Please, Someone, Help Howard Wolfson Pull His Head Out of His Ass

Well, I guess it wasn't the sexism, the media, and all the Hillary-bashing afterall.

Hillary Clinton lost because John Edwards lied.

At least, that's the latest coming from former Clinton mouthpiece, Howard Wolfson.

From ABC News;

"I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," former Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson told ABCNews.com ... "Our voters and Edwards' voters were the same people," Wolfson said the Clinton polls showed. "They were older, pro-union. Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us and we would have barely beaten Obama."

As The Wonkette pointed out;

Of course, then there are “facts” like these: “[Obama campaign] officials never bought the argument that Clinton was the second choice of Edwards voters. Immediately after Edwards dropped out of the race at the end of January, Obama won eleven straight contests in a row.”

Nate Silver, in his "Why Howard Wolfson is Out of a Job" notes;

As such, Iowa pollsters did a lot of work in trying to determine voters' second choices. And in virtually every survey, Clinton did rather poorly as a second choice: an average of several surveys in December showed that she was the second choice of about 20 percent of voters, as compared with 25 percent for Obama and Edwards (an even later version I have sitting on my hard drive showed the second-choice breakdown as Edwards 30, Obama 28.5, Clinton 23.5)

So the odds are that, if John Edwards had dropped out on the morning before the Iowa caucus, Obama would have won by more points rather than fewer.

I guess Edwards didn't get the memo.

As part of Hillary Entitlement Campaign, Edwards was duty-bound to either not have had his cheating affair, or, as soon as he did, he was required to fess up, bow out of the campaign, and demand all his supporters move over to Hillary.

Edwards needed to, before he informed his wife of his infidelity, and before he aided his wife in her illness, he should have been working 24/7 to secure the nomination for Hillary.

Jeepers! ... No wonder she went down in flames ...

Nobody was following the plans!

How the hell can you feel you are entitled to the nomination, and then have all these people dropping the ball?

What the heck is our political system coming to?

Perhaps Obama, or certainly Howard Dean, and others in the Dem Leadership, need a sitdown with Her Highness.

With Wolfson's babble, and all the talk of parades, rallies, a "cathartic roll call vote", the Grand Central Station Locker Creatures ("Hillary is back! The keeper of the light! All hail Hillary! All hail Hillary! Oh Hillary can you see by the dawn's early light...") are still holding on to the pipe dream that "something" is going to happen in Denver, and Hillary will emerge victorious, with the nomination.

It's over! ... Give it up! ... Hillary Lost!

Thomas Schaller, in Salon has it succinctly;

The macro reasons for Hillary's loss are still the same: They underestimated Obama, they didn't have a plan for winning delegates in caucus states, and they were caught flat in the period immediately following Super Tuesday. None of those fatal errors can be attributed to illicit affairs covered up by a supposedly complicit media or anything else Edwards, Obama or any of the other Democratic contenders did or did not do.

Bonus Wolfson, Head-Firmly-Up-Ass, Links

Christy Hardin Smith: The Wolfson And The Sour Grapes

CNN: Clinton aide: If affair pushed Edwards out, she would have won

Top Ten Cloves: Other Ways Hillary Clinton Can Ignore She Lost Primary Race

The Most Fabulous Object In The World

Forget About What Obama Said ... Check Out Wolfson's Defense of Hillary!

Hillary's Smelling Burning Rubber! Or: The Garlic Was Right - Hillary Has Built Her "Field of Voices"

Clinton Camp, Burnishing Her Experience Resume, Claims David Bowie Song "Changes" All About Hillary

Looking to batten down the hatches, before the Obama wave crashes over them, Hillary Clinton's campaign came out swinging today, dropping a bombshell in an attempt to continue her Saturday Night Debate theme, burnishing her experience credentials'.

David Bowie's song "Changes" was written for, and about, Hillary Clinton.

"Hillary was already battling, and bringing about change when Barack Obama was only changing his diapers," boasted Mark Penn, Clinton's chief pollster and strategist.

