Hillary Clinton just finished delivering what her campaign billed as a "major speech". She is calling it, "The Choice." You can watch a video excerpt here and read an excerpt below, but let me sum it up in one line: Hillary is saying Barack Obama is not ready to be President. Plain and simple. Here's one excerpt below:
"This is becoming more apparent every day. My good friend Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones from Ohio represented me on one of the TV programs in the last day or two- some of you may have seen her. And she was on against someone representing my opponent and for the first time, actually, the host, asked the representative of my opponent to name one accomplishment. (Watch here)
"That is all we're asking. We're asking to compare our records. We're asking to compare our years of service. We're asking to compare our ideas, our solutions."
"Because it's not just about my opponent and myself, this election is about you. It's about what you can expect, what your dreams will be, what your futures hold. Right now too many people are struggling, working the day shift and the night shift, trying to get by without health insurance, just one paycheck away from actually losing their homes. They cannot afford four more years of a president who just doesn't see or hear them. They need a president ready on Day One to be the Commander in Chief of the United States military."
Obama spokesman Bill Burton released a statement in response to the speech. Here's an excerpt below:
"The choice in this election is between more of the same divisive, say-or-do-anything-to-win politics of the past and real change that we can believe in. That's the change that Barack Obama offers, and that's why more and more voters across America are choosing him as our next President," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
Can you imagine the frustration wihin the Clinton campaign? They are trailing Obama and for the most part, they believe the whole thing is smoke and mirrors. They believe the substance needed to be President is simply not there.
If you want to know what part of the McCain strategy will be against Obama, welll, Hillary is pretty much laying it out there. This is what McCain is going to try and do to Obama. McCain has a long track record to run on which will make the difference even more apparent but will also give the Obama camp more material to work with.
Also, one other note: this debate in Austin, Texas Thursday is absolutely critical for Hillary. I'll be in Austin for the debate. What will be interesting to watch is to see just how hard Clinton goes after Obama.
Right now, she's taking pokes at him but her surrogates are doing the real dirty work. Will Clinton truly take the gloves off, and if so, what sort of zinger does she have up her sleeve? The trick here is to make your point without being nasty about it. Not easy.