Hillary’s FUD Factor

Some people had written her off. Obama was on his way to clinching Texas after his momentous 11-state winning streak—and polls were affirming it. Then Hillary went on the offensive.

First the move which seemed like a valedictorian gesture at one of the debates was anything but a calculated one to disarm Obama. Sure enough at the next debate he played Mr. Nice Guy without counter punches to Clinton’s sharp jabs to the chin.

She went on Night Talk shows. At Saturday Night she was portrayed as the victim of aggressive attacks by the media while Obama was supposedly handled with kids gloves.

She jumped at the NAFTA conversation that an Obama’s advisor had with a Canadian diplomat thereby portraying Obama negatively in Ohio.

Then came the Clintonian left hook in Texas—the call at 3 a.m. Who would you want to answer the phone at the White House to protect your lily white girl asleep in her room? Not a Nigger, of course. That was the real meaning of the TV advertisement. It had nothing to do with experience. It hit a chord at the core of White American psyche. It created Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt—the FUD factor—and it worked.

The FUD factor is an old technique sales people use where products or services have become commodities with similar attributes. How do you differentiate yourself then from the other peddler? The FUD factor is the answer if you don’t want to starve.

And the Clintons don’t want to starve their egos by losing. They will do anything. Right now they are floating the notion of Obama running as her VP. This is a mind game meant to assuage blacks so that they don’t stay away from the general election should the Clinton machine run brother Barack off the road to the White House.

So far this year I have had the Kenyan suspense which I predicted would never go to the dogs. And it has come to pass. The suspense of the end result of the American Democratic Primary is a tricky one. Can the Obama coalition hold? At crunch time, will whites circle the wagon and go for their own? One thing for sure; Obama needs to go on the offensive and redefine Hillary for who she is—a divisive, power hungry Washington insider who will not accomplish much with the Republicans.