NYT: (Hillary) Clinton-Watchers Increasingly See a Hawk

[DeepModem Mom]

Keeping Close Eye on Senator, Clinton-Watchers Increasingly See a Hawk
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

Published: April 23, 2004


....Fairly or not, Hillary Rodham Clinton's image on defense has been largely defined by her actions during the Vietnam War, when she organized teach-ins at Wellesley, as well as her association with her husband, who aroused great suspicion within the military circles as a result of his Vietnam draft record and his position on homosexuals in the armed forces. But these days, Senator Clinton, of New York, has offered a starkly different image, presenting herself as muscular on defense even when that puts her at odds with members of her own party.

Even as the war in Iraq proves unpopular with her core base of liberal supporters, not to mention some mainstream Democrats, Mrs. Clinton has emerged as one of the most prominent Democratic backers of the military activities. In recent months, in speeches and interviews, she has defended her vote authorizing the Republican president to wage war, argued for more troops in Iraq and sided with President Bush's contention that Saddam Hussein was, as she put it, "a potential threat'' who "was seeking weapons of mass destruction, whether or not he actually had them.''

Last week, with violence surging in Iraq, she stood by her decision to approve a Congressional resolution permitting military action there, though she did accuse the president of failing to build sufficient international support for the war and failing to plan adequately for the aftermath of Mr. Hussein's downfall. And she appeared to agree with President Bush's contention that the conflict in Iraq was part of the broader fight against terror, indicating that global threats like Mr. Hussein took on greater urgency in a post-Sept. 11 world. "After 9/11, a lot of threats had to be looked at with fresh eyes,'' she said in the interview.

Mrs. Clinton surprised even some of her closest advisers by taking a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee early last year, becoming the first New York senator, Republican or Democrat, to serve on the panel. She has used her spot on the committee to advance the kind of agenda commonly associated with lawmakers from conservative districts with military bases and large populations of veterans: seeking better pay and other benefits for soldiers, visiting troops abroad and arguing forcefully against military base closings. Her office says she has "voted for every defense appropriations bill since she entered the Senate."...

***

Whatever her motives, Mrs. Clinton's actions have prompted Democrats and Republicans to view her in a different light, according to interviews with lawmakers and political strategists in both parties....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/23/nyregion/23hillary.html

[Mari333]

1. She needs to send Chelsea to the front lines

or get off the gravy train of pre emptive strikes against everyone around the world. Follow the money.

[saigon68]

3. I Remember that Great Kommie Fighter LBJ

He was a hawkish democrat who really got us knee deep in the big muddy.

She is definitely being cautious in any criticism. I guess she will change when Beirut 2 happens, but then maybe not.

[Jacobin]

2. P-N-A-C

"The bi-partisan excuse for conquest.....It's not just for Right Wingers anymore"

[hang a left]

23. P-P-I

Who need the PNAC when you have the Progressive Policy Institute. It's a donkey of the same color.

[wildmanj]

4. hillary

kissing the hand that feeds her

[happynewyear]

5. Saddam = "a potential threat"

You could say that about every single human being on the face of this earth Hillary. :puke:

[DeepModem Mom]

16. Welcome to DU, baldearg!

[Alpharetta]

6. Clinton-watchers see a poll-watcher

she's basing her statements on what she believes to be politically smart.

Post 9/11, a New York senator needs to look "tough on terrorism". She doesn't have the political courage to state the truth regarding this stupid-ass operation in Iraq.

[mulethree]

7. could be her 3mm jewish constituents

They turn out big time for elections and often vote in blocks.

[THUNDER HANDS]

8. she has to build a record on defense

if she ever wants to run for president.

This isn't terribly shocking.

[Cocoa]

14. it's not shocking to me

she's taking an extra hawkish stance because she has a reputation as an ultraliberal and then there's the matter of her being a woman...

[Lorien]

9. I think a fair numbers of Dems take us for granted

these days. They know that we are so eager to move closer to the center from the far right that they can now spend much of their time appealing to moderate repugs. The results of such a strategy were seen in 2002, when the base felt uninspired to vote and the repugs chose the genuine articles.

[He loved Big Brother]

27. Can you blame them?

If you aren't rank-and-file you're labeled as a traitor. The Dems take their base for granted because we let them.

