Former Clinton campaign consultant Mark Penn opines in the New York Times that Hillary’s problem was a lack of money. She only raised $225 million overall.

The conventional criticisms of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign are these: she had no message; she ran just on experience; she should have shown more of her warmer side; she was too negative; President Clinton’s campaigning hurt her; and she presented herself as inevitable. It is amazing she got any votes at all.

So let’s take on a few of the myths. Even schoolchildren got the message that Mrs. Clinton was ready to be president on Day One. As a result of her campaigning and ads, people saw her as a strong commander in chief, a good steward of the economy and a champion for people who needed one.

As the primaries came to an end, she had built a coalition of working-class voters, women, older voters and Latinos, and it held together — and even strengthened — as Barack Obama gained enough superdelegates to put him over the top. Nearly 18 million people responded to her message with their votes. But she went from a lead of 120 superdelegates in early February to a deficit of 40 before last Tuesday.

Penn goes on to write that despite raising $100 million in 2007 Hillary found herself short of money at the beginning of 2008 and without organizations in a lot of states as a result. 

Money really wasn’t the issue though, it was the Clinton arrogance that took Obama’s campaign too lightly and fell behind very quickly once the campaign heated up.  Playing catch up is no fun.  Look at the GOP.  Mitt Romney raised all kinds of money and is still a money machine today. Yet despite spending heavily in Iowa and other states he wound up losing the nomination.  More money wouldn’t have given Hillary the nomination, better use of her resources would have.

Read more from Mark Penn.

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