Hillary came in 3rd in Iowa. If Edwards would have been out she would have came in 2nd.

I don't know why her advisor would make such a remark.

I just saw this on another site (CS, are you reading ontd_political, too?!) and all the comments were like, "OMG, Hills, get OVER it already!" which I thought was unfortunate since it was an adviser who said it. It must be so hard to be a candidate and have to be responsible for what, like, 200 people say and do.

Maybe she assumes that all those that voted for Edwards would have voted for Hillary? Or perhaps it is just sour grapes?

Very true, Torg - all of the sudden any off-the-cuff thing anyone even remotely related to your campaign says becomes your problem!

The advisor did have a good point in that a lot of Edwards voters fell into the same demographics as Clinton voters. But what's the point? If Obama had flipped off a puppy, Clinton would be the nominee. If more people had voted for her, Clinton would be the nominee. It didn't happen...

"If Obama had flipped off a puppy..."

Torg - you made me spit coffee at my monitor!!!!

Given the ridiculous math employed by her campaign to come up with the "popular vote" claim, it's not a huge surprise to me that Wolfson would assume ALL the Edwards supporters in Iowa would go to Clinton.

I fully realize this is Wolfson and not Clinton, but this is just another moment when I want to say "You know what? It's not ALL ABOUT YOU."

I think the 'one last push' movement is a republican fantasy. I never see it on liberal websites and you'd think they'd be worried about a convention fight that could cost the election. Last week, Gloria Steinem said she didn't know of any serious press to push Hillary and that she's backing Obama. She campaigned for Hillary this spring.

>Torg - you made me spit coffee at my monitor!!!!

Oooh, really? Sorry!

Steph,Maybe it's republicans pretending to be democrats.

"It must be so hard to be a candidate and have to be responsible for what, like, 200 people say and do."

So true! Being a candidate is very similar to being a kindergarten teacher, it seems.

"I think the 'one last push' movement is a republican fantasy. I never see it on liberal websites."

So true. They are all over HuffingtonPost Obama threads. And then Hillary herself wrote an essay, and NONE of the PUMA people commented! Very telling.

who are the PUMA people?

I would still vote for Obama if he flipped off a puppy. If he mocked a kitten, that would be a different story.

Depends on the kitten, some of them are real little schmucks!

I think it is kind of insulting for her "supporters" to constantly try and make her seem like the victim. I think it is belittling to make it seem like she was simply reacting to what the big men did around her, or that she simply had to deal with whatever the consequences were from the men's actions.

She is a smart, powerful woman. I think her strategy could have been better, and I think she is strong enough to learn from past mistakes with out having to make up excuses like this.

I believe her chances would have been better but the matched popularity of both candidates would have had the race still very tight.

I still hold that outside of choosing her as V.P. she needs to stay in the Senate display her leader ship while at the same time teaming up with an Obama Administration if elected and a presumable Speaker Pelosi to actually get things done. This would make the party look better, gain her some much needed popularity points after she burned through all the brownie points she earned during her Sen. term in the campaign. Run for governor of N.Y. then if she’s still got the fight in her challenge President Obama's V.P. for the presidency presuming he/she will run when Obama is out.

>I would still vote for Obama if he flipped off a puppy. If he mocked a kitten, that would be a different story.

As long as it wasn't my dog.

LMAO! "flipped off a puppy" ....Lord I'm still laughing.

Hillary should let it go already. She's out, so who wants to talk a lot about her anymore. Not me.

It's been my experience that most Obama supporters are going to vote for him even if he drop kicks a baby across the stage..

As long as its not my baby!

I understand.

UnDave, there IS this 4 y.o. at my son's preschool that would be a good candidate for that actually....

Well, line him up, and I'll put him through the uprights. I'm not running for office, so I can be a little more assertive when it comes to children.

Ok, so expect an unidentified, slightly confused brat to show up on your doorstep sometime tonight - that I will, of course, know nothing about!!!

I have no problem with that, as long as you have no problem with the drop kick across the driveway

No, Edwards cheated himself out of politics.

