DNC Official: Hillary Pursuing 'The Tonya Harding Option'

[TeamJordan23]

DNC Official: Clinton Pursuing 'The Tonya Harding Option'
March 25, 2008

l just spoke with an official of the Democratic National Committee, who asked for anonymity so as to speak candidly, who said we in the media are all missing the point of this Democratic fight.

The delegate math is difficult for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, the official said. But it's not a question of CAN she achieve it. Of course she can, the official said.

The question is -- what will Clinton have to do in order to achieve it?

What will she have to do to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, in order to eke out her improbable victory?

She will have to "break his back," the official said. She will have to destroy Obama, make Obama completely unacceptable.

"Her securing the nomination is certainly possible - but it will require exercising the 'Tonya Harding option.'" the official said. "Is that really what we Democrats want?"

The Tonya Harding Option -- the first time I've heard it put that way.

It implies that Clinton is so set on ensuring that Obama doesn't get the nomination, not only is she willing to take extra-ruthless steps, but in the end neither she nor Obama win the gold.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/dnc-official-cl.html

[LoZoccolo]

1. That would mean Bill is Jeff Galoolie

lol

[undeterred]

29. worse yet

Obama is Nancy Kerrigan :rofl: IT HURTS! :hurts:

[SoCalDem]

40. Whyyyyyyyy? whyyyyyyyy whyyyyy????

He's a very agile guy.. I think he might sidestep that knee-whack :)

[Vinca]

2. Damn, these people need to go public before it's too late. nt

[Alhena]

3. Can't see Obama screaming "Why me? Why me? Why anybody?" like Kerrigan

[Name removed]

7. Deleted sub-thread

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[krkaufman]

37. I don't recall Kerrigan saying that.

And I would think Disney would've waited to film it until after she got over her cold.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. "Does that make former President Bill Clinton Jeff Gillooly?"

(In this metaphor, presumably, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would be Oksana Baiul. Does that make former President Bill Clinton Jeff Gillooly?)

:rofl:

[roguevalley]

15. if this is so, I PRAY there isn't a sex tape coming out soon. :)

RV, who came from the same state but not state of mind of Tonya and her guy

[DJ13]

5. When a Priest goes bad they can be excommunicated

We need something similar at the DNC to remove rogue Democratic politicians.

[C_U_L8R]

10. Sounds like a job for the Super Delegates

unless the good voters of PA stand up and say 'enough of this shit'

[Araxen]

6. Hillary Cilnton is a disgusting individual

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[frazzled]

9. I'm sorry

But that made me spit tea all over my keyboard. I know it's not supposed to be funny, but the analogy to Tonya Harding made me laugh out loud. It is incredibly apt, and funny. Until you think about it.

[beachmom]

17. Somebody needs to make a YouTube video of Hillary as Tonya Harding. nt

[krkaufman]

38. It *is* incredibly apt.

I was just thinking along the lines of the violence aspect, until the article reminded me that neither Harding or Kerrigan then won the gold. That makes the analogy that much more apt.

(I'm not sure any particular white trash comparison was intended.)

[loveangelc]

11. Duh.

who didn't know this? It's all she has and its what is expected. She has been doing this since Super Tuesday.

Oh well, I'm hoping May 6th gets here quickly.

[krkaufman]

39. Yes, but the "Tonya Harding" framing may be just what is needed ...

... to catch the media attention and drill it home to Democratic voters. The analogy is startlingly apt.

[beachmom]

12. Great. So then we're left with John "Oksana Baiul" McCain as president.

Did I mention that the Ukrainian gold medal winner, moving to America after her win, eventually ended up getting arrested for a DUI in Simsbury, CT?

[scheming daemons]

13. Because she won't stop until she breaks Obama... we must destroy her first.... it is a shame it ....

has come to that.


It didn't have to be that way. Then Hillary decided to go nuclear.

[Coexist]

14. this is insane.

[tinrobot]

Remember when Paula Jones foughtTonya Harding?

For some reason, it all seems to connect. Here they are in the ring:





Tonya beat the snot out of Paula, btw...

[keep_it_real]

16. Not only is Hillary willing to do it but the MSM will help her.

[Beacool]

18. So, Hillary is ruthless,

but how about the black elected officials who are being pressured to endorse Obama? Remember the Black State of the Union? Remember the panel discussion where Tubb-Jones mentioned that some of these officials had to change their phones 2 to 3 times because of the constant threatening calls. Remember Tavis commenting that he had received death threats? Remember when John Lewis also mentioned being pressured to switch allegiance to Obama?

I guess all these things are quite commendable when done by your candidate's campaign, but Hillary is just supposed to roll over and play dead to advance Obama's ambitions? Hell, no!!!

[tishaLA]

23. nobody suggested they were done by Obama's campaign

they were done by people who wanted their elected representatives to support Sen Obama. Or, in the case of Tavis, by people in the African American community who thought he was a crab in the bucket.

[AX10]

42. Obama is the biggest fraud since dubya in 2000.

He' promises all these nice things but he is really using power and threats as well as double-speak to get things done.

