Last night there was another debate, which was up against sports on TV and having a life in general. I saw a little more than half of it. All the majors did better; Romney much improved and on a far stronger Mr. Fixit message, Fred back on his vitamins, Rudy smooth, Huckabee effective, and McCain the best he’s ever been. The biggest loser? Hillary. Not because any swing voters really watch these debates, but because the raging passion in the Republican party against Mrs. Clinton was so powerfully on display to the media and political elite who do watch. I predict a growing narrative among the political media about the “risk” to the Democrats of nominating Hillary Clinton. It goes like this: “Hillary Clinton electrifies the GOP, much like shocking Frankenstein’s monster back to life. Who needs that? Why should the Democrats, with so much to gain next year, embrace the risk of Hillary Clinton, a dangerously controversial and imperfect nominee?” This is not the sort of argument that explodes among rank and file primary voters. But it will eat away like a powerful acid inside the Democratic fund-raising community and among the practical politicians atop the Democratic party. It is bad campaign “karma” and a dangerous argument for the Clinton campaign to face in growing circulation. And there is little Das Hillary Apparat can do about it.
