Obama v Clinton -- Campaign as Test of Administrative Skill

It's not three a.m., and my kids aren't sleeping, and grim music isn't playing in the background to make me scared of bin Laden or other vague, unnamed threats to the strongest, freest nation in the world. So let's take a clear-eyed, fearless, and rational look at which Democrat is demonstrating the ability to manage a big, expensive, complicated project, like, oh, say, a Presidential campaign. Says Eleanor Clift:

The much vaunted Clinton campaign operation, billed as the biggest, baddest game in town, had no post-Super Tuesday strategy because its leaders apparently didn't think one was needed. Whether that's due to arrogance or ignorance, it's the campaign equivalent of what President Bush did in invading Iraq without a post-Saddam plan. The primaries are in a very true sense a practice run for the White House, and if you emerge with high marks, as Obama has, it's a pretty clear statement of the kind of government you would run. Obama has shown a steadiness in demeanor and message. Clinton has blown through $120 million dollars, and her persona is more confused than ever. A USA Today cartoon captures the shifting moods with a political weather map and a "Five-day Hillary Forecast: Monday… Friendly; Tuesday… On the attack; Wednesday… Complimentary; Thursday… Hostile; Friday… Conciliatory." [Eleanor Clift, "Day of Reckoning," Newsweek, 2008.02.29]

That's an argument that's been running through my head for the past month: if you can't run a strong campaign, how are you going to run a country? Richard Cohen notes in the Washington Post that Hillary Clinton has been a lackluster candidate in the three elections she has stood for. Professor Blanchard backs this up, noting the tens of millions Clinton allowed her campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, to waste on her easy 2006 Senate re-election campaign.

So who's got the skills to be an effective manager? Running a campaign isn't the same as running a country, but it is one good test of how a person picks staff, manages money, and mobilizes people. Let's see what Vermont, Rhode Island, Ohio, and Texas say about that.