NYT: Hilllary Clinton Fires. GW Bush Replies. Guess Why.

[DeepModem Mom]

Clinton Fires. Bush Replies. Guess Why.
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
Published: January 22, 2006


WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 - In the past week, the Bush and Clinton camps have traded nasty words and asides in a series of exchanges that had the faint echoes of their open warfare during the 1992 presidential campaign.

On the surface, the skirmishing seemed to stem from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's assertion that Republicans are running Congress like a plantation, and that the Bush administration is one of the "worst in history." But strategists in both parties say the hostilities were more likely the opening shots of the 2008 presidential campaign season.

Frank Luntz, a Republican consultant, said he thought national Republicans felt the need to engage Mrs. Clinton now that she faces no major challenge for her Senate seat and is free to lay the groundwork for a national candidacy.

"She is the leading candidate for 2008, and you can't give her a clear run," he said. "There is no one holding her accountable, and so the national party figured it had to."

Chris Lehane, a Democratic operative who has worked on several presidential campaigns, said...."There is a basic principle in politics that you ignore anyone who is criticizing you unless they are actually a threat and scoring points against you....Republicans are making the very safe assumption that she will be the Democratic nominee in 2008 and it scares them. So they are beginning to engage her."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/politics/22clinton.html

[alittlelark]

1. She is the leading candidate among the Repukes.....

How about finding out what DEM'S and PROGRESSIVES have to say? I am so sick of hearing her name bandied about for 2008. WE, the GRASSROOTS of the party, have little to no interest in her moderate/right stances.


With that said - if she is the nominee I will campaign for her zealously. I PRAY (an Atheist) she will not be the nominee.

[Ammonium]

10. What about Obama?

I would really like to see Obama run for prez. I dunno if he has what some would consider enough experience or not, but I think he'd make a great candidate.

[rhino47]

11. I am with you Ammonium .Welcome to DU

:hi:
That can be a good thing.He does not have a long record in the Senate.
The rethugs will really have to stretch to find something on Obama due to his short record.But then again I thought Kerry would do okay being a vetern running for office and look what happened there.

[BlueManDude]

15. they should both stay in the senate n/t

[AzDar]

17. Good Lord, you've got THAT right...Let's pick our OWN candidate

this time around, instead of having one shoved down our throats by the Whorporate Media and The Opposition.
I firmly believe we were force-fed someone who wouldn't fight back against the Bushies; looking back, we were clearly PLAYED.
How many times were we forced to relive the "Dean-Scream" via the media; therefore by painting a viable and capable(and leading)Candidate as unstable?? Never again.
Hillary is unelectable,which is why the Republicans are pimping her so hard.
Gore or Clark or Edwards....someone who CAN and who will fight to WIN!

[formernaderite]

23. She is the repubs wet dream of a candidate...they want her bad

Please let's not make the mistake of ringing that bell....it can't be unrung.

[LeftCoast]

2. Of course, by attacking her they also legitimize her standing as a

contender. Interesting predicament.

[loudsue]

25. The GOP is doing everything they can to legitimize her standing

as a candidate. It is intentional, so that she will get the nomination.

:kick:

[AtomicKitten]

3. hell, they attack ANYONE who dares criticize them.

Hillary isn't special in that regard.

[Neil Lisst]

22. Thank You! It's like that gopher game at Chucky Cheese.

They hit whoever pops their head up.

ANYONE who said that plantation remark was sure to get both barrels from team Bush.

They also don't like her getting to the right of Bush on Iran, and I can't I say I like it, either.

[stevietheman]

4. That's funny... Hillary is one of the *trailing* candidates amongst

Democratic Party activists... go figure.

[bluestateguy]

5. Say this for Hillary

Her DLCishness is making me mad, but one major advantage she would have in a campaign is that she fights the Republican Noise Machine.

The Clintons do fight back when attacked, hard and fast. That's one thing you don't have to worry about if she is the nominee.

