"Weekend Update" Updates Clinton's Image
Yet a strong base of support for Clinton still existed.
And one show of this support came from an unexpected source - NBC's long-running late-night comedy hit, Saturday Night Live, which returned on February 23, 2008, following the end of the Hollywood writers' strike.
Former SNL cast member Tina Fey (who was also the show's first female head writer) appeared as the guest host and delivered a funny and pointed observation of the root of Clinton's campaign woes in her "Bitch is the New Black" commetary during SNL's Weekend Update segment. The skit created a buzz that spread across the internet.
The Fighter and the Red Phone
With a week to go before the March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio - two crucial states Clinton had focused her energies on - the tone of her campaign ads took on a sharper edge. Clinton positioned herself as the stronger candidate, the fighter, and the one who would have the expertise to handle any crisis that might come up.
One ad that typified this approach, the "red phone ad," had Clinton handling a critical phone call while a voiceover intoned, "It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?"
Political observers were quick to assess the risk of taking on the role of the fighter and going negative with her campaign.
The Famous...and the Infamous
And celebrities, following in the footsteps of Oprah Winfrey with her endorsement of Barack Obama, continued to weigh in with their presidential picks, including comedienne Roseanne Barr on why experience trumps inspiration.
Heading into the weekend before the March 4 primary, opinions were split regarding Hillary Clinton's chances of winning one or both of the states she'd previously believed she had in her pocket.
And even more celebrities crawled out of the woodwork to support Clinton with wacky endorsements of questionable value.
As Ohio Goes, So Goes the Nation
When Clinton did win Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island on Tuesday, March 4 (a date nicknamed Mini Super Tuesday), she was quick to point out that:
"...in recent history, no one has ever been elected president who did not win their party's primary in Ohio.Clinton's win reduced the delegate gap down to about 150 pledged delegates, and she declared her campaign revitalized and eager for the next big contest, the April 22, 2008 Pennsylvania primary.Ohio is the bellwether state. If you cannot win Ohio, you cannot win the presidency.
The Role of Super-Delegates
Although analysts determined that Clinton needed to win over 60% of the votes in the remaining states in order to catch up to Obama's delegate count, the question of the role of super-delegates resurfaced. Clinton's remarks to the media indicated she feels she has an edge with this elite group, and that they will be the key to determining which candidate goes on to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August.
