Hillary's final appeal in Texas

Hillary is closing strongly here in Texas. She turned in an assured, confident performance in her final town hall which her campaign paid to have broadcast on a local cable channel.

Clinton is at her best when she is answering questions from voters. It allows her knowledge of policy to shine through and she comes across more sympathetically in this kind of environment.

The news from tonight’s event, apart from the fact that Hillary is sporting a new hair-do, was the way she talked about Iraq. Answering a question from two disabled vets, she essentially blamed all the problems in Iraq on the Iraqis sayin: “we have given them the gift of freedom, the greatest gift you can give anyone.... It is up to [the Iraqis] to determine if they will take that gift.” This answer is, obviously, extremely crude and ignores a whole string of blunders that the coalition has made, but I suspect that it is quite an effective way politically to talk about the war in a state where there are so many military bases.   

Interestingly, Hillary took only subtle shots at Barack Obama tonight. For instance, only a political anorak would have understood the distinction that Hillary was trying to draw when she talked about voting against Dick Cheney’s energy bill without mentioning that Obama voted for it. Overall, though it was an effective performance—if there are fears that Obama isn’t ready or prepared to put in the hard yards, she offered herself up as a ready made alternative, touting the fact that she is a “to-do person.” I have a feeling that if she had another week she would win the popular vote in Texas but tomorrow might just be too soon for her.