Hillary Announces, Offers No Ideas; CBS Swoons
Hillary had announced her intentions to run for President and the media is all in a tizzy. NewsBusters notes that today on its “Early Show,” CBS “ran four stories pertaining to Hillary Clinton entering the Democratic race for president.” The show failed to provide “any coverage at all” when the top tier Republican candidates made their presidential intentions known. The show did provide coverage of some of the other Democratic candidates, but not nearly as much as they offered Mrs. Clinton.
Alhtough she has high negatives, even among her own party, Mrs. Clinton still has a strong shot at the Democratic nomination. Yet, if she were a sure thing, Democrats and the media would not have gone all gaga over Illinois Senator Barack Obama. She’ll probably have the best organization of any candidate in the race and an ability to raise a lot of cash. But, she risks being overshadowed by her husband.
The London Times indicates that she intends to run as the “new Thatcher” (H/t: OpinionJournal’s Political Diary (available by subscription)). Give me a break. The Iron Lady she ain’t. Lady Thatcher didn’t need to tell anyone she was tough. She showed them she was. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman, former DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe made sure to remind the report that she is “perceived as very tough.”
A woman who is truly tough wouldn’t be changing her stands to accommodate shifts in public opinion polls.
While I think Mrs. Clinton will have a solid campaign and will be a formidable candidate for the Democratic nomination, but her victory is no sure thing. As we have seen with the dirt her people have been digging up on Senator Obama, she, like her husband, will stop at little to destroy their opponents. If she keeps this up, this could backfire and reinforce her negatives.
That said, the Republican nominee should review his own past actions to make sure they’re prepared for late releases of information damaging to his candidacy.
So, Hillary has announced much earlier than she would have liked. She did a cutesy Oprah-like infomercial on her web-site which offered little in the way of an agenda except to say that she intends to hold a conversation and that she doesn’t like President Bush. If she wants to win in 2008, she’s going to do more than offer such banalities and do more than play to her party’s Bush-bashing base.
Like her husband in 1992, she’s going to have to come up with a positive agenda of policies she wants to put forward. But, her party’s left-wing base has grown stronger in the last 15 years. And she risks alienating them if she attempts to campaign on the centrist policies that served him so well against the first President Bush.
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For anyone who hasn’t seen it, here is SNL’s surprisingly on-target spoof of Hillary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH49pKxKWes
I thought it was awesome. But the audience chuckles uncomfortably. They’re a liberal audience, caught between a rock and a hard place. Hillary and Richardson are the only Dems who aren’t nutters or total lightweights. And Hillary beats Richardson, so she wins the nomination. But who (in the general election) is going to want to return Bill Clinton to the White House? ugh!
By the way, while writing this comment I coined a new (to me) term for the Obama boomlet: Obamania. 🙂 But I couldn’t work it gracefully into my comments.
Comment by Calarato — January 22, 2007 @ 8:31 pm - January 22, 2007
Darn, I didn’t invent it: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=obamania
Oh well – It’s a pretty obvious term, so I’m not surprised.
Comment by Calarato — January 22, 2007 @ 8:33 pm - January 22, 2007
If Hillary wins, that makes Sweet Old Bill our First Lady. Might be worth it to see Bill in a dress.
Comment by Nissa Annakindt — January 22, 2007 @ 8:46 pm - January 22, 2007
#3 – Complete with an unusual stain on the front.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — January 22, 2007 @ 8:54 pm - January 22, 2007
Man, y’all must be really scared of Senator Clinton to spend so much time trying to defame her. If she becomes the Democratic nominee, she’ll mop the floor with whatever goomba the GOP puts forth.
Comment by Bloggernista — January 22, 2007 @ 9:12 pm - January 22, 2007
You know the joke in the beltway right? All you have to do to raise the hackles of a Republican is say “43.”
Comment by Just A Question — January 22, 2007 @ 11:08 pm - January 22, 2007
If she does not get the Democratic nomination, then who will she mop the floor with? Her husband?
I would enjoy seeing that.
Comment by Bill — January 23, 2007 @ 12:24 am - January 23, 2007
Man, y’all must be really scared of Senator Clinton to spend so much time trying to defame her.
She doesn’t need any help from us. She does pretty well herself.
I like Rush’s assessment: (paraphrased) Obama is just there for Hitlery to overcome. When she cuts him off at the knees and the liberals throw him under the bus (as they do with every black candidate), Hitlery will look even better. It’s her camp that’s raising questions about his Muslim-ity.
That is, of course, if he doesn’t wind up dead. I’m sure he has a campaign plan to stay out of Ft. Marcie Park.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — January 23, 2007 @ 1:16 am - January 23, 2007
they are doing no different than what you so-called liberals have been doing to W for seven years. And don’t forget, Hillary will have to deal with the middle east and all the other problems too. Comfortable much?
Comment by Rachel — January 23, 2007 @ 8:11 am - January 23, 2007
Dan, aside from your insights I think this post also underscores (again, sigh) how the MSM helps advance the interests of Democrats and anyone who drinks from the liberal cup.
While CBS was schlumping for Senator Clinton and bringing out the cheerleaders, CNN was “dispatching reporters to Jakarata to debunk the slur that Senator Obama attended a madrassa school”. Of course, that was after CNN misidentified Osama bin Laden as Obama bin Laden… ooops.
And there were members of the lower-case-clan here taking issue with the conservative claim that the MSM is biased in favor of liberal Democrats? LOL!
