Ray Malone's Commentary

The strategies employed by the Clinton campaign are so Clintonesque. Yet the media and her opponents fail to react to those strategies the way they should.

The major problem for the Democratic party is they are a very divided party on issues. They are divided on foreign policy, they are divided on domestic policy, they are divided on social issues. There is no position that a Democrat can take and not lose support. They are left with one option. They can attack Republicans and especially President Bush.

Thus Hillary in the primary as well as the general election must control the agenda. It can not be about policy or it will hurt her run for the nomination and the office. So it must be about her personality.

So we have Hillary saying that she is instituting commercials and web sites extolling what a nice and likable person she is. That is not because she needs to be liked to get the nomination. She needs to avoid having to answer questions about the issues.

What caused her problems was when reporters asked her questions about issues and her stances on them. She dared not give real answers or it would cost her votes. And her long winded NON answers did not play well with the media. So she has to change the subject from issues to personalities.

Soon there will be commercials telling us how likable Hillary is. And the media will tell us the "I like Hillary" campaign is at best a wash. And they will contrast that with questions like "Do people like Obama better?" and the media will talk about her negatives.

Well the negatives were never going to vote for Hillary. They are mostly Republican voters. They may not be as negative on Obama, but they will not vote for him either.

What Hillary must do is keep the issues off the newscasts and front pages. and she can only do that by changing the focus from issues to her as a person.. It can not be her as an advocate of issues. Of course that is exactly what she is doing in the final weeks before the primary campaign season starts.

The question I have. is how will the Republican candidate handle the situation. If the issue in the general election is Hillary, then Hillary will win. The Republican must reduce Hillary's support among Democrats and moderates. The only way to do that effectively is make the important issues of the day the important issues of the campaign.

If the Republican candidate has the smarts to constantly state his position on the issues first, and then constantly and respectfully, ask that Hillary give her views, Hillary can be toast. If he attacks Hillary on her past, he will be trashed as mean spirited and as a mean person. If the issue is Hillary and what the media will call Republican smear campaigns about Clinton morality, then Hillary will be our next president.

Defeating Hillary will have nothing to do with her morals or honesty. Her Democratic and moderate supporters know all about the Clinton morality and don't give a dead rats rump.

Why is it that Republicans think that only they are aware of what the Clintons have done. The Clinton supporters know and don't care. The Republican campaign has to be about reducing the support for Hillary among her actual supporters.

What Hillary supporters don't know is where she stands on most issues. She does her best to confine her self to blaming Bush or personal attacks on Obama. She does that so Obama will be stupid enough to attack her personally and stay away from the political issues.

Every time she is asked to state her positions on the issues and does or doesn't answer, it costs her support.

Rule one in politics.

Deduce where the opposition wants to take the campaign and go in the opposite direction.

To win one must turn what would be pro Hillary voters into anti Hillary voters. Accusations of immorality and corruption will not work. If they did Hillary would not be the sure winner of the Democratic nomination.

What will work is demanding that Hillary take firm positions on the issues. If she does she is toast. If she doesn't she is toast. Nothing can be more devastating to her candidacy than

"Why won't Hillary tell us where she stands? Don't you think if she thought her real positions would please you, she would tell you what they are?"