"Bowie recognized, early on, Hillary as an agent for change", Penn continued. "He wanted to do something to honor that, to pay respect to it, so he wrote that snazzy song."

"He had a vision, an artists' eye, on how caring and unselfish a politician Hillary would be."

Penn claims it was originally titled 'You're So Change", but that Bowie retitled it, after hearing that Carly Simon was working on an idea, eventually coming out with her hit tune, "You're So Vain".

In just a few days, since her third--place finish in the Iowa Caucus, and her defensive posture last Saturday evening, in the ABC Debate that saw saw Obama and John Edwards shine as much, if not more, than Hillary, the Clinton campaign has had to quickly revamp their efforts to avoid Hillary being pegged by the media as part of the "status quo".

Polls released today show Obama gaining strength, catching a bounce and leading by 10-points in one, 13-points in another.

Penn ignored questions from reporters, citing President Bill Clinton, and his using Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" as his theme, when he ran for President.

Penn quickly sniped "Good band, good tune, but they didn't write that specifically for the President."

Penn also downplayed the incident today, of Hillary weeping or crying during a campaign stop, quickly dismissing the Muskie comparisons, indicating "she was thinking about the song, it was playing in her head, all the change she's brought about and it touched her."

Rachel Maddow, Air America host and MSNBC pundit said that "it was too early to say if Hillary was crying."

Plans, according to Penn, included having the Bowie tune "Changes" blaring at her campaign appearances and, sources say, efforts are on-going to get Bowie to come out, tell the story himself and publically endorse the junior Senator from New York.

Penn would not confirm plans for a Facebook collaboration of a "Changes" party, with Hillary appearing, dressed as Bowie and singing a specially-written version of "Changes", that would include a list of her many accomplishments of leading change.

Asked how relevant David Bowie would be to the youthful Facebook audience, an artist that hasn't had a hit record in years, and, in 2004, only placed 39th in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Penn would hear none of it.

"We'll just chalk it up to another "change" accomplishment on Hillary's resume."

When reached for comment, an Obama staffer chortled at the news and offered that it "sounds like her campaign is stuttering, just like in the song."

Bonus Hillary Links

Changes - David Bowie

Creature - Hillary for President

Josh Marshall - Where We Are

Attytood - A brief history of crying in the New Hampshire primary

Frank Rich - They Didn’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

What A Difference Four Years Make ... Howard Dean

Howard Dean

It doesn't take the Reagan question of "Are you better off today, than four-years ago" for the Doctor to answer that ...

Then: Roasted, somewhat unfairly, for the now-infamous sceam

Now: Toasted, as a wise leader, of the Democratic Party

MSNBC Transcript of Iowa Caucus Coverage

OLBERMANN: We’re joined now by one of the contestants in the Iowa caucuses of four years ago, Howard Dean, who of course is now chairman of the Democratic Party.

Thank you for your time tonight, sir.

HOWARD DEAN, CHAIRMAN, DNC: Thanks for having me on.

OLBERMANN: All right.

Let’s just pick up Chris’ point right there. Is this indeed a rejection of the professionals in Iowa in both parties?

DEAN: You know, I think basically what you have is three Democrats, all of whom got over 30 percent, which is extraordinary. I mean, I think Senator Obama deserves all of the congratulations for winning this one, but the big news from the point of view of the chairman of the party, who is obviously not involved with a particular candidate, is that our turnout was enormous.

We doubled the Republican turnout, I think we’re going to find out at the end of the day, and that’s because so many Independents decided they would vote in the Democratic primary. You’re going to see that all over the country, and that is not good news for the Republicans.

OLBERMANN: Doubled. Joe Trippi said this was a rejection of Hillary Clinton, and of course he may wind up having his candidate, John Edwards, tied with Hillary Clinton for perhaps a distant second. Every time we look at that board it seems like the percentage change is 1 percent more in favor of Senator Obama.

Is that the sort of thing that you want to see in the early stages? Is this—is this any indicator about how Democrats feel about their second choice or whether or not the person they originally went into much as the Iowa caucus represents something of the mindset that the second choice of an individual supporter, an individual Democrat, is just as good as their first choice in their own minds?

