“Voices in Her Head” (II)

The political problem.

The Bill problem.

HRC has touted her experience as her key advantage over BHO. She is ready to be president while Obama is inexperienced, ill prepared, unproven.

The functioning of her campaign is at odds with her preferred image.

Some days, it's hard to remember that, just six months ago, the campaign was regarded as a highly disciplined machine. More and more, it resembles an unruly rock band plagued by dysfunction and public infighting.

I’m not sure that the functioning of a campaign is really that relevant to Oval Office performance or even to electoral success. Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign was at least as dysfunctional as Hilliary’s. Yet he easily won the nomination, the general election, and turned out to be a great president.

Where HRC differs from Reagan is that she was unable to right the ship herself. Instead, she had to turn to Bill Clinton.

As Hillary's campaign struggles, an obviously frustrated Bill and "his people" have taken a greater hand in operations. Immediately post-Iowa, veteran Clintonites like Steve Richetti, Doug Sosnik, and Roy Spence became major players. The president himself announced that he needed an office and would be coming in every day to make phone calls and get "involved."

Much of Hillary Clinton’s “experience” came with a high price tag: ignore Bill Clinton’s private behavior and help clean up the mess when that behavior became a public scandal. This campaign was her opportunity to establish herself as a leader in her own right.

Instead, she has only survived because of Bill Clinton’s coat tails and Bill Clinton’s people.

So, are we voting for an experienced leader or Lureen Wallace without the Alabama accent?