Pre-Debate Spin Begins

3254840In a campaign memo released to reporters, Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, argues that Clinton's ownership of "the leadership card" makes her the best candidate in the Democratic field.

With tonight's Nevada presidential debate just hours away, Penn is claiming that "Obama 2.0 isn't working any better than the previous version. After shifting to a negative attack strategy, Obama remains stalled."

At the last Democratic debate, Clinton's opponents landed shots against her over issues from foreign policy to her reticence to take a strong position on illegal immigrant driver's licenses. In the two weeks since, the notion that the former first lady is the inevitable Democratic candidate has lost some of its luster, and Penn seems to be looking to bring it back.

He writes:

"...while opponents are strategizing and re-launching their campaigns with aggressive personal attacks on Sen. Clinton, one truth remains – running for president is not a qualification for president. The voters are looking for someone who has the strength and experience to lead, and little has changed in the last few weeks outside of the massive media coverage of the attacks."

To back up his claims, Penn then supplies a litany of poll numbers on whom voters believe possesses the best leadership qualifications – Clinton. As The Swamp notes, however, Gallup found early this month that Clinton and Obama rate "roughly the same'' when it comes to leadership, with Edwards close behind.

Penn also makes the case that Clinton is a strong general election candidate. "In fact, if the election were held tomorrow, Hillary would win 360 electoral votes compared with 178 electoral votes for Rudy Giuliani," he writes. He goes on to claim that Clinton would beat "Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mitt Romney by similar margins."