Hey so I am supposed to listen to the likes of Howard Fineman and Chris Matthews on the state of the clinton campaign , right ?

Before you start ringing the church bells and digging holes in the desert lets not forget the voters haven't had their say yet.

It will be foolish for anyone to take Howard Fineman and his hardball cohorts words as gospel.

Collapse! Collapse I tell you!

Ha, ha, ha.

are you kidding?  

His campaign just booked an event at an arena with a picket line in front of it.

If Hillary seems to be faltering, the Culinary Workers will endorse Edwards.

another endorsement today for Obama

Betty McCollum the rep from Minneapolis -----looks like all those who were waiting are breaking towards Barack!

Not very convincing. He says Edwards could win Iowa but not "get credit" for it because the media may have already declared the winner based on entrance polls hours earlier.

National media fantasyland isn't even going to pretend to pay attention to the Iowa results? I don't think so.

Anyone think the Clinton camp is trying to lower expectation?

I think they are concerned. But collapsing?

Obama's camp should completely ignore any notion that Clinton's camp is going down the tubes. She's about to come at him full force. He's need to concentrate on ways to slap her back down...with a smile.

The only part of this melodrama that I find distasteful is that Clinton is prepared to try to tear Obama down and let Edwards win because Edwards will be easier to take out later.  That is just too calculating.  Its as if message and ideas don't matter to her.  And, I am not sure she should want Edwards one-on-one given he is willing to be a lot tougher on her than Obama.  But then, that too is revealing.

South Carolina Democrat Primary:

In a Democratic Primary in South Carolina today, 12/11/07, 47 days to the vote, Barack Obama rides Oprah Winfrey's coat-tails to be within striking distance of Hillary Clinton.

Compared to an identical SurveyUSA tracking poll released a month ago, Clinton is down 3, from 47% then to 44% now.

Obama is up 7, from 33% then to 40% now. Clinton had led by 14, now leads by 4, within the survey's margin of sampling error. Obama ran stronger in each of the 3 days of the interviewing period, and led Clinton, nominally, in those interviews completed after Winfrey's Sunday 12/09/07 football stadium rally with Obama.

This research conducted exclusively for WCSC-TV Charleston and WSPA-TV Greenville.

Obama, who is black, continues to lead among black Democratic Primary voters. But Clinton still gets 39% of the black vote, unchanged from a month ago. Clinton gets half the white vote.

Obama and John Edwards split the rest. Among men, Obama now leads 2:1. Among women, Clinton leads 5:3 -- a 51-point Gender Gap.

Obama's support is young, complicating the analysis of this contest. Among the youngest, least reliable and therefore least predictable voters, Obama leads by 9.

Among the oldest, most reliable voters, Clinton leads by 43. Upstate, Clinton leads 5:3. In the Low Country, Clinton leads 5:4. In the Midlands, Obama leads 4:3.

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollRepo rt.aspx?g=e2d87209-9980-4e95-a60f-2f6a54 68164e

From MSNBC's 'First Read':

"For all this negative Clinton talk, remember that she still has huge advantages: She leads the national polls (check out today's Washington Post/ABC survey); she has most of the Democratic establishment behind her; and she has more money than her team knows what to do with. So why is her campaign allowing reporters to get the impression that it's panicking with 22 days to go until Iowa? Maybe it's not anyone on the campaign, maybe it's all those backseat drivers who can claim to be close to the "Clintons," plural."

The last sentence is the kicker here.

Who says the Clinton's are panicking or the campaign is in trouble?   Obama supporters?  Edwards supporters?  People not on the campaign?   Rabble rousers like you?

Who cares.  Thats what I say.

The folks at NBC don't like Clinton that is for sure.   Fineman is just doing his part.   His piece is mostly speculation.  Read it again.  It is garbage.

It is full of hypothetical what ifs.   What if Obama wins and maybe the Culinary Union endorses he ponders.  Maybe monkeys will fly out my butt.  Seriously, that isn't even journolism on Fineman's part.  It sounds like bar room banter.

...of the Clinton campaign are eminent.

we kept hearing that Edwards' support was "collapsing," but that hasn't happened.

I think Obama supporters should be careful before raising expectations too high. You don't want Hillary to be able to spin a close second-place finish as a comeback.

That said, I am sticking with my prediction I've been making all year: Edwards and Obama will pull away from Hillary as undecideds make up their minds.

I think its far too early to write off Clinton.  She has the most money and most staff in Iowa which does go along way.  That being said, if she loses Iowa or comes in third, her campaign will shift into panic mode.  Until, then lets let Iowans decide.*

*When I say Iowans I mean EVERYONE in Iowa.  INCLUDING students.

The part quoted is his take on Obama, not Clinton.  Since most people attacking him probably haven't read what he wrote, here's what he has to say about Clinton & Edwards.  I don't understand what he's saying about Edwards, perhaps someone can make sense of it.

Clinton:

If she is going to argue that Obama is unelectable in the fall - if she is going to argue that the Democrats cannot afford to take the risk on a Southside Chicago street organizer - she had better get to it in the debate this week. But it is a tricky proposition.  In a way, Hillary is trapped by her own do-it-yourself feminist ethos. She should have surrogates out there pounding away at Obama. I haven't seen them. And her husband, evidently, won't do it. Why should Bill Clinton tarnish his image as "America's first black president" by attacking the man who might be the real deal? His circle is beginning to complain, loudly, about how Hillary is running her campaign. That kind of circular firing squad chatter is the first sign of a campaign headed into oblivion.

Edwards:

Quite simply, this Iowa debate (and Iowa itself) is his first and last chance. He has placed all his money and bets for years on Iowa, where he is practically a local at this point. He absolutely HAS to win to get the media attention he needs to leverage his effort here into national momentum. He has the best, most cogent and inspiring stump speech, and a good, loyal organization. He could get pummeled by media dynamics. There will be exit polls on caucus night, but they will not be an accurate reflection of the final tallies of caucus delegates - the legally meaningful number - until later. Also, he is strongest in the small western towns, whose disproportionate influence in the delegate tallies (don't ask) won't show up in the exits. In other words, he could win but not get credit for it by the time the winners are declared.