A certain 'messiness'

The Houston Chronicle has a column about the Clinton campaign that pretty much sums it up: "There's a certain style to the campaign, and it shows what we might expect in a Clinton presidency: a lot of viewpoints and a messiness," said James McCann, a political science professor at Purdue University in Indiana... A few months ago, Clinton was the front-runner, with a 30-point lead in national polls, $118 million raised in 2007 and the backing of most Democratic power brokers. Today she trails Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in convention delegates, campaign cash and the popular vote... From the time the former first lady announced her White House bid 15 months ago, her strategy was driven by three ideas: Clinton was the inevitable Democratic nominee so everyone should jump on her bandwagon; she had a seasoned team adept at finding and appealing to wide varieties of voters; and she could outraise and outspend all rivals. "The bottom line is that she went in with a set of assumptions that proved to be false," said John Geer, the editor of the Journal of Politics.

That's Rico, laughing silently...