Can someone explain this statement by Hillary on her vote to cut funding?

[ProSense]

Clinton defends Iraq war funding vote

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago

LAS VEGAS - White House hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday defended her vote against an Iraq war funding bill, saying she believes President Bush will begin withdrawing troops from Iraq soon.

The New York senator said she came to the conclusion while watching the president's news conference last week in which he referred to the bipartisan Iraq Study Group report and its recommendations for the administration.

"He talked about it favorably for the first time I've ever heard him talk about it," Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview during a campaign stop in Las Vegas. "That was to me a big signal that starting in the fall and toward the end of the year we're going to start seeing troops withdrawn from Iraq.

"My argument is, why wait?"

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[Greeby]

1. Given Senator Clinton's record

I'm afraid I cannot ascribe sincere motives to this vote

[durtee librul]

2. Yeah and it will be snowing in July in Florida

when he 'decides' to pull out of Iraq...

Oh well, just another reason to not vote for her - she listens to Bush and then makes a decision on what he says. You'd think she would know by now he is an absolute moron who has 'people' write lies for him to appease others.

Let's face it, if he didn't start changing his tune about the war, he knows he's a dead duck (not lame, he's past that stage long ago) so to save face and 'help' his cronies who need their $$200K job as congress critters, he has to do something.

Now if he only meant what he said.

[rinsd]

3. She's backing Bush into a corner.

[pnwmom]

4. That was my gut reaction, too, FWIW. n/t

[PoiBoy]

5. She's absolutely correct...

but like most of her Dem colleagues she can't see the big picture...

Thom Hartmann sees it clearly, IMO...
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/29/1500/

<snip>
The political calculus being pursued by Karl Rove and the Republican Party with regard to Iraq and the 2008 elections is a simple four-step process:

1. Shift “ownership” of the downside of the “war” and occupation of Iraq to the Democrats.

2. Begin to wind down American involvement in the occupation of Iraq no later than mid-2008.

3. “Claim victory and get out” of direct combat in Iraq by the early fall of 2008.

4. Win big in the 2008 elections by having “won” a “war.”
<end>


read the article.. he lays it out... too bad Hillary doesn't get it...

[illinoisprogressive]

6. here is a link to help you understand some things about her IWR vote

It explains how she is triangulating and trying to fuzz the lines and it is fascinating.
It is long but, gives a good glimpse into the character of Hillary and her Iraq problem

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/magazine/03Hillary-t.html?_r=4&oref=slogin&ref=magazine&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[Judge_Mental]

12. Thank You for posting that.

Very interesting

[MGKrebs]

7. Yeah, except they're going to be "withdrawn" to Iran.

[fed-up]

8. doesn't she realize that would just be pulling back those brought in for the surge????

[sampsonblk]

9. OK its not a vote to cut funding, its a vote against a bad funding bill

We don't have the votes to cut funding, as we all know. But we had everything we needed not to have this end up being law.

Her explanation sounds like garbage though.

[ProSense]

10. Another stunner

from the NYT:

Unlike nearly all of her fellow Democrats, she even went so far as to argue that Saddam Hussein gave assistance to Al Qaeda members.

[ProSense]

11. From the debate, Hillary's vote was to send a strong message

SEN. CLINTON: Well, I have the deepest respect for my friend Senator Biden, and he and I have agreed on much of what we have attempted to do. Unfortunately, we don't have a president who is willing to change course, and I think it was time to say enough is enough. I thought the best way to support our troops was to try to send a very strong message that they should begin to come home.

That is the best way to support them, and I thought that vote was an opportunity to do so.

Everybody on this stage, we are all united, Wolf. We all believe that we need to try to end this war. In two nights you're going to have the Republican candidates here; they all support the war, they all support the president, they all supported the escalation. Each of us is trying in our own way to bring the war to an end.

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[MasonJar]

13. I did not see the debate, but the exerpts I have seen today indicate

that Hillary and Obama appeared to not try to take advantage of other dems. I liked that. This last comment by Hillary is an example (as she said all the dems want out of Iraq); in another segment Obama proposed that the dems should not politicize the Iraq issue.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

14. They did that because they are the most hawkish and vulnerable on Iraq right now

==This last comment by Hillary is an example (as she said all the dems want out of Iraq); in another segment Obama proposed that the dems should not politicize the Iraq issue.==

This coming from two candidates who want to keep troops in Iraq indefinitely... This is not surprising at all. One candidate blatantly lied (she does not want to end the war) while the other continues to divert attention from his position on Iraq today and in the senate in favor of constantly chanting his 2002 position on Iraq.