Clinton Targets John Kerry

[Dr Ron]

From Liberal Values:

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3190

The Clinton Blood Bath

April 26th, 2008 by Ron Chusid

Early in the race Hillary Clinton had a huge lead in superdelegates as many party insiders backed her early. The word was that people were being told that either they backed Clinton or they would be on the outside once Clinton won (which at the time was considered inevitable by many). Many gave in to this, knowing that the Clintons have a long memory and hold a grudge. This became apparent with the reaction to Bill Richardson’s endorsement of Barack Obama. Eleanor Clift considers the blood bath which will occur if Hillary Clinton does manage to pull out the nomination:

I’m beginning to think Hillary Clinton might pull this off and wrestle the nomination away from Barack Obama. If she does, a lot of folks—including a huge chunk of the media—will join Bill Richardson (a.k.a. Judas) in the Deep Freeze. If the Clintons get back into the White House, it will be retribution time, like the Corleone family consolidating power in “The Godfather,” where the watchword is, “It’s business, not personal.”

Not that anyone will be sleeping with the fishes with Hillary in the White House, but with the Clintons it’s business and it’s personal. Just think of all the scores to settle, the grievances to indulge. Bill Clinton provided a preview this week, blaming the Obama campaign for playing the race card against him. Tricky maneuver, but perhaps the only way the former president can come to grips with his loss of standing in the African-American community, once his strongest constituency. (South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, an undeclared superdelegate who is African-American, told the New York Times this week that the black community had supported Clinton during his impeachment and that “I think black folks feel strongly that this is a strange way to show his appreciation.”)

There are a number of prominent Democrats who will be on the Clinton hate list, and they are making this clear in the hopes of dissuading other Democrats from backing Obama.

Notables who abandoned her for Obama will get the Big Chill. “He’s dead to us,” a Clinton aide was quoted saying of John Kerry, who along with Ted Kennedy was turned off by the perception of race baiting that led up to the South Carolina primary.

Matthew Yglesias notes that Clinton cannot afford to freeze out all the Democrats who are not backing her:

…current Obama endorsers include, among others, the Senators who chair the committees on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (Kennedy), Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (Dodd), Judiciary (Leahy), and Budget (Conrad). Unless Clinton is uncommonly stupid, she’s not really going to try to govern the country while freezing those guys not. Nor would it make any sense to make a big push for health care reform while simultaneously freezing out the Obama-backers in SEIU.

Yglesias believes they are making an example of Kerry as he is “noteworthy enough for his endorsement to matter” but he does not hold an important committee chair. It could still be a mistake to have John Kerry loose in the Senate as one’s enemy. He’s just the type of honorable guy who would push the Senate to hold the Clintons accountable regardless of party. I’m also not so sure that we can assume that the Clintons won’t follow the path which Clift predicts even if not politically wise. They have made it clear this year that their personal egos and desire for power outweigh all other considerations.

[ginnyinWI]

1. What a mess that would be.

Let's hope it never comes to pass. Let's hope she's stopped now--as many predict.

[Mass]

2. Which path? I am not sure what Eleanor Clift is predicting.

If it is to say that Clinton would be ignoring Kerry, it is simply what happened in the last 4 years. It has not prevented Kerry to do good things. So, except for Clift to say she has insight she does not have, I have absolutely no clue what her and Yglesias are saying.

What is clear is that, if she does not win the nomination and Obama becomes president, Hillary Clinton will have a lot less power in the Senate. So,really, I am not sure what this is about, except two pundits trying to pontificate.

[Dr Ron]

3. Different as President

It's one thing for Clinton to ignore Kerry as a Senator. It would be a different matter if Clinton was the Democratic president and she held a grudge against the Democrats who backed Obama.

[karynnj]

5. But it was more than as "senator" and worse than "ignoring

The Clintons and their party and media buddies started many covert attacks - even before Kerry did anything they didn't like. The first two I remember were both very early.

1) Bill Clinton, echoed by many media sycophants spoke of Kerry losing because he was too weak on national security - this and the beginning of there 2004 rewrite the Kerry didn't fight back against the SBVT (which they equated in a way that is really strange if you think of it). The intent was to hobble Kerry on a topic where he really was the strongest Democrat. (note the Clinton people were happy to have him there when her patriotism was challanged.)