[Lerkfish]

44. there is a difference between being ruthless and being destructive to the party

IMHO, all she hopes to accomplish by hanging on now is attempting to damage Obama and set herself up for 2012. Unfortunately, what she's doing instead is self destructing her own viability forever.

[PATRICK]

19. Need a list of all

the sticks. So far she has used the GOP probable playbook, some things it might appear McCain would even have trouble using, to get at the racist issue, his high road change, peace and inclusiveness message. I can see how political cards can morph into "destruction" and MAD kamikaze perceptions. It is too late in the game to see this as normal. It IS too late to be seen as anything but having one option left. That option is not getting people to see your quality but to destroy everything positive about your opponent. It is rather late for this negative war of attrition to have any more mathematical effect than anything else. it hasn't worked yet except to grudgingly slow the process of defeat.

Taken in that light, it is irritating how these relatively lame efforts continue to the detriment of the party in general, who are faced with a blackmail situation that also has as much tendency to backfire as anything else. I am not so much "stunned" by her negativity as impatient with the continuing gambit as she now looks for some magic bullet, some Willie Horton better than Wright and Rezco, to justify this effort at all, no matter one's feelings about the whole thing.

it is time- not to quit- but to draw back. Unfortunately she is so deeply committed to this plunge that it is hard to bounce back- as pols always do- to the smiling high road approach. Hard to do because if there is any sign of "weakness" now it will signal defeat and collapse the entire campaign. Apparently her timing or her resolve or the general weakness of the super delegates has removed her flexibility and leadership of the juggernaut sputtering to a certain loss. We demand she lands the plane strafing us from on high, but in effect it is a trainwreck approaching the weak bridge.

Nor, if she draws back the bloodletting can the other side, or the party, refrain from repaying in kind and swooping in for the kill. She has made this very difficult for herself and the same judgments she made from the start to now do not promise a remarkable solution. What everyone NEEDS is simply to draw back from the negativity and focus on the GOP and our party unity. Doing this gracefully for a couple of weeks might actually help her numbers- and her healthy clout at the Convention and her standing with
those she leads(sort of) in the party.

[Cha]

20. I've seen the Tonya Harding Strategy discussed on DU

weeks ago..it's been obvious for quite some time.

[Kurovski]

21. I was just going to post that, someone here made the correlation already. (nt)

[Cha]

22. ..

:)

[against all enemies]

25. I called it that when I was pissed off at Hillary's methods.

[Kurovski]

27. Good call. (nt)

[against all enemies]

28. I like my "bathroom toilet" description of Hillary's strategy over the "kitchen sink" too.

If you would care I could give you the reasons.

[TahitiNut]

30. Yup. I've used the metaphor more than once myself.

:shrug: It's obvious.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5201614&mesg_id=5201952
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=257027&mesg_id=257111

[elizm]

24. And if the Dem superdelegates sit back and let that happen...

Then to hell with the Democratic Party.

[depakid]

26. waaaa.... people are being mean to my candidate

[Cali_Democrat]

31. Howard Dean?

wouldn't doubt it.

[Stephanie]

32. You heard it here, first! Thanks for reading DU, DNC guy!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=4686992">Hillary is quickly becoming the Tonya Harding of Politics
Topic started by JackORoses on Feb-20-08

[Catherina]

35. Rofl! Locked

:rofl:

[krkaufman]

43. The ABC News post did extend the comparison beyond the DU post ...

... to the most critical fact: neither Harding or Kerrigan won the gold.

This will very likely be the result of Hillary's tactics, a McCain presidency.

[Skidmore]

33. So maybe someone should point out to Hillary what happened to Tonya.

That's exactly what's going to happen to Hillary if she goes that route.

As an aside, do we need to set aside an evening to watch her box Paula Jones after she loses?

[dysfunctional press]

34. slightly off-topic...i've always thought that tonya harding should revive "nudes on ice" in vegas...

with her name on it, how could it go wrong...? :shrug:

[guruoo]

36. She'll have to do to Obama only what his supporters have already done to her

[mmonk]

41. I don't think that really works anymore, at least to the general public.

[Beacool]

45. Yeah, let's just disenfranchise a few more million people.

Why stop with MI and FL? Why bother letting the people in PA, NC, IN, etc. cast their vote and chose a candidate?

Mean Hillary is attacking poor little Obama. Please, are you people for real or have you never seen a campaign before this one??????

This has been a very long campaign season, but the attacks have been pretty mild compared to other ones in the past. Besides, I heard plenty of garbage being thrown by the Obama gang at Hillary. Need a list?

Oh, the continual hypocrisy........

[GOTV]

46. Yeah, a list, with links, would be cool n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

47. Who Gives A Fuck What Some Anonymous Fucker Said? Those Were THEIR Words, Not Hers.

So for some here to go knee jerkin around like headless thoughtless chickens calling her this and that, is just really quite stupid.

Nowhere did it imply that this was her intention. It was only an OPINION from some anonymous fucker as to what THEY think she'd have to do. What that means is that the entire article is worthless. So please, enough with the ridiculous feigned outrage already. It's just so fuckin stupid already.