she concedes. I see another two months of grievances.
World War Z brought to you by Hillary and her undead campaign.
This stunner just appeared in an Edsall column on HuffPo:
“… In addition to seeking Obama’s help in raising money to pay off some $20 million-plus in debts, Clinton is known to want Obama to assist black officials who endorsed her and who are now taking constituent heat, including, in some cases, primary challenges from pro-Obama politicians.”
Now, as a newcomer to the inner workings of politics, I may be ignorant of a familiar practice. If not, THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF HUTZPAH. Asking Obama to help pay for her party-damaging vanity! AND she wants help for candidates who sided with her and may be the worse in facing their pro-Obama opponents now?
Can you picture Obama making a similar request of her, had the situation been reversed?
I can imagine he’ll handle it with aplomb. “Gosh, Hill, I need all my cash for the general election, but I’ll take it up with the Finance Committee and we’ll see what we can do.” But does this smack of placing CONDITIONS ON HER SUPPORT?
Holding it for ransom?
New depths of shamelessness, by my lights.
Can you picture Obama making a similar request of her, had the situation been reversed?
Not really. Although if he did, I can’t imagine Hillary considering it for a moment. Her performance to date has provided no evidence that she’d do anything other than laugh in the face of an opponent who was down.
If she has appealed for Obama for help in covering her personal debts then, yes, that is the near definition of chutzpah and arrogance.