by Frank James
Today’s New York Times/CBS News poll might as well be a big stick, the way Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is trying to bludgeon Sen. Barack Obama with it.
The poll found more than double the voters—83 percent—thought Clinton was prepared to be president compared with 41 percent for Obama.
Because the poll was such good news for Clinton during a period in the campaign when we in the media have been focusing on her perceived vulnerability, the Clinton campaign quickly pulled together a teleconference today for reporters in which some of her congressional supporters said, no surprise here, that they, like all those voters, thought she wasn’t just the best prepared but the most electable of the Democratic candidates too.Here’s a representative quote from Sen. Evan Bayh, the Indiana Democrat, who has been won five state-wide races in a Republican state:
She’s strong, tough and experienced, said Bayh, who then took a seeming swipe at his other Senate colleague, Sen. Barack Obama. Said Bayh:
No names were mentioned but everyone knew who he was talking about.
Mark Halperin of Time Magazine’s “The Page” gave Bayh a chance to go further in this direction. But Bayh refused to be pinned down by Halperin who demanded a yes or no answer. Halperin must’ve thought he was talking to the newly taciturn Sen. Joe Biden.
HALPERIN: “I know you all think that Sen. Clinton would be the best (word garbled) but let ask you to answer a question that she’s avoided answering, do you think Sen. Obama is qualified from day one to be commander-in-chief? If answer is yes, please say so, and if you don’t respond, I’ll assume the answer is no, if that’s OK.”
BAYH:
“Mark, this is Sen. Bayh, do you want me to take a stab at your question?” Bayh said.
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HALPERIN: “Yes, sir, it’s really simple yes or no.”
HALPERIN: Is he qualified to be commander-in-chief right now?
BAYH: The decision is whether there’s somebody else better able to be commander in chief from day one? And I think that’s the judgment many of us have reached about Sen. Clinton. And I think you can make that judgment without disparaging Barack Obama. There’s just an experience in that regard.