Why did Clinton Lose and Obama win?
Published in Al-Jarida
(Kuwait) on June 10, 2008
by Dr. Ghanam al-najaar (link to original)
The “experience” that Clinton touted wasn’t successful, nor was the support from the “Washington Establishment”, nor the long queues of those lined up to vote in her favor - nor even her husband the former President Bill Clinton was able to bridge the number gap which Obama was able to open.
So in the end, Senator Hillary Clinton announced that as a "member of the Senate”, she was withdrawing from the race for the nomination of the Democratic Party for the Presidential election in the interest of Barack Hussein Obama “who is also a member of the Senate.” I had expected Obama to win from early on despite many expectations that put Clinton ahead. When Obama had his overwhelming win in the state of Iowa at the beginning of the race and Clinton came in third, I realized the size of the social transformations that had begun to influence American society. And so the “experience” that Clinton had touted wasn’t successful, nor was the support from the “Washington Establishment”, nor the long queues of those lined up to vote in her favor, nor was even her husband the former President Bill Clinton able to bridge the numerical gap that Obama was able to open.
So how did Clinton lose a race that everyone had agreed she would win without a fight? That was more than a year ago, when opinion polls showed that she would have an overwhelming majority, and when Obama was not even on the political radar.
The story started with the countdown to beat Clinton in the first quarter of 2007, when Obama was able to collect twenty five million dollars from more than 100,000 donors in those three months alone. In the same period, Clinton gathered twenty six million dollars from sixty thousand donors. According to the financial regulations that govern the electoral campaign, twenty million dollars had been earmarked for the primary elections, while six was earmarked for the general election in the Clinton campaign. Obama, however, managed to get twenty three million to be earmarked for the primary election.
It does not seem that the Clinton camp was able to remedy or even perceive this, which later led her campaign to overspend by eleven million dollars.
And it also does not seem that Clinton and “the Washington Establishment” were able accurately to perceive the general mood or the meaning of the message of change that Obama went after and which allowed him to collect millions - until his financial donations amounted to 265 million dollars, from more than a million donors. As for Clinton, she was only able to raise 215 million dollars and she finished her campaign thirty million dollars in debt - of which eleven were from her personal wealth.
Of course it is not merely a question of money, and its importance, but a question of the organization of the donors. Clinton focused on those who could pay the maximum amount, 2300 dollars, and “2300 dollars only” for the primary election and the same for the general election. This is the legal amount allowed by American law for an individual contribution, that is to say those who have paid this amount will no longer give more. On the flipside, the Obama camp organized a donation campaign towards individuals, some of whom paid only 5 or 10 dollars each. However, this meant that these donors could continue to donate until the end of the election campaign.
And beyond…
So in the end, Senator Hillary Clinton announced that as a "member of the Senate”, she was withdrawing from the race for the nomination of the Democratic Party for the Presidential election in the interest of Barack Hussein Obama “who is also a member of the Senate.” I had expected Obama to win from early on despite many expectations that put Clinton ahead. When Obama had his overwhelming win in the state of Iowa at the beginning of the race and Clinton came in third, I realized the size of the social transformations that had begun to influence American society. And so the “experience” that Clinton had touted wasn’t successful, nor was the support from the “Washington Establishment”, nor the long queues of those lined up to vote in her favor, nor was even her husband the former President Bill Clinton able to bridge the numerical gap that Obama was able to open.
So how did Clinton lose a race that everyone had agreed she would win without a fight? That was more than a year ago, when opinion polls showed that she would have an overwhelming majority, and when Obama was not even on the political radar.
The story started with the countdown to beat Clinton in the first quarter of 2007, when Obama was able to collect twenty five million dollars from more than 100,000 donors in those three months alone. In the same period, Clinton gathered twenty six million dollars from sixty thousand donors. According to the financial regulations that govern the electoral campaign, twenty million dollars had been earmarked for the primary elections, while six was earmarked for the general election in the Clinton campaign. Obama, however, managed to get twenty three million to be earmarked for the primary election.
It does not seem that the Clinton camp was able to remedy or even perceive this, which later led her campaign to overspend by eleven million dollars.
And it also does not seem that Clinton and “the Washington Establishment” were able accurately to perceive the general mood or the meaning of the message of change that Obama went after and which allowed him to collect millions - until his financial donations amounted to 265 million dollars, from more than a million donors. As for Clinton, she was only able to raise 215 million dollars and she finished her campaign thirty million dollars in debt - of which eleven were from her personal wealth.
Of course it is not merely a question of money, and its importance, but a question of the organization of the donors. Clinton focused on those who could pay the maximum amount, 2300 dollars, and “2300 dollars only” for the primary election and the same for the general election. This is the legal amount allowed by American law for an individual contribution, that is to say those who have paid this amount will no longer give more. On the flipside, the Obama camp organized a donation campaign towards individuals, some of whom paid only 5 or 10 dollars each. However, this meant that these donors could continue to donate until the end of the election campaign.
And beyond…