WASHINGTON, 5 January 2008 — For Sen. Hillary Clinton, the presumed front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, the victory of Barack Obama, 46, amounted to a major setback. Just months ago, she appeared to be leading the pack for the Democratic presidential nomination. The loss was a heavy blow for Hillary, 60, as the former first lady now faces immense pressure to turn around her campaign in New Hampshire over the next five days.
“Today, we are sending a clear message that we are going to have change, and that change will be a Democratic president in the White House,” Hillary, with husband and former president Bill Clinton at her shoulder, said in Des Moines.
Hillary’s loss is especially glaring as her central strategy for much of 2007 was to appear as the inevitable nominee, but Iowans shredded that notion. Now her team must decide how to revamp a campaign built on experience to appeal to an electorate looking for change.
The Hillary campaign has long maintained that Iowa was her toughest state and, in a leaked memo last spring, a senior campaign aide went as far as to suggest that she skip the state. Now the campaign is spinning Hillary’s third place finish as just a minor bump in the road.
“This was a massive turnout for Iowa. But it is still a relatively small amount of people when it comes to nominating a president,” Hillary spokesman Jay Carson said. “We’re going to fight on in New Hampshire and South Carolina and Nevada, then all the states on Feb. 5.”
Hillary launched her White House campaign as the presumed nominee, banking on her experience and Democratic affection for her husband’s presidency to amass a financial war chest without parallel and a political organization that would distance her from any other contender.
She has pushed the idea that, as president, she would be part of a Clinton restoration — a view held by many who served in the Bill Clinton administration. She tried in recent weeks to convince voters that another Clinton administration would be an agent of change, but Iowans clearly did not buy it. Even before Obama’s victory had been formally declared, the Hillary campaign announced that Bill Clinton would be dispatched to New Hampshire for a five-day blitz before Tuesday’s primary.
After a public rally, Bill Clinton told downcast aides that there was some good news in the night’s results: His wife, he said, is ahead 12 points in New Hampshire and will win there next Tuesday.
Hillary has the money, the campaign apparatus and the legions of supporters to stay in the race, but analysts say her lackluster finish raises fresh questions about her standing.
