What's up with Hillary's campaign? A lot of people are wondering...from beltway types, to Dems...to some Clinton insiders. The increased negative talk even caused Hillary to do a conference call with her campaign leadership to put down talk that a major campaign shake-up was on the way.
Her "everything is fine" line notwithstanding, some in the MSM smell blood. Take a look at Howard 
Fineman [2]'s doom-and-gloom outlook re: Hillary
WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Clinton's [3] campaign is teetering on the brink, no matter what the meaningless national horserace numbers say. The notion that she has a post-Iowa "firewall" in New Hampshire is a fantasy, and she 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.
National polls still give Hillary a double-digit lead. Those polls mean nothing. What matters now is not the number but the direction, and Obama is movin' on up at a rapid pace. Little pieces of evidence matter. In Manchester, N.H., the other day, Democratic Gov. John Lynch showed up at the Obama-Oprah rally, ostensibly to introduce Oprah, but, really to cover his bets politically. The newest polls in the state show why: Obama is tied with Hillary, and people are literally exchanging her lawn signs for his. If he can win Iowa and it remains a big if Hillary's campaign could collapse. New Hampshire would almost surely go his way. The Culinary Workers in Nevada might well endorse him, as could influential South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn. Black Democrats have complained for years that Iowa and New Hampshire are "too white." But the irony is, South Carolina African-Americans I talked to last weekend want to see if Obama can win white votes before they commit to him. There is no better way of doing that than in Iowa and New Hampshire. And don't forget something else: he has 150,000 online contributors. He can raise cash fast.
If she is going to argue that Obama is unelectable in the fall if she is going to argue that the Democrats cannot afford to take the risk on a Southside Chicago street organizer she had better get to it in the debate this week. But it is a tricky proposition. In a way, Hillary is trapped by her own do-it-yourself feminist ethos. She should have surrogates out there pounding away at Obama. I haven't seen them. And her husband, evidently, won't do it. Why should Bill Clinton tarnish his image as "America's first black president" by attacking the man who might be the real deal? His circle is beginning to complain, loudly, about how Hillary is running her campaign. That kind of circular firing squad chatter is the first sign of a campaign headed into oblivion.
While in the past few months I began think it was hers to lose, I've never really been sold on the spin that she had this thing locked up because I was never really convinced that Democrats would move in mass to commit collective political suicide by nominating her. Her record, and the way she polarizes the electorate is something I would love to have for us to run against next year.
All that said though, I think you still have to put your thumb on her side of the scale in this battle because, as we know, the Clinton's play for keeps - and dirty. While he's surely riding an emotional high right now with the way he's come up in the polls, Obama better keep an eye out for political knives the Clinton camp will be throwing at that bulls-eye on his back.
