2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Grass Roots Organization, Messaging, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • February 20th, 2008

The Wisconsin post-mortem

by Chris Lato

Well, I can’t say I’m shocked. Turnout appears to have been impressive, especially for the Democrat presidential candidates. In such a hotly contested race, that is not surprising.

What is intriguing: the margin of victory for Barack Obama. The numbers are still rolling in as I write this, but all indications are that Obama really swamped Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin.

In recent days, some articles and pundits tried to make the case that Wisconsin appears tailor-made for Clinton. I didn’t buy it – the crowds that Obama was drawing across Wisconsin indicated that his support is a phenomenon that people of all stripes were responding to.

It didn’t help that Clinton’s big media gambit centered on an awfully weak attack for a Presidential contest – hitting Obama for passing on an invitation to debate in Wisconsin. That was a pretty clear sign of a campaign on the defensive and struggling mightily to define itself.

Simply put, the Clinton campaign got caught with its pants down - unable to adjust its tactics, messaging and assemble an effective ground game in the face of the hard-charging Obama. The best campaigns are able to roll with the punches, but Clinton’s Wisconsin efforts felt half-hearted and ill-advised.

On the GOP side, John McCain is the nominee – get used to it. They say it’s not over till the fat lady sings, but with all due respect, it’s time for Mike Huckabee to realize the fat lady is backstage warming up.

Certain segments of the GOP will continue to grumble and groan about McCain, but it is what it is and now McCain has some time to make peace with disillusioned conservatives. To many Republicans, Huckabee is looking more and more like the party guest who doesn’t know when to take the lampshade off his head and go home, already.

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