Election 2008: Clinton, Rats, Sinking Ship, etc

In my humble opinion it can only be a matter of time before Hillary Clinton drops out of the campaign for the Democrat nomination. Then again, I could be wrong. I thought that John Kerry would probably beat George W. Bush back in 2004. I thought Charles Kennedy would cling to the leadership of the Liberal Democrats. And I thought David Cameron would struggle in the polls against Gordon Brown. So I am often wrong. But there is evidence (aside from the results) that the Clinton campaign is struggling. Personnel are starting to leave, like proverbial rats from the proverbial sinking ship.

The most recent departure, owing to a “conflict of interest” (which is surely synonymous with “spending more time with my family”), is Chief Strategist Mark Penn. I rather think he is leaving because whatever strategies he has come up with to achieve the overall objective of making Hillary Clinton the Democratic nominee have not really worked. In fact, they seem to have helped to make, the way things are going, Obama the Democratic nominee. But if this theory is correct I can understand why the Clinton campaign came up with another excuse. After all, “sacked for failing” may be sending out the wrong message to the voters.

And yet, despite standing down, Penn will still be part of the campaign. According to the BBC Clinton’s campaign manager said:

“…he would "continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign".”

Nice. That seems to be a new definition of leaving a job that I haven’t been made aware of. You leave your job, and yet you keep on doing it. For me, this sets a dangerous political precedent. Imagine if George W. Bush follows this logic. Next year, after Bush leaves the White House, he could cite this precedent and try to continue with his presidency. I doubt he will do, though, as I reckon he's quite lazy. Far worse would be Gordon after the next election, when hopefully he has been given his marching orders by the electorate, trying to continue in his role as PM. That would be a fucking disaster.

Still, my point stands – the Clinton campaign is suffering. It is difficult to know how it will recover, and I think the day when Clinton is sat alone in her campaign office, without funds and without staff (with even her husband having deserted her, probably for the golf course) is looming. It must be a sad – if not devastating – time for any candidate, particularly one who used to be the presumptive nominee. But it is happening, slowly but surely. And those close to Clinton will fade into the background, not wanting to be too closely linked to a campaign that did, at the end of the day, fail.