New Clinton camp spin contradicts old Clinton camp spin

Another example of Clinton advisors' changing attitudes about the state of the race.

Published March 6, 2008 12:06AM (EST)

As we've noted more than once, the Clinton campaign's spin about the state of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, and the keys to victory, tends to shift dramatically along with changes in Hillary Clinton's position in that race. On Wednesday, Clinton advisors Harold Ickes and Mark Penn provided yet another example of this phenomenon.

In "The Path to the Presidency," a memo Ickes and Penn coauthored, the two say, right out of the gate, "With last night’s victories in Ohio and Texas, one thing is clear: the momentum has swung back to Hillary Clinton."

That's funny. We could have sworn that on Feb. 13, Penn wrote another memo. And in that memo -- which Barack Obama's campaign is being sure to remind reporters of -- Penn had a decidedly different take on things. Back then, Penn argued, "Again and again, this race has shown that it is voters and delegates who matter, not the pundits or perceived 'momentum.'"


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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