NYT: The CLINTON-KERRY Alliance

[liberalpragmatist]

The Clinton-Kerry Alliance

By PATRICK HEALY

At first blush they seemed like a surprising couple: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator John Kerry, teaming up last month to defend Mrs. Clinton from Pentagon criticism over the Iraq war – criticism that had a Swift-Boat-style ring to it, her campaign believed, of questioning her patriotism.

<snip>

... rather than keep Mr. Kerry (and these attendant negative associations) closeted away, Mrs. Clinton has taken something of a risk (Yes! A risk!) by asking one of the Republicans’ favorite punching bags to stand up to the Defense Department with her. The Clinton-Kerry alliance, however tactical and limited, carries potential benefits for both senators. Yet it has a particular personal dimension for Mr. Kerry, giving him another try at facing down critics who question Democrats’ patriotism.

<snip>

A Washington Democrat who has worked with both senators offered another assessment: Mr. Kerry has “a certain credibility on Iraq right now,” given that his June 2006 Senate amendment to withdraw troops in a year – which Mrs. Clinton and many others opposed at the time – has now been embraced by many Democrats, including Mrs. Clinton.

If Mr. Kerry’s views are now in his party’s mainstream, he also enjoys good standing with his party’s left, particularly antiwar Democrats, liberal bloggers, and voters who organize online (and whose support Mrs. Clinton and the other ’08 Democrats are seeking). A cursory read of left-leaning blogs finds strong support for Mr. Kerry’s full-throated opposition to the war. And Mr. Kerry’s reach is notable: He still has an email contact list for three million people from his 2004 campaign.

It'll be interesting to see who Kerry endorses; I would bet on Clinton or Obama. For a long time I dismissed talk of a rift between Edwards and Kerry but enough people have been saying it that I'm no longer so skeptical.

[ProSense]

1. Strange article.

Is the Hillary camp trying to suck up to Sen. Kerry?

The article makes great points about Kerry, but he sponsors a bill with her and it's an alliance? He sponsored a bill with Obama a week ago.

[karynnj]

3. The author is suspect as well

He wrote unflattering Kerry pieces in 2004 in the Globe and he was written thinly veiled hit pieces on Clinton. He was the author of the front page aritcle on how the Clinton marriage shouldn't be a factor - in which he dug up all the old stuff and some new speculations. He also just wrote a very gossipy article that spoke of how Hillary and Obama don't chat between votes with each other.

Healey has rarely said anything nice about John Kerry. So, he may hot be trying to do Hillary any favors. As to the bill itself - there have been many questions about this type of information and references to closed door meetings. My guess was that the Bush administration was angry that she demanded this in public. (AS she very patronizingly said to Obama, you need to be careful what you say). THe bill seems to have been referred to the SFRC, which Kerry, Boxer, and Dodd (3 of the co-sponsors) sit on - Biden chairs.

It looks to me that Kerry simply stepped up to counter the argument that any call for oversight or dissent is traitorish - something he has stood up to fight for decades. Thomas at this point only has what aty best can be called a shell of a bill.

"S.1950
Title: A bill to require a report on contingency planning for the redeployment of United States forces from Iraq.
Sponsor: Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham (introduced 8/2/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Latest Major Action: 8/2/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
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Jump to: Summary, Major Actions, All Actions, Titles, Cosponsors, Committees, Related Bill Details, Amendments

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SUMMARY:
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MAJOR ACTIONS:
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ALL ACTIONS:
8/2/2007:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

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TITLE(S): (italics indicate a title for a portion of a bill)
***NONE***


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COSPONSORS(7), ALPHABETICAL : (Sort: by date)
Sen Bayh, Evan - 8/2/2007 Sen Boxer, Barbara - 8/2/2007
Sen Brown, Sherrod - 8/2/2007 Sen Dodd, Christopher J. - 8/2/2007
Sen Kerry, John F. - 8/2/2007 Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. - 8/2/2007
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon - 8/2/2007



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COMMITTEE(S):
Committee/Subcommittee: Activity:
Senate Foreign Relations Referral, In Committee



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RELATED BILL DETAILS:

***NONE***

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AMENDMENT(S):
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All in all, I doubt this took up much of Senator Kerry's or Senator Clinton's time.

[rox63]

2. I would bet it won't be Clinton

Have you read Bob Woodward's most recent book? James Carville and Terry McAuliffe pulled some very creepy, backstabbing stuff on the Kerry-Edwards campaign, including leaking strategy to the other side. They are both long-time Clinton loyalists. Terry McAuliffe is Hillary's campaign manager.

Senators often team up on legislation, even if they aren't the best of friends. But I won't hold my breath on any sort of endorsement of Clinton from Kerry, unless she does become the Dem nominee. He will definitely back whoever is the Dem nominee.