[Rodger Dodger]

6. Hillary and the Plantation comment

Hillary right on, when she finished that with an aside "And you know what I mean."

H haven't heard any complaints from the people whom she was speaking to.

[raysr]

8. She hasn't apologized

for any statements she's made has she? Reid just did and others in the past. Hillary is tough enough to fight the pukes, that's why they're afraid of her. In fact, I dare say they're terrified of her! She won't take prisoners.

[barb162]

12. good points; she really smart too

[AZBlue]

9. Everyone seems to overlook that point.

And yet I think that speaks volumes on the "appropriateness" of her comments.

[MrBenchley]

14. You know the attacks on Hillary from the left now

remind me a lot of the attacks we heard from the left on Bobby Kennedy in the period 1965-1968.

[CoffeeCat]

7. Maybe I'm just a cynic with a tin-foil hat...

...but it strikes me as odd that Hillary--all-of-a-sudden--began throwing out barbs
at BushCo. She's been eerily silent on most important political issues and her
criticism of BushCo's abhorrent, fascist failures has been sporadic, at best.

Interesting that she throws out a couple of zingers, and BushCo responds--with the media following up about the two camps sparing because Hillary is the likely Dem front runner. For one thing...she's not the damn front runner. The Republicans are salivating at a Hillary run, and THEY want her to be the front runner. They constantly prop her up as the front runner.

Could all of this been staged and orchestrated between Hillary and BushCo?

I don't trust Hillary at all. She's too close to the Bush family. They're evil beyond repair. You either lash out against their sickening ways--or you're with them. It feels as if they are collaborating.

I can hear the conversation now. BushCo to Hillary, "We control the voting machines. You play the game our way, and we'll make sure you're the Dem nominee. Then, during campaign season, you can go back to criticizing us all of the time."

I have absolutely no trust in most of our leaders. I have no trust for Hillary anymore. She's been too silent, as our democracy is shredded. Furthermore, I'm so sick of the media crowning her the nominee when the majority of the party can't stand her.

[O.M.B.inOhio]

13. It does have the flavor of a consultant-planned timeline unfolding.

One can imagine these press releases and press reactions already scripted. They say it enough and Hillary *is* the frontrunner, like they say "no voter fraud" and there *is* no discussion of election fraud in the 2004.

[belpejic]

16. Oh my

This is quite possibly the most fatuous article I've ever read in the Times. One more reason to consider cancelling my subscription.

Not a single mention of issues. All about political posturing. How stupid. Like, maybe we should know what each side advocates?

The Times truly, truly sucks.

[Stinky The Clown]

18. Thihs is just fucked ..... and so are we ........

This line says it all ...... 'Republicans are making the very safe assumption that she will be the Democratic nominee in 2008'.

Oh yeah? Sez who, you fuckwads?

[elehhhhna]

19. They run the voting machines. The Primaries are already OVER.

[janx]

21. Sex Frank, of course!

He's jonesing for it... ;-)

[Radical Activist]

20. Or they could be using a different well-known strategy...

of engaging the primary opponent you would most like to face. Reagan did that in California. You give more attention to the weakest primary opponent from the other party to boost their chances of winning.

[oge]

24. Hillarity just won't stop

I may be accused of hillarity-bashing, but check out the speech she just made at Princeton. If you didn't know it was Hillarity, there are whole sections that could be W and the pukes talking. She is escalating her war rhetoric. Is she trying to win Pat Roberston and the rest of the Christian Zionists?

Defend her if you like, but she is increasingly representing herself as a deliberate war candidate:

"nor do I believe that we can or should pull out of Iraq immediately. If last December's elections lead to a successful Iraqi government, that should allow us to start drawing down our troops during this year while leaving behind a smaller contingent in safe areas with greater intelligence and quick-strike capabilities. This will help us stabilize that new Iraqi government."

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2006/01/18/news/14289.shtml

[Imagevision]

26. I don't believe you can discount Russ Feingold to beat Hillary

[Imagevision]

27. He sure as hell is speaking out more then Hillary