Clinton Pitches Her Experience; Disputes Register Poll
The Fix by Cillizza
washingtonpost.com’s Politics Blog

“If you want to know what kind of changes I will make, look at the changes I have already made,” she said. “We don’t have any margin for error or time to waste.”

She also pre-butted attacks from her rivals — most notably Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) — who have said that talking about past accomplishments means little for future results.

“When I talk about the ’90s some of my opponents say ‘There she goes again talking about the past,’” Clinton said. “It’s not like it’s ancient Rome. It’s ten years ago.”

A senior Clinton strategist told us: “Everyone is talking change — we believe the best way for voters to judge what kind of change HRC will make is for them to look at the kind of change she has made over her life.”

Clinton’s argument is complicated by the latest Des Moines Register poll — released last night — that not only showed her trailing Obama 32 percent to 25 percent, but also showed a desire for change is trumping the need for experience in the minds of Iowa voters.

Thirty percent said that a candidate’s ability to bring about change was the most important factor in their vote, while 27 percent said they wanted a candidate who could unite the country. Just 18 percent said that having the experience to lead was the most important factor in making up their minds.

Hoping to blunt Obama’s momentum — which may be an impossible task at this point — the Clinton campaign released a memo this morning from its in-house pollster, Mark Penn, disputing the results of the Register poll.

“The Des Moines Register poll adopts an unprecedented new turnout model for the caucuses, and its new poll is out of sync with the other polling done in the race,” wrote Penn. He also noted that in two new polls out this morning — one conducted by CNN and the other by Zogby — Clinton has the lead (albeit within the statistical margin of error).

-I admit it…I’m a political junkie and I have a problem. Say it with me.

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