Internal Clinton campaign memos: Post your questions

The inside story of how Hillaryland came apart, chronicled by the Atlantic's incomparable Josh Green.

Published August 12, 2008 1:09PM (EDT)

OK, the must, must, must read for the day is Josh Green's fascinating new piece in the Atlantic chronicling the meltdown inside Hillaryland. As the late Bernie Mac might say, Green breaks it down like a fraction. The Atlantic also provides links with copies of memos and other original source materials Green obtained in reporting the story.

Key lead-in section from Green:

Above all, this irony emerges: Clinton ran on the basis of managerial competence -- on her capacity, as she liked to put it, to "do the job from Day One." In fact, she never behaved like a chief executive, and her own staff proved to be her Achilles' heel. What is clear from the internal documents is that Clinton's loss derived not from any specific decision she made but rather from the preponderance of the many she did not make. Her hesitancy and habit of avoiding hard choices exacted a price that eventually sank her chances at the presidency.

Now, the bonus: Josh has agreed to do a Q&A today with Salon readers. So, before 11:30 a.m EDT send me one or two follow-up questions you would like to ask him. I will sort through your posts, pick five good and/or common questions, send them to Josh by noon and post his replies here at War Room as soon as I get them back. (And he's on vacation with the family in an undisclosed Northeastern location, so it is mighty generous of him to take some time out for us.) Hurry!


By Thomas Schaller

Thomas F. Schaller is professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the author of "Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South." Follow him @schaller67.

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