POLITICS
Analyst: Clinton Could Lose All Four Early Primaries
2007-12-14 07:23am
MSNBC political analyst Howard Fineman said Friday Sen. Hillary Clinton's Democratic bid for the presidency is in trouble, despite "what the meaningless national horserace numbers say."
Writing on MSNBC.com, Mr. Fineman went on to comment that the New York junior senator and former first lady "is in danger of losing all four early contests, including Nevada and South Carolina – probably to Sen. Barack Obama, who is now, in momentum terms, the Democratic frontrunner."
He said "the notion that she has a post-Iowa 'firewall' in New Hampshire is a fantasy," even though national polls still give Mrs. Clinton a "double-digit lead."
"Those polls mean nothing. What matters now is not the number but the direction, and [rival Sen. Barack] Obama is movin' on up at a rapid pace," Mr. Fineman wrote, noting that Mr. Obama's campaign is gaining momentum.
On the Republican side, Mr. Fineman said "he can expect to be under fire from all sides, and his goal has to be to keep smiling and talking and explaining in a genial way.
"The man has a temper and not the thickest of skins, but he is also a brilliant rhetorical tactician and a stone-cold survivor of some of the roughest local politics in the nation, in Arkansas," Mr. Fineman continued.
He said if Mr. Huckabee can win in Iowa - he currently leads polls there, followed by former U.S. senator and actor Fred Thompson - he could be unstoppable in South Carolina, "the real deal" caucus "for the GOP."
(c) 2007 Newsroom.