[latebloomer]

10. Is she voting her conscience?

Does she have one? Who is she trying to appeal to?

The right wingers will always hate her, and she is alienating the left with every move she makes.

[DrBB]

11. Clinton-Lieberman in 2008!

Woo hoo! With Zell Miller as Sec. of State!

Or to put it another way, these Dems are what makes me want to vote Green. I won't do it, not this time, not in the national races anyway. But I've got little use for Hils.

[Christ was Socialist]

12. What is it with the party elite?

This is seriously reminding me of nazi germany, where the opposition just gave power away. I don't care if she is playing politics or not, people are dying and this is all she can say. Well at least they are on the zell miller lead road to the center, while the repukes move further right.

[Ben Grimm]

13. Inside Job

I agree -- Hillary is setting up a future presidential run and needs to establish defense credentials. It's not much of a mystery.

And I would rather see someone like Hillary on the Senate Armed Services Committee fighting for the rights of military men and women and keeping an eye on everybody else than some other lunatic Republican chickenhawk.

[DeepModem Mom]

15. Hi, Ben! Welcome to DU --

[newyawker99]

24. Hi Ben Grimm!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[loudsue]

17. Hillary Clinton - Bought, and Paid for by the Military/Industrial Complex

Just another sell-out.

Once we get verifiable paper ballots as the law of the land, we can get rid of every single one of these corporatist whores.

Come on DUers! Start finding candidates to run in the primaries against these corporate whores!

:kick::kick:

[July]

18. What's offensive to me in this article

is that Republicans express surprise that she isn't a showboat in committees. In other words, she doesn't live up to their false picture of her and goes to work to actually do some work. Their need to make her the great big threatening super-scary Hillary trips them up. Fools.

[JoFerret]

19. While H. Clinton is better that any republican

she is still an opportunist stand-for-nothing. She goes to New york to run for senator and what is the first thing she does - and without prompting - say she is for the death pemalty. Gratuitous act of political barbarity.
Totally in the thrall of the Israel lobbyists also.
Her recent article on health care in the NYTimes mag was empty of content.

[noonwitch]

20. She is supporting the military, not necessarily Bush

Most of them voted to give Bush authorization to move on Iraq.
Both Hillary and Kerry have said that they expected the Bush administration to inform them of the plans.

I was against the war in Iraq-I think we should have never gone there without UN backing. Bush made a big mistake that our military has to deal with, because we can't just cut and run now. As long as our troops are overseas and involved in this conflict, they deserve our support. They don't pick the wars.

[PaDUer]

22. I support the troops

and believe they all should be brought home NOW, alive. Many do NOT want to be there and the Iraqis do NOT want them there either. The misadministration should admit they screwed up and get the hell out. If they don't, then let those leaders in DC go protect their oil with their families, not the kids and now that the word/pix are out of those coming home in boxes, let's hope the people are PO'd enough to get their acts together and unite to get these idiots OUT of our "house" now. Does anyone honestly believe we'll ever have honest elections again, or, if the election will ever take place before HE cancels it!

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

21. The Bi-Polar Media

First Hillary was painted as cartoonishly liberal, when she was never any such thing (although possibly a little left of Bill). Now they're trying to paint Hillary as a hawk, when she's no such thing (compared to Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld). They go lurching from one ridiculous extreme to another.

One of these days the media will attempt an honest portrayal.

[CityDem]

25. Hillary is John Kerry in a pantsuit

She has no political courage and is strictly positioning herself for a future run for president. Instead of taking a principled stance against the Iraqi war, she is trying to straddle the fence with John Kerry (I voted for the US to invade Iraq, but I don't like the way we are managing the war). It must make RFK sick to see the person holding his senate seat take these kind of positions. Why is it so damned hard for a democrat with presidential aspirations to say the war is wrong and we should begin removing our troops as soon as reasonably possible? Is Dennis Kucinich the only one with a backbone in this party?

[Malva Zebrina]

26. She lost me

I admired her once. Apparently, it was magical thinking.

Hillary is playing the game.

out for her poliltical career.

Too hard for me anymore.

I would not vote for her in any election. Turns me off right now.

[Classical_Liberal]

28. I don't think It is necessarly hawkish to seek better pay

and and benefits for soldiers but the defense appropriations and basees are disturbing.