DEAN: I think what you’re seeing is a pretty close race with three really strong candidates. Senator Obama won this round and now we’re going on to New Hampshire. We’re going to go on to Nevada and South Carolina.

Each one of these states is very different. All of these candidates have worked very hard in these states. This is how you choose the nominee.

At the end of the day, this is an important day not just because Senator Obama won the Iowa caucuses, but because finally the voters are having their say. And it’s not just pollsters and pundits that are droning on about this kind of stuff.

This is real voters. This is democracy. And again, from the point of view of the chairman of the Democratic Party, the big news here tonight is the turnout. What a turnout. I think this is really a repudiation of George Bush, is what I think it is.

OLBERMANN: As we’ve been pointing out, certainly that’s the case, but it may also be the case in the Republican Party that it’s a repudiation of George Bush.

I’d love your perspective. Has there ever been a blanker contrast between the first victory, however utterly indecisive or ultimately indecisive either of those first victories may be, have there ever been greater contrasts than Barack Obama than Mike Huckabee?

DEAN: Well, I think, you know, if you look at all of our candidates, they’re very different than the Republicans. There’s not much difference among the Republicans, there’s not much difference among the Democrats.

We believe we shouldn’t be in Iraq. All the Republicans think we should.

We believe that we ought to have health insurance for children. All the Republicans think it’s great that President Bush vetoed the bill.

All the Republicans think it was a great idea to pardon Scooter Libby. We think we ought to end the Republican culture of corruption.

These are really big differences. And there are many, many more.

You have got gasoline going above $3 a gallon, oil is at $100 a barrel now.

The Republicans couldn’t manage Katrina. They got us into Iraq but not telling us the truth, all of which their candidates are supporting. And now they can’t manage the economy.

I think tonight is a pretty bad—pretty bad piece of news for the Republican Party.

OLBERMANN: Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC, smiling at the turnstiles tonight in Des Moines and throughout Iowa.

DEAN: It’s true.

OLBERMANN: Great. Thanks for your time, sir.

DEAN: Thank you.

Rachel Maddow: Hillary Apologist and Obama Basher

"...I see a lot of shades of George Bush as a candidate in what we’re hearing from Obama ... I think that Obama learned a little bit about how to campaign from what George Bush did. I hope that he would be, of course, a better president than Bush has been though ..."

Who's paying Rachel Maddow's salary, MSNBC, Air America Radio, or the Hillary Clinton Campaign?

The Liberal/Progressive's rising media darling was wearing her Hillary on her sleeve last evening, late into the coverage as a panel member on the MSNBC broadcast of the post-Iowa Caucus discussions.

When you Google "Rachel Maddow", you (or at least my search provided) get 192,000 results.

Looking over the first 100, there's nary a negative word about Ms. Maddow, not even from the Freakshow denizens, Dittoheads, or the Sludge Reports' flying monkeys.

And if she is a Hillary fan and supporter, God bless her, but was it part of her assignment with MSNBC last evening to bash Dem Iowa Caucus winner Barack Obama?

Rachel Maddow as Obama Basher

From the MSNBC transcript;

OLBERMANN: Rachel Maddow, the subject of strong views. Did not the strong views get us the president we have as well? Is there not fire to be played with in that category.

MADDOW: Well, it’s interesting. I actually feel like although I like Obama a lot more than I like George Bush as a politician and I guess probably as a person, I see a lot of shades of George Bush as a candidate in what we’re hearing from Obama. In that what Obama’s actually offering are fairly liberal policies, but spoken in language and delivered in a style that’s very moderate and that’s actually kind of post partisan in tone.

We don’t think of George Bush’s presidency as having been that way. But as a candidate, that’s exactly what he was. He was proposing very conservative policies, but in a conciliatory, compassionate, post partisan, can’t we all just get along kind of way. And that’s why people I think maybe ended up surprised at the way he governed. I think that Obama learned a little bit about how to campaign from what George Bush did. I hope that he would be, of course, a better president than Bush has been though.

