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Hillary's Florida Strategy

By wt

The major Democrats in the race agreed not to campaign in Florida.

Why? So as not to upset party leadership and voters in the first four states.

Iowa loves being the first caucus. New Hampshire loves being the first primary. Nevada loves being first in the west. And South Carolina loves being first in the south.

But unlike Michigan (and for the GOP, Wyoming) here's a state that's not challenging any of those positions --- Florida, on January 29th.

And yet, it's a pre-Feb 5th state --- where no one is supposed to do any substantial campaigning.

So what's the Clinton strategy? First, win. Second, gloat. Third, see if you can get the delegates to count eventually.

Is this really going to fly? I think so. It'll piss people off in the party, but not enough to actually do anything. Howard Dean will get upset, but he's ultimately powerless over the Clintons and with regard to the nomination process.

What it really does is put Obama in the position of marginalizing Florida, saying it doesn't count, that it has no delegates, etc. And that is not an enviable position.

If I'm Obama, instead of waiting for these instances of being out-politicked, and then responding, I would try to think of the NEXT way you're going to be hit. I don't know what that is, but in retrospect, Clinton's Florida strategy seems like an obvious play on her part.

Full post as published by Expressio Unius on January 28, 2008 (boomark / email).