Hilary cheated herself out of the Democrat Nomination because she didn't take Barry Soetoro (that's on his official birth certificate) (Obama) seriously. I'm sure she thought that the Democrats would not elect such a "lightweight" candidate with no political history to show for his years in Illinois and Congress. Plus he did state that he was not going to run for the Presidency when he took his Senate seat. But he lied about that too.

Edwards should have kept his pants sipped and Hilary should have come out blazing instead of trying to play catch up.

Hillary should've been campaigning instead of running a coronation for the first 8 months.

Sorry, I think the Clinton people have a good point.
And I also think Edwards is still not telling the entire truth.

I was a Clinton supporter, so it was disappointing to see her lose, but the Clinton camp shouldn't have put her out as the presumptive Democratic candidate before the primary/caucus season had even begun! No one took Obama seriously, and that's a recipe for defeat. My dad had always said that her campaign manager should've been fired a long time ago...too late.

I actually preferred Edwards to Hillary early this year, and held the opinion--all the way up until news of his affair broke--that he'd make a fine VP candidate. My dad thought that he'd be nominated for Attorney General if Obama wins the White House. Who'd want him, now that he's a known cheater, in any public office?

"I think the Clinton people have a good point."

There were exit polls asking people who their 2nd choice was. The Edwards voters 2nd choice was Obama by a large margin.

I just don't think there is any information to support the theory that Edwards cost her the nomination. It would have changed the game, but perhaps Obama would have simply won faster. I just don't think anyone can say logic points to Hillary winning Iowa if Edwards wasn't in the race. It just isn't supported by facts. Possible, but not probable.

Hillary might also have been hurt by spillover if the Edwards story had come out earlier - it would have raised the spector of her as a wronged wife again and that could have weakened her and made people feel they were tired of that part of the Clinton story.

"it would have raised the spector of her as a wronged wife again and that could have weakened her"

That also could have helped her as well. "the world may never know..."

The Republicans benefit if they can divide the Democratic party and its no secret that is what they have been trying to do since the beginning. There is something "fishy" about how all this stuff about the Edwards affair and Clinton's key advisor suggesting they make Obama look unAmerican, has just now come up when we have had months since the primaries ended. It sounds like someone is trying to play head games with the voting public again. Or maybe it was just a slow news day and they decided to pull something out of the hat. But I doubt it.

Bottom line...Clinton supporters have to recognize that she ran a poor campaign due to poor planning, poor fiscal oversight and just plain overconfidence. They grossly underestimated the competition. Irregardless if you agree with Obama's politics, he put together one of the most formidable grassroots efforts ever seen in this country. He utilized the internet, which was genius on his part. He didn't wait for voters to come to him, he went out and recruited them. In the face of scathing slander he has remain the picture of stability. The world at large has been watching this Shakespearan election process take place on the internet and through the media...and its obvious they have assigned him the role of hero and sit entralled with the rest of us as we watch those that would try to defeat him fall on their own swords.

Who will be his choice for VP? It would never have been Edwards. More Hollywood than Washington, he doesn't seem to resonate with the average voter. Hillary...formidable opponent to point that she burnt all the bridges to the VP slot when she waited to concede the nomination. It only served to divide the party more. Although many think Richardson would carry the Hispanic voters, the murmurings in the meeting places say they feel he has sold them out. Joe Biden...sharp as tack, but he has enemies and is part of the old core. Kaine...I don't think outside of Virginia he carries enough weight. Its like...who is he? There is always Sam Nunn and that female governor that nobody really knows. But that would be a token choice for the female vote. It would be a major coup on the Republican party if he asked Chuck Hagel to be his VP. And Hagel has already indicated he would cross party lines and accept. He is brilliant on foreign policy and Democrats don't have issue with him because he is usually on target. Would other Dems feel slighted...who knows??? Either way...Clinton is not on the ticket and it remains to be seen whether she is ready to go all out for the party or hold back for herself. I know I will be watching with candid interest.

"It sounds like someone is trying to play head games with the voting public again. "

Good point.

This is politics. No one can predict when stories are going to break, and the Hillary Camp shouldn't be so bitter about Edwards' splitting the vote in the early primaries. The way that American Politics is run is conducive to competition, and I believe that, despite his personal life, Edwards ran a very good campaign. I think it was a bad decision of Hillary's to allow her aide to speak out like this, as it does reflect poorly on her.