Whoa, there girl!

Obama is Bush?

If fellow panel member Pat Buchanan said it, you would, well, brush it off, knowing what a whack-job Buchanan is.

And even being cautious about over-praise, being it was only one night, one event, but tying Obama to Bush?

Did the Hillary Campaign hack into her earpiece? Was she reading off the next morning's Hillary Campaign Talking Points?

Because, before she bashed Obama, you could see the hair on her neck rising, when host Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and other panel members were talking in tones of Hillary being finished.

Rachel Maddow as the Hillary Apologist

MATTHEWS: This country moves in a strange pattern. In 1870, we gave African-Americans, men, the right to vote, at least in the Constitution. Obviously Jim Crowe got in the way of that for 100 years. But it was written down into law, the amendment to our Constitution, African-Americans, former slaves, will be voting citizens of the United States.

Women got to vote, which is always interesting, 50 years later. So there’s something perhaps primordial about the willingness of this country to at least, in theory, extend the franchise, the presidency, even, to an African-American rather than a woman. That is the interesting question mark that this Hillary Clinton campaign raises.

Let’s go to the panel with this hot potato, starting with Rachel Maddow.

Rachel, and then Howard, I want you, and Pat, and, of course, Gene Robinson, all of you from your different perspectives, what is it about America that here we are in 2008, finally picking an African-American with a real shot to be president of the United States, and a woman just got a very bad night in Iowa?

Rachel?

MADDOW: I think that you’re calling this a really bad night for Hillary too early. I think that we need to see how close it’s going to be. And if ultimately the results are a three-way tie or look close to it, or Barack Obama wins tightly, that’s a story. I think it matters.

I don’t see this as a huge rejection of Hillary if she doesn’t come in with a big win, honestly. I know you see it differently.

MATTHEWS: You mean, the fact that two-thirds of the Democratic Party voted against her isn’t a rejection?

MADDOW: Two-thirds of the Democratic Party will have voted against all of the candidates if it comes in as a three-way tie, Chris. That’s the point.

The issue, if it comes out it’s a really close race, it’s going to be close heading into New Hampshire as well. And I think we discount that at our peril.

If Barack Obama, as you guys are projecting is going to be the winner, I think that’s the America we all want to live in. I think it’s an amazing day for the country and it’s great. I don’t know if it means that he gets the nomination ultimately, but it’s an exciting, historic day for the country.

OLBERMANN: Let me throw something in from the decision desk. Edwards and Clinton are in, just apropos what you’re saying, Rachel, a very tight race for second in the race for the state Democratic delegate equivalent. Those are the numbers we’re seeing so far.

And again, NBC News has projected, as you heard, Barack Obama as the winner of this Iowa caucus at 36 percent. Those other numbers are as close as you would suggest they would be, 31 percent and 31 percent.

MATTHEWS: But Howard—well, Rachel, I’ll go back to you so you can have a response here.

From the beginning of this year in the polling we’ve noticed that Hillary has been ahead of Obama all year. So she can’t claim to be somehow a comeback kid or someone who, you know, somehow never had a chance. She had a big chance in Iowa and she’s lucky to get second.

MADDOW: No, I think it may be a more comfortable place for her to be running from, to be able to say, I’m fighting for this, and to maybe play the gender card in a big way, to say we have got to fight in order to get a woman in the White House in a way that she couldn’t have played that way had she been in an inevitable front-runner. So, I mean, I think it’ll be real interesting to see how the Clinton campaign responds to this. They’re going to have to come up with something creative, but it’s not the worst position for her to be in.

Funny, I missed the PR this morning, from the Hillary camp, telling us how thrilled they are, going into New Hampshire in five days, from a third-place finish in Iowa.

And I didn't see Big Bill, on camera, extolling how coming in third-place in Iowa was the best strategic way for his wife to start off on getting the nomination.

It has been reported that Ms. Maddow has received a tryout from MSNBC (she's been appearing on the network with greater frequency the past few months), for a possible show, possibly replacing the He-Man, Tucker Carlson

If that is the case, please, someone at MSNBC, take away the HRC pom-poms before she goes on-air.

