Clinton and Healthcare

For the past several days we have been subjected to endless hours of analysis from the cable pundits speculating about Senator Hillary Clinton's roll in an Obama administration. Was she offered the Secretary of State post? If so, will she accept it? Would Bill have a problem in the vetting process? If not, would he be able stay on the straight an narrow? How would it affect Bill's Global Initiative?

Or, is all this all just show?

In this morning's LA Times Noam Levery reports that Senator Ted Kennedy has offered Senator Clinton a lead roll in the new Senate healthcare team.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has announced plans to craft sweeping healthcare legislation next year, asked the former presidential contender to head a working group focused on insurance coverage.

The potential assignment comes a decade and a half after Clinton led a controversial effort to reshape the healthcare system as first lady during her husband's first term in the White House. That campaign collapsed amid bitter opposition from many in the healthcare industry and accusations that Clinton ran a secretive process that ignored input from important stakeholders.

Is this Clinton's out? Can she now turn down the Secretary of State job and work on the project that has consumed a good portion of her public life, and the one area--other than her vote to authorize use of force in Iraq--that arguably might be called her biggest legislative failures?

Retiring Campaign Debt: Get a Grip People

DHinMI explains that the Obama cannot take your campaign donation and use it to help Clinton retire her debt.

Let's make this absolutely clear:

Money given to Obama's campaign, either in the past or in the future, WILL NOT end up in Clinton's campaign fund.

What Obama can do is go to his donors and ask them to contribute to Clinton's campaign. He could have his campaign send out email appeals to small donors to help Clinton pay off her debt.

Got it? No can do. End of discussion we now return you to your regualry scheduled Will & Grace syndicated reruns.

Brutality and Viciousness on the 2008 Campaign Trail

Brutal metaphor of the day:

Nor are there many among unaffiliated Democratic consultants who believe [Clinton] is ready to bail out. "She is the Japanese soldier in the Pacific island that hasn't been told the war is over," said Democratic pollster John Anzalone. "Occasionally she picks off a few islanders and considers it a victory. Well, yesterday she found out the war was over."

A Tad Bit Against the Conventional Wisdom

Tad Devine says Obama will win in Pennsylvania.

Call his reasoning Devine’s Theory of Voter Psychology. This theory can come into play when large numbers of voters wake up on Election Day either undecided or ambivalent about their choice—as has been true in most Democratic primaries and caucuses this season.

Essentially, it holds that when lots of voters can’t make up their minds based on personal feelings about the candidates, they’ll look to broader factors—say, the good of the party—for the deciding element.

That makes a lot of sense and I wonder if most of the predictions and polls I've seens--with the noted exception of Al Giordano--fully weigh and properly consider all the newly registered Democrats.

PA Predictions

Al Giordano says Clinton nets +4 pledged delegates in PA. He's got a great analysis and links to several other predictions.

Lobbyists Represent Real Americans

While Clinton continues with the Atwater/Rove-like attacks on Obama by misrepresenting the "small town" remarks he made, Obama runs this ad in PA pointing out her obvious love for "real people" by cozying up to lobbyists and lobby money.