Hillary Clinton’s performance in the Democratic presidential debate exposed flaws in her candidacy that could prove even more damaging in the weeks and months ahead as rivals rachet up their attacks in an effort to block her path to the nomination, political analysts said Wednesday.
Clinton was clearly shaken atop her front-runner pedestal during the debate in Philadelphia Tuesday night when her opponents relentlessly criticized her record and depicted her as an untrustworthy candidate.
Political analysts said her defense did not win over the audience, a failure thatwas compounded by her struggle to give straightforward answers on tough issues like Social Security and immigration reform.
“Above and beyond fundraising, the most important skill a candidate must have is the ability to connect with the voters on a human basis, and Hillary Clinton’s inability to do that has been a charge leveled against her since she was first lady of Arkansas,” said Craig Brians, a political scientist at Virginia Tech.
“There is no doubt that this debate exposed a serious problem with Hillary Clinton,” he said.
Clinton adviser Mark Penn dismissed the criticism, saying opponents “swung and missed” at the debate and that the attacks are a “sign of desperation” by candidates trailing her in the polls.
But most political pros agreed that her opponents scored points.
Clinton’s most formidable opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, who has been reluctant to criticize Clinton and is trailing her by double digits nationally, said she “has not been truthful and clear” about how she would reform Social Security. He accused her of flip-flopping on the North American Free Trade Agreement, torture policies for suspected terrorists and how to end the war in Iraq.
Obama said Clinton’s answers were “politically savvy” but lacking “honesty with the American people.”
“The Clintons do know how to triangulate,” said Gerald Rafshoon, former White House communications director under President Jimmy Carter, referring to a tactic employed during Bill Clinton’s 1996 campaign in which his views would seemingly span the philosophies of both political parties. “Triangulation may not work so well in the primaries.”
Co-moderator Tim Russert, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” asked Clinton whether she would call for the release of communications with her husband while he was president and she was helping shape policy as first lady. Clinton answered, “That is not my decision to make.”
Obama seized the opening to accuse her of failing to contrast herself from “one of the most secretive administrations in our history” led by President Bush.
Brians said Clinton’s answer, like some of her other responses in the debate, “sounded like a very lawyerly thing to say and that does not come across very well with the cameras or the voters.”
Brians said Clinton appears more genuine and candid in private with small groups.
Rafshoon said she needs to learn to project that candor to larger audiences in order to score with voters.
“She needs to be herself,” he said.
