Clinton campaign turns up heat after Obama surge in poll
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By Charlotte Eby | Tuesday, December 04, 2007 |
Democrat Barack Obama is gaining ground among Iowa caucus-goers at what could end up being just the right time.
An ABC News /Washington Post poll had Obama overtaking Hillary Clinton for the lead in November.
That poll found that Iowa voters were looking for fresh ideas and had “lingering doubts about Hillary Clinton’s honesty and forthrightness.”
Other polls show a dead heat in the race with a month to go before the Iowa caucuses.
The best evidence Obama is gaining ground is that Clinton has gone on the attack in Iowa. She’s continually criticized Obama’s health care plan as not being completely universal.
Rival John Edwards joined the criticism against Obama, saying Obama’s plan would leave many Americans uninsured, unlike his own plan, which would mandate health care coverage.
Obama has mostly shrugged off their critiques, explaining that his plan would not require people who cannot afford health care to get it.
He’s been relaxed rather than defensive in the face of the recent attacks, a tactic that could either help him paint the picture of a confident front-runner or hurt his standing if they continue unanswered.
Some had written off Obama earlier this fall. His support appeared to have reached a plateau in Iowa.
A shaky debate performance had others wondering whether he was ready for the heat of battle against Clinton.
Iowa caucus veterans also had their doubts. Many of Obama’s younger, progressive supporters gave them a bad case of deja vu from 2004.
That year, young voters and college students were supposed to propel “People-powered Howard” Dean to a win in Iowa.
Instead of the perfect storm for Dean, many of the political neophytes who had been so enamored with Dean at the start proved to have short attention spans. They stayed home on caucus night when it really mattered, handing Dean a disappointing third-place finish.
The Obama campaign is trying to avoid a repeat of 2004. They insist they are campaigning to win over traditional, reliable caucus-goers.
They’ve laid out an ambitious campaign schedule to win over voters in rural Iowa, a strategy that’s a must for winning the caucuses.
And they stress their main priority is winning support from faithful Democratic primary voters and caucus-goers. They’re also reaching out to faith and environmental groups as well as African-American and Latino voters.
The Obama campaign also believes they have a chance to capture some Republican and independent voters.
With the polls showing that some Iowa activists are taking another look at Obama as they start making their final caucus pick, he’ll have to maintain the passion and energy that fueled his announcement tour earlier this year.
Obama sometimes has a tendency to be too cerebral when his audience is looking for fire. He showed a flash of that fire at the Democrats’ Jefferson Jackson dinner a few weeks back.
He’ll have to turn up that heat for four solid weeks if he wants to make history.
Charlotte Eby is Statehouse bureau chief for Lee Enterprises. Contact her at
(515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.
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