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard Last Evening At The Iowa Caucuses

News Item: Obama stuns Clinton in Iowa while Huckabee shows his strength over Romney

10. Pass the word ... Alan Keyes is going around, trying to pass himself off as Barack Obama

9. It's the writer's strike ... Only reason I'm here is cuz' I'm tired of watching reruns

8. Bill Clinton's going around, complaining, none of the caucus sites had any donuts

7. I heard Huckabee screwed up again ... Flying back from The Tonight Show, he flew into Idaho, instead of coming here

6. There's a guy outside, selling padded SUV sunroof handles

5. Look, someone is going around dressed up like New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain ... Oh, wait a minute, that's John McCain!

4. Is Fred Thompson the guy with the wide stance?

3. Geez, those Ron Paul kids don't give up ... They're running fundraising car washes outside all the GOP caucus sites

2. I heard that the Romney campaign, if you vote for him, will give you a DVD of his faith speech

1. She should have gone with the cleavage ... Could'a been worth 5-points, easy

Bonus Iowa Caucus Links

Greg Sargent - Edwards: From Here On Out, It's Me Versus Obama

Barry Crimmins: Hog Futures Tumble in Iowa

John Ellis: A Hard Loss for Romney

David Corn: McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years"

Don Frederick: Ron Paul gets some revenge

'They Shoot Iowa Caucuses, Don't They?

Rachel Maddow: Hillary Apologist and Obama Basher

'They Shoot Iowa Caucuses, Don't They?

Rocky: Here they are again, folks! These wonderful, wonderful kids! Still struggling! Still hoping! As the clock of fate ticks away, the dance of destiny continues! The marathon goes on, and on, and on! HOW LONG CAN THEY LAST!

From "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"

Boy, what a fucked up system!

This, the Iowa Caucus, looked like a "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" contest, but directed by Jacques Tati.

It couldn't be more absurd

Stand over here ... Move over here ... Now raise your hands ... Move back over here ...

Bouncing around the channels found Wolf Blitzer working a SuperSizeMe set of his Situation Room and Rachel Maddow settling into her Hillary Clinton Apologist mode ... Fox has their usual cast of dimwits, including Little Billy Kristol...

Winners called are;

Huckabee over Make-Up Mitt.

Obama running away with it, with Hillary and Edwards duking it out for second place.

This is major cool and major headlines because I'm sure the empty suits that run both parties are pulling a Tessio, from The Godfather, repeating over-and-over, "Hell, he can't do that ... It screws up all my plans ..."

There is no understating of Obama walking away with it ... In a state where you could probably count the number of minorities on one hand ... And taking on the Clinton Machine ... Hillary, after all, was supposed to be able to just show up and her cakewalk to the nomination was all but official ...

Trouble in River City, indeed ...

And the stumblin'-and-bumblin' Huckabee running, proverbially, his fingers through Make-Up Mitt's hair ... His expensive hair .. His 20-1-spending-in-Iowa hair ...

All of Mitt's doggies, and all of Mitt's sons may not be able to put Mitt back together again ...

Maybe it is true, what they say about Chuck Norris ...

I had planned doing a complete different post, that I wrote earlier this afternoon.

Now, having watched the coverage, I don't believe it captured the satire and buffoonery of this event with it, so, we go free-flow and let it fly on-the-run.

The first leg of, hopefully, finding the person that will lift us out of the darkness of the Bush Grindhouse, has been run through the corn husks of Iowa and now it's on to the land of "Live Free or Die".

Like Rocky says in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?": Yowza! Yowza! Yowza!

Iowa Caucus Links

Obama, Huckabee win Iowa caucuses, CNN projects

Obama Emerges Victorious in Iowa; Obama Takes Iowa; 2nd, 3rd Place Too Close to Call

Huckabee Takes Iowa; Romney in 2nd; Former Arkansas Governor Rides Momentum Surge to Early Victory

Visit Memeorandum for a bevy of articles and links