Quin Hillyer
The McCain campaign is extremely relieved that Barack Obama did not pick Hillary Clinton for his running mate, according to longtime Republican consultant Mary Matalin.
Matalin is in Denver with her husband, well-known Democratic consultant James Carville. She told the Examiner that the McCain camp’s sighs of relief are “not spin.” Trying to beat Obama-Clinton would have been “a monumental battle,” she said — “probably unbeatable,” a “quasi-slam dunk” for the Democrats.
Stressing that the comments meant “nothing against Biden,” Matalin said that by not picking Clinton, with her legions of dedicated supporters, Obama has given the McCain planners the sense that “they are in the hunt big-time.
It’s now an even race, and McCain can be competitive in an environment that would otherwise completely disfavor a Republican.”
Moreover, Matalin said, she has been talking to lots of Clinton supporters and “they really feel ‘dissed'” because Clinton wasn’t even officially vetted by the Obama campaign for the job.
Finally, Matalin said that Obama is beginning his convention only with “slow-mo” [momentum], whereas the McCain people feel they will enter their convention in Minnesota next week “with the ‘Big Mo,’ to use an antiquated term.”
With the energy issue playing in his favor, his strong stance in support of Georgia when Russia attacked it, and his generally praised appearance with moderate Christian leader Rick Warren, she said McCain reached “a tipping point trifecta” that gives his campaign optimism.
