Clinton Florida Bound?

Clinton Florida Bound?

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell saying:

Despite Clinton's comment yesterday that she would abide by party rules and NOT campaign in Florida, aides still say the campaign is considering "all options" regarding Florida -- based on their claim that Obama's national cable TV advertising buy constitutes "campaigning" in Florida markets.

Whether or not that is just a "pretext," as critics say, Clinton is seriously considering expanding a private fundraiser into a public event.

Team Clinton may be hoping to shift focus as South Carolina looks like Obama Country. In fact, Todd Beeton at MyDD argues that John Edwards -- remember him? -- may just catch Hillary in SC and push her into third, which would be really hard to spin away.

Dick Morris, Minister of Triangulation in the Clinton 42 administration, bluntly makes the race argument in saying that Clinton 44 wins by losing in South Carolina.

It's one thing for polls to show, as they now do, that Obama beats Hillary among African-Americans by better than 4-to-1 and Hillary carries whites by almost 2-to-1. But most people don't read the fine print on the polls. But if blacks deliver South Carolina to Obama, everybody will know that they are bloc-voting. That will trigger a massive white backlash against Obama and will drive white voters to Hillary Clinton.

The more President Clinton begs black voters to back his wife, and the more they spurn her, the more the election becomes about race -- and Obama ultimately loses. (The Clintons') love needs to appear to have been unrequited by the black community for their rejection to seem so unfair that it triggers a white backlash. In this kind of ricochet politics, you have to lose openly and publicly in order to win the next round.

And as usual, the Onion gets it best:

After spending two months accompanying his wife, Hillary, on the campaign trail, former president Bill Clinton announced Monday that he is joining the 2008 presidential race.

"No longer will I have to endure watching candidates like Hillary Clinton engaging in single-pump handshakes with voters, as I use every last ounce of restraint not to shout out, 'No! Warm double-clasp! Warm double-clasp!'" Clinton said. "America deserves someone who can do it right."

Since his announcement two days ago, Clinton has raised a staggering $550 million. He has also surged in national polls, rising from a mere 2 percent prior to his candidacy to a commanding 94 percent, ahead of former front-runners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who are now tied with 3 percent each. John Edwards withdrew from the race Tuesday, saying only, "I am not worthy."