| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Hillary to Nutroots: "Drop dead!" |
| 2007-10-05 |
| Brian Faughnan, Weekly Standard Boldface emphasis added. When Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution wrote in the New York TImes that the surge was working, they were widely criticized by the antiwar left, which went to great lengths to undercut their findings. The two scholars could do nothing to convince their liberal critics that things in Iraq have gotten better. But they may have convinced at least one Democrat, and she happens to be the party's prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton, you'll remember, has staked out a nuanced position on the surge. In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in late August, Clinton declared of the surge, "It's working." And now, O'Hanlon has been named as a foreign policy adviser to the Clinton campaign. Clinton, of course, is no friend of the antiwar left, and at least one lefty blogger is calling on the Senator to "renounce O'Hanlon's support." She just named him an advisor. I don't think so. But, despite her grandstanding during the Petraeus hearings, it isn't at all clear that the senator's position on the war is all that different from the president's. By putting O'Hanlon on her team, she's let the netroots know that she doesn't need their support, and more to the point, she doesn't want their support. How can she afford to be so dismissive of this powerful constituency? Maybe because they aren't as powerful as we'd thought. More important, they aren't as powerful as they think they are. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #10 Just Hillary's way of telling the Kossacks - "We won't be needing your services after all, you are dismissed". |
| Posted by: DMFD 2007-10-05 21:48 |
| #9 "Doesn't need their support...doesn't want their support" > Sniff, sniff - D *** NG IT, how many tasty barbecues is this WOT gonna destroy/nix??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-10-05 19:52 |
| #8 She can't get rid of Sandy Bergler. He knows too much and bumping him off would now be too obvious. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-10-05 19:01 |
| #7 I would think that the Clintons would believe in the Marxist slogan: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." No lightbulbs for Slick Willie. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-10-05 18:00 |
| #6 Ah, yes. The Clintons... An excerpt from an article in the September Atlantic Monthly (subscription required) by Jonathan Rauch about the Clinton foundation: Clinton says he has been concerned about climate change for years, but that a hostile Congress and cheap oil prevented him from doing much about it when he was in office. Out of office, one day he decided to replace every lightbulb in his house with a compact fluorescent. But when he went to his local hardware store in Chappaqua, New York, he couldn’t find bulbs in a lot of the shapes and sizes he needed. “So I literally picked up the phone and called Jeff Immelt”—the CEO of General Electric—“and I said, ‘I’m trying to be a good customer. I’m trying to buy American, support GE. I like your eco-initiatives. But I can’t fill half these sockets. What am I going to do?’ And he said, ‘Well, make me a bigger market, and I’ll make whatever bulbs you want.’” It’s a charming story, if somewhat tarnished by the fact that, through a spokesman, Immelt said he had no recollection of the conversation. That sure sounds like Clinton being Clinton. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-10-05 16:44 |
| #5 How can anyone not expect her to just as easily reverse herslf on any given position once she gains the Oval Office? Well, she IS a Clinton. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2007-10-05 16:37 |
| #4 This should make the republicans so happy that their ears start clapping. The ruthless pursuit of power has obliged Clinton to jettison yet another fraction of her |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-05 15:56 |
| #3 they aren't as powerful as they think they are. That was clearly demonstrated by Lieberman's reelection in Connecticut. Just as AQ hasn't been able to take and hold ground in Iraq, neither has their fellow travelers in the nutroots in been able to here. Both can make noise and inflict casualties, but do not have the depth to impose themselves on the greater masses, which if you believe in real democracy, vice that of Peoples' Democratic Republics, is a good thing. Hillary is shifting early in the primary season to try to run to the center. However, such actions in the end are never as effective as a library of her sound bites showing her colors for years. She, like little o'Britney, have too much baggage to hide. It's up to the Trunks to play power politics. However, their history shows too many instances of showing up to a gun fight with a knife. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-10-05 15:39 |
| #2 newc - even more astute would be to dump Sandy "the Burglar" Berger. Wake me when that happens. |
| Posted by: PBMcL 2007-10-05 15:12 |
| #1 How astute. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-10-05 14:59 |