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Once regarded as the Democratic party's inevitable nominee for president, Hillary Clinton watched her front-runner status diminish in many key states in early February 2008 as Barack Obama's campaign gained momentum.

Scenes from Super Tuesday

Large numbers of delegates were up for grabs on Tuesday, February 5, 2008, as primaries and caucuses across a number of states yielded up delegates to the winners.


At the polls, voters appeared to be passionate about their candidates. This was especially evident with older women, many of whom expressed strong emotion over seeing a woman on the ballot.

Clinton won as expected in New York, California, and most of the mid-Atlantic states. Yet she only added eight states to the win column, while Obama took home thirteen including Colorado, Connecticut, and the South. Her Super Tuesday speech showed a shift in Clinton's demeanor, perhaps a realization that her previous inevitability no longer existed, and that Obama might win the Democratic nomination.

"Pimped Out" Comments Spark a Mother's Anger

Clinton needed to inspire undecided voters and could no longer rely on her husband Bill, whose appearances had possibly hurt her in South Carolina. Daughter Chelsea Clinton stepped up her presence on the campaign trail, making public appearances and calling celebrities and other media movers and shakers. Her phone conversations were debated on ABC's daytime talk show, The View, by co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar - both recipients of a Chelsea Clinton call.
Chelsea's efforts to help her mother were questioned by MSNBC correspondent David Shuster, who asked, ""Doesn't it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?"

Shuster's comment was cited as another example of gender bias against the Clinton campaign; and it resulted in Hillary Clinton writing to the president of NBC News and calling for Shuster's termination.

Valentine's Day Massacre

By mid-February, Clinton's early lead was gone. Continuing losses to Obama indicated a groundswell of interest in change. Overwhelmingly, voters indicated they felt Clinton did not represent change. By Valentine's Day, Clinton's weariness was apparent; her voice was scratchy throughout many campaign speeches. Realizing that her likability continued to be an issue, she cultivated photo ops, passing out chocolates to the press pool and even speaking to one producer's girlfriend to apologize for his not being there on Valentine's Day.

Gutter Language

And as her prospects declined, there were those who relished the chance to kick Clinton while she was down. Republican strategist Roger Stone founded the nastiest effort yet to derail Clinton - Citizens United Not Timid, a stop-Clinton campaign whose acronym is crude and deliberate. The intentional use of a vulgar term for female anatomy contrasted sharply with an unintentional one by actress/activist Jane Fonda that had been making headlines at the same time.

Texas Hold'Em

By February 21, over the course of several smaller caucuses and primaries, Clinton had lost every single contest to Barack Obama. The calls began for her to step down and withdraw from her presidential campaign to avoid tearing the Democratic Party asunder. Yet Clinton held on with unwavering determination, intending to see the campaign through to the Texas and Ohio primaries - both states she expected to win on March 4.