Too Little, Possibly Too Late

The side that Hilary Clinton showed in the final three minutes of last night’s debate in Austin, Texas was one that has done this for her in the past:

It won her the affection of America for her husband infidelity 10 years ago, made her an easy winner for the senior Senator spot in New York in 2000 as Rick Lazio looked an arrogant young fool, and just in January, when the water works came out, won her sympathy in stopping Barack Obama’s sudden early barrage in winning New Hampshire.

How her campaign team, one of the worst campaigns teams in history for their indolence and unpreparedness for such a five-star candidate in all reality, and most importantly, herself, has failed to usher this side of her into all her speeches and campaign movements across the country is a prime reason why she is possibly eleven days away from a colossal fall.

It was a great moment that should have happened on plenty of occasions.

Instead, it happened at the end of the debate in the state capital of Texas where Obama didn’t make the mistake that Clinton needed the whole night. In fact, this was Obama’s best debate. Unlike many analysts who feel he was trounced in the debates in January by the former First Lady, I’m in the minority where he didn’t perform bad and waited his chance to say what he was going to say in the most important moments.

And he did just that at last night’s debate. Because when she tried to challenge him on health care, and when she then tried to get all over him on for using Deval Patrick’s words, Obama made it known to everyone that he truly is the prohibited favorite now for the White House. His firm response on both of those contentious topics of debate, establishing an important difference in their health care strategies (despite him saying it was just a 5% difference, neglecting the importance of their rift in the argument a little bit) signaled to Clinton that he truly was her equal at least in her possibly strongest area, debating.

He got all over her on the “plagiarism” claims before the crowd did after her now infamous and forced “Xerox” line, an embodiment of the lack of genuine character she and her team hasn’t displayed enough. And he didn’t back down from when she told Cameron Brown on CNN that they needed to continue their argument on health care. Thank goodness for CNN sake that they didn’t stop the debate’s most riveting moment before Clinton’s close, because they almost blew it when they went to commercial break, negating the chance of Clinton to respond to Obama’s answer.

And thumbs up to Hilary there for not letting go of the issue and fighting to the end, because she really made that moment by going back on the issue when Brown, John King , and Jorge Ramos wanted to move on, a silly decision posed by the network that almost backfired on them. Could you imagine the Clinton camp talking about how the media is favoring Obama again? Everyone would have had a justified argument backing that sentiment.

But the Clinton camp can only look at one another for any other fault they had for the rest of the night, because they put themselves in the position to be powerless. The question of being ready for day one was something that was detrimental to her. Everyone has groaned tired of her banal claims of being more prepared than Obama. It is a smack to the face of Obama and the millions that have voted for him, and she has continued to use that rhetoric throughout the campaign speeches every single day. It has failed, miserably.

In addition, she couldn’t outwit him on immigration, the recent official departure of Fidel Castro from leadership in Cuba, and the ugly head of Iraq rearing itself back into her feelings of woe. All of these things happened before that lovely conclusion. And even that fantastic finish that produced a standing ovation from the audience had its negative connotation, as some felt that it was a mini-conciliatory speech, especially when she uttered, “No matter who the President will be, we’ll be alright.” A statement that you couldn’t imagine her saying to crowds across the country so many weeks ago, when she was the “inevitable candidate.”

But even if she didn’t say that exact type of statement, Hilary Clinton had a chance to at least show that side of her more often instead of just moving on and being a competitor. She didn’t stick around enough states when she lost them, didn’t even give them a speech, especially in South Carolina. She bolted and moved on, not showing the love her voters had shown for her in casting the ballot in the Clinton name. Whether you hated them or not, thought it was authentic or political acting in its purest form, those tears in New Hampshire helped. Just like Lazio’s temper and husband Bill’s flirting.

Instead, she got caught up in continuing to show how tough and stern she was, unflappable in moments when the campaign team were wounded and in disbelief of Obama’s resurgence and her fall from the top of the leader board. It has put her in the hole, where she must win in Ohio, must win in Texas, must win from now on out.

She has one more debate (yes, another one) and less than two weeks to show something like she did at the end of last night. Or maybe, just maybe, the genuine card that she held in her hand has return to the shuffled deck.