Comment by Michigan-Matt — January 23, 2007 @ 9:24 am - January 23, 2007
Policies and personalities aside, if Hillary wins, it means my two kids will have been born and lived to full drinking age adulthood with nothing but a Bush or a Clinton as president. Isn’t it really time just to get some fresh blood in there?
(And considering my one son was born in Arkansas in 1991 and there’s no father listed on his birth certificate, we do wonder whether his momma got pulled over by the Arkansas State Troopers and taken to the governor’s mansion about nine months before he was born.)
Comment by V the K — January 23, 2007 @ 9:38 am - January 23, 2007
Web Reconnaissance for 01/23/2007…
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention….
Trackback by The Thunder Run — January 23, 2007 @ 10:22 am - January 23, 2007
What dirt is that, Dan? If you’re referring to the claims about Obama’s childhood school, then you ought to at least indicate that those claiming it was a “madrassa” are simply wrong as CNN has determined. The smear job is dependent upon one unnamed source for the wingnut Insight magazine. I wonder who that would be. I can think of at least one prostitute-toe-sucking Hillary-hater capable of such a cowardly smear.
I realize the prospect of Senator Clinton becoming the Dem nominee in 2008 gives conservatives Hillgasms of pleasure but it isn’t going to happen. Her support of the Iraq occupation will do her candidacy in. Like the McCain Doctrine of escalation will do in McCain’s.
Comment by Ian — January 23, 2007 @ 11:37 am - January 23, 2007
Ian writes: “Her support of the Iraq occupation will do her candidacy in”.
Bob Beckel, a long time Democrat strategist, has come to the same conclusion, Ian. I agree with both of you –she’ll make a valiant effort, it’ll waste a lot of money, but fail because she isn’t radical enough for the moonbats who control the microphones and volunteers and about 30% of the money over at DemocratLeft.
Her only hope: find an occasion or event in the near future (or create one) that seems a solid platform to express outrage over the conduct of the war and repent. Show remorse. Demostrate that she wants to support the troops and generals but just can’t abide by the slaughter any longer. Do it in front of some peace activists or crash a funeral at Arlington.
Repent. Atone. Adjust. Her only hope.
She should just ask Bill; it works wonders even for the blood-sucking BlameAmericaFirsters in the DemocratLeft. Do DADT and DOMA and the GayLeft will still love ya. Just repent.
Comment by Michigan-Matt — January 23, 2007 @ 1:02 pm - January 23, 2007
And Ian writes: “The smear job is dependent upon one unnamed source for the wingnut Insight magazine.”
Bzzt. Senator Obama has written about the muslim and Catholic schools he attended abroad.
“Insight” magazine claims the resrufacing of the rumor comes via a Clinton staffer:
“Are the American people ready for an elected president who was educated in a Madrassa as a young boy and has not been forthcoming about his Muslim heritage? This is the question Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s camp is asking about Sen. Barack Obama. An investigation of Mr. Obama by political opponents within the Democratic Party has discovered that Mr. Obama was raised as a Muslim by his stepfather in Indonesia. Sources close to the background check, which has not yet been released, said Mr. Obama, 45, spent at least four years in a so-called Madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia.”
I would say that Dan is on solid ground portraying this as a smear from the Clinton Camp… reminds one of the games played to alienate and discredit all those big haired women in SlickWilly’s romantic or rape-filled life, eh Ian?
If the toe-sucking Dick Morris wanted to smear Hillary, he could just cite her history of scandal. No need to go any further.
Comment by Michigan-Matt — January 23, 2007 @ 1:13 pm - January 23, 2007
Amazing. Last night while discussing politics with friends and family I said pretty much exactly what your post contains. I asked everyone to name one Republican candidate for the White House, no one could (as Hilary’s image splashed across the TV screen and the talking heads gushed over her prospects). I stated I believe she does have “what it takes” to do the job, much to the dismay of everyone present, though I’m not sure I made it entirely clear how much I despise her (and, I admit, fear her — fear of what she’s capable of doing, both to the political climate of the country and to anyone opposing her).
I’m not ready to say she has a chance to win, but she’s as strong a candidate as the Demogogs have.
Comment by DoorHold — January 23, 2007 @ 2:03 pm - January 23, 2007
“Left-wing base”? Do you know what “left-wing” actually means?
I’m looking up Ronnie’s and both Bushs’ announcements to see if they did anything else but announce that they were filing papers, two years out.
And it isn’t “Mrs.” Try Senator sometime, like you would if you were writing about a senator with a penis.
Comment by jimmy — January 23, 2007 @ 11:20 pm - January 23, 2007
#1. How do you know if the audience is a liberal audience? They’re mostly tourists.
Comment by jimmy — January 23, 2007 @ 11:24 pm - January 23, 2007
Ian vomits:
The smear job is dependent upon one unnamed source for the wingnut Insight magazine.
Since when do liberals have a problem with “one unnamed source”? It supposedly was good enough for Dan Blather, al-NYT, al-AP, Reuters etc.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — January 24, 2007 @ 1:11 am - January 24, 2007
“And it isn’t “Mrs.” Try Senator sometime, like you would if you were writing about a senator with a penis.”
Gee, jimmy – I thought that’s what we were already doing.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — January 24, 2007 @ 12:53 pm - January 24, 2007
[…] We watched this live last Saturday night and loved it.Ă‚Â Please enjoy this nice visual addition to Dan’s post from last nightĂ‚Â about Queen Hillary. Chris Matthews: “Does Obama have the experience to be President?”Ă‚Â […]
Pingback by World and Global Politics Blog » Blog Archive » Hillary Pilloried! — January 29, 2007 @ 3:56 am - January 29, 2007