2) There was a whisper campaign that claimed that Reid was angry that Kerry seemed to think he had any right to think he was a Democratic leader - even though he was the party standard bearer. This was a clear cut drawing a line in the sand telling Kerry that he had no claim to lead, while HRC, who had never led, was pushed as the inevitable leader.

Kerry is chair of Small Business and heads some important subcommittees. Also, unlike the other Senators named, Kerry has connections to the netroots. It also ignores that HRC is running on many Kerry ideas and has even near plagerized his words. If she wants to keep her promises, she has to push for things he's advocated for years.

I doubt that Kerry would stir up any trouble just because he is ignored and not given credit. What I do think he would do is use his power and connect to the activist base to hold HRC to her commitments. I do think he will go after any corruption - but he would do that whether they were "nice" to him or not. He actually has a lot to lose if he doesn't in terms of reputation and little to gain not doing it.

[ladym55]

4. If HRC actually gets the nomination and the presidency

She just plain won't be able to ignore the people who supported Obama. She's totally delusional if she thinks that any Republicans in the House or the Senate will support anything she puts forward, so she will need EVERY Democratic vote she can get on every issue. Among other things, she will not have particularly wide coattails in the GE, so the Democratic majorities won't be all THAT big.

[beachmom]

6. The more that I think about this, the madder I am getting!!

I mean, what the hell? Check OUT this timeline:

1. In 2003, John Kerry's campaign gets stalled and Brinkley notes that the Clintons "stabbed him in the back a couple of times".

2. Kerry gets the nomination in 2004. What does Bill Clinton do? Release his book, go on a book tour where all he talks about is himself and how Bush is doing a good job in the war on terror and the Iraq War. This is right at the time Kerry should be introducing himself to the people. Bill Clinton also advises Kerry to not fight back that much against the SBVT and to back the anti-gay marriage amendments in various states. He also leaks conversations they have that make Kerry look weak, and Bill the strong campaign advisor.

3. On election night Clintonista Carville gives sensitive info to his wife who passes it onto the Bush campaign.

4. Kerry loses a close election, and is immediately trashed by Begala, who says that since Kerry didn't fight back against the SBVT, people thought "if he can't defend himself, how can he defend America?"

5. Kerry is repeatedly trashed by Clintonistas for the next 2 years.

6. Kerry botches a joke, and Hillary piles on bashing him on it. Even McCain sounds better than her.

7. Clinton is already trying to poach donors while Kerry is emotionally announcing on the Senate floor that he will not run for president.

8. Kerry decides to back Obama.

Gee, where in all of this does Kerry owe the Clintons jackshit??? They really are something else. I hope Kerry supporters who back Clinton know what they did to John Kerry, and are doing to him to this day.

[ray of light]

7. Just to add to your 2004 timeline...

Don't forget how Carville, Brazille, and other Clinton people had their media positions and were constantly on the air trashing the campaign and sending out little "McTruthyisms". You know those little questions and digs at the candidate.

With all the times that we complain about the conservative bias, those people could have talked about the real things that Kerry would do, but instead they let little side stories play out. (Like "Is the Kerry campaign effective? Is Kerry TOO diplomatic? He listens to everyone but will he just make a decision and get the work done? Is the Kerry campaign falling apart? Kerry gets advice from Clinton in the hospital...."

AND the media would go to the Kerry blog, pick things from the blog to attack, and those who had the mic didn't say, "Stop talking crap. That's a non-issue. The real point of this campaign is..."

[ray of light]

8. Though this is speaking of Obama, it was true for Kerry

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/its-all-about-the-clintons/2008/04/28/1209234757220.html

"In truth, Obama is not running against Hillary Clinton, he is running against the Clintons — a political machine headed by the New York senator and her ex-president husband, Bill, that includes some of the most ruthless operators in modern politics."

[karynnj]

9. That's clear to me now, but Obama actually has the easier job

He is fighting Clinton for the nomination. Though many attacks have been below the belt and not out in the open, at least it is apparent to everybody which side the Clintons are on. Kerry's problem was that on the surface the Clintons were with them. Bill Clinton spoke at the convention and campaigned for him (just out of the hospital - to quote the Clinton people). It takes paragraphs to make the case for their actions that hurt.

Obama and his surrogates can overtly call out the Clintons. Kerry couldn't - especially in August and September when they were daily bashing the campaign and whining that Kerry was not listening to Clinton and beyond that that he was no Bill Clinton. Like you said in the other post, they NEVER attempted to speak of the issues or Kerry's life of service.