Obama Not Ready to be CiC/Cannot Win Big States = Clinton Strategy for Super Delegate Votes

[K Gardner]

In an almost ridiculously vapid performance on Larry King Live, Lanny Davis gave us a solid preview of the talking points which have been distributed to surrogates in preparation for the Case Against Barack Obama in the runup to Pennsylvania. These have been echoed by surrogates such as Wesley Clark across the board and will continue. Obama needs to get in front of this and work the media spin before this gets too far out toward PA.

1. Ohio is the bellweather state and proves Obama is not acceptable as CiC to the majority of voters.
2. Obama is opposed to Universal Health Care.
3. Facts and only Facts.
4. Frequent use of the word: "Disturbing".
5. Obama not ready to be CiC because (insert faux outrage of the day)

Lanny Davis on Larry King, March 7, 2008

KING: Lanny Davis, it's a simple yes or no, why doesn't she release her income tax returns?

DAVIS: The answer is yes, she will release her tax information since the year 2000 on April 15th. They're working on it. So the answer is yes.

And, if I could correct the record on what I heard before here, Larry, the facts are -- I have a great deal of respect for Senator Obama. He inspires a lot of young people and he's a great candidate. But he's not ready to be president, according to the voters of every major state, in the exit polls and in the hard data that are not disputable. In Ohio, more than 60 percent of the voters thought that Senator Clinton was ready to be commander-in-chief. Only 30 percent thought that Senator Obama. That's a fact, Larry.

On the stewardship of the economy, in a landslide victory in the bellwether state of Ohio, more than two-thirds of the voters thought that Hillary Clinton was a better steward of the economy, as compared to about one third to Obama.

KING: Then --

DAVIS: That's the issue he's got to address. All the attacks that -- it's really ironic to hear kitchen sink used by my good old friend, David Wilhelm. We see Senator Obama, immediately out of Ohio, rather than addressing whether he's ready to be commander-in-chief and can take care of the economy, which is why he lost by a landslide in that important state, he starts attacking Hillary Clinton on tax returns, for goodness sakes, when, for 20 years, the Clintons' financial information has been fully disclosed. And as governor...

KING: OK, I want to --

DAVIS: ...and as first lady, it's been disclosed throughout the (INAUDIBLE).

KING: All right, I want to get...

DAVIS: It's kind of silly. (Davis continues to interrupt to bombard with talking points)

DAVIS: Some of the words that I hear used from the Politics of Hope campaign, like slipperiness and secrecy and personalized words like monster -- I'm here to talk about facts and facts only. And the fact is that Senator Obama and now my friend, John Wilhelm, is opposed to universal health care, which this party has stood for since Harry Truman. He would leave out 15 million people. That's a fact.

Senator Obama voted for the Dick Cheney energy bill and Hillary Clinton opposed it. That's a fact. In the State of Ohio, a bellwether state, as well as in the State of Texas, blue collar voters, senior citizens -- the Democratic core base supported Hillary Clinton by substantial margins. That's a fact. The reason is that people are seeing Senator Obama as not ready to be president by overwhelming margins of Democrats. That's a fact. And he ought to be addressing those facts...

Also up on March 7 was Wesley Clark, parroting some familiar refrains

Wes Clark on BBC

"He will rely upon a plan, an operational plan that he pulls together, in consultation with people who are on the ground, to whom he doesn’t have daily access now as a result of not being the president," Powers told the BBC's Stephen Sackur Monday.

Former NATO commander Wesley Clark, a Clinton supporter, called the comments "disturbing," and he accused Obama of not being prepared enough to be commander in chief and properly oversee an end to the Iraq war.

"That means knowing where you're headed before you start down the path," Clark said.

Jamie Rubin, a former State Department spokesman, compared Obama's foreign policy approach to "amateur hour."

Last but not least, let's listen to Hillary as she sets the tone for her campaign on the same day:

Clinton Calls Obama Campaign "Disturbing", Obama

HATTIESBURG, MS - Hillary Clinton's campaign hit rival Barack Obama on two fronts today, saying he does not have a plan to end the war in Iraq and calling on a top aide to step aside after she referred to the New York senator as "a monster." In both cases, the Obama campaign representative involved was now-former foreign policy aide Samantha Power. Power tendered her resignation earlier today for the monster comment reported in a Scottish newspaper and apologized to both Clinton and Obama. When asked for a reaction Clinton said it was the right thing to do.

"I think Sen. Obama did the right thing, but I think it's important to look at what she and his other advisors say behind closed doors, particularly when they are talking to foreign governments and foreign press," she said during a media availability at a train depot here. "It raises disturbing questions about what the real planning and policy positions ... inside the Obama campaign happen to be."

The Obama campaign has said Power was an unpaid advisor and not part of the campaign staff and that she stepped down on her own. Clinton did not address Power's specific comment. When asked how it was different from Communications Dir. Howard Wolfson's statement yesterday that Obama was imitating Ken Starr, she said "one is an adhomiem attack and one is a historical refererence." Clinton also cited a BBC interview with Power in which she said Obama's plan for withdrawing troops from Iraq within 16 months, at a rate of one to two brigades a month, could change once he becomes president.

"Sen. Obama has made his speech opposing Iraq in 2002 and the war in Iraq the core of his campaign, which makes these comments especially troubling," Clinton said. "While Sen. Obama campaigns on his plan to end the war, his top advisors tell people abroad that he will not rely on his own plan should he become president. This is the latest example of promising the American people one thing on campaign trail and telling people in other countries another. We saw this with Nafta as well."

This tactic was previewed on Feb 20 and is now in full bloom. It is a tactic that is more about making a case to the Super Delegates that Obama is "not ready and cannot win big states". It is a tactic that seeks only to destroy Obama's Worth as a Viable Candidate and ensuring the Super Delegates throw their endorsements to him.

A Stark Choice

But instead of shifting course, Clinton redoubled her attempt to undermine his change-oriented message. "One of us is ready to be commander in chief," she told the crowd in New York. "Let's get real. Let's get real about this election, let's get real about our future, let's get real about what it is we can do together." Obama has had a "good couple of weeks," she allowed, but said his victories had come in states that he was expected to win. Clinton predicted that when voters in Ohio and Texas have the opportunity to take his measure, his run of success will end.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, senior Clinton advisers vowed to press Obama on his readiness for the White House, arguing that the only reason that message has not been successful so far is that Obama was able to outspend Clinton in the recent string of contests. Now, chief strategist Mark Penn said, Clinton will draw distinctions with Obama more sharply.

"She is the only person in this race who is both ready to be commander in chief and would end the Iraq war and start to bring home troops in 60 days, compared to both Senator Obama and Senator McCain," Penn said, referring to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the likely Republican nominee. "She is the only one with a real plan for managing the economy, reining in the special interests and rebuilding the middle class." He continued: "This is a very stark choice, and I think it's going to be reflected in the choice we have over the next few weeks: Who is better able to lead the country in the event of a crisis and beat the Republican nominee?"