Sunday, February 25, 2007

The Most Popular Man In The World

At a San Francisco fundraiser, New York Senator Clinton called her husband "the most popular person in the world right now." The Democratic presidential front-runner also indicated former President Clinton, saying that as president she would "continue the tradition of using former presidents" as diplomats around the world.

This part of the Clinton's effort to make President Clinton's impeachment taboo:



Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has a new commandment for the 2008 presidential field: Thou shalt not mention anything related to the impeachment of her husband.

With a swift response to attacks from a former supporter last week, advisers to the New York Democrat offered a glimpse of their strategy for handling one of the most awkward chapters of her biography. They declared her husband's impeachment in 1998 -- or, more accurately, the embarrassing personal behavior that led to it -- taboo, putting her rivals on notice and all but daring other Democrats to mention the ordeal again.


That's the lesson Washington Post writer, Anne Kornblut, draws from Clinton's ferocious response to onetime Clinton fundraiser, David Geffen's, vicious shots at the Clintons in his interview with Maureen Dowd:

Bill Clinton's womanising is not over and the scandal associated with him could sink Hillary in a general election and allow a Republican to be elected

"I don't think anybody believes that in the last six years, all of a sudden Bill Clinton has become a different person," Mr. Geffen says, adding that if Republicans are digging up dirt, they'll wait until Hillary's the nominee to use it. "I think they believe she's the easiest to defeat."

Hillary has no common touch and cannot relate to ordinary people

"It's not a very big thing to say, 'I made a mistake' on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can't," Mr. Geffen says. "She's so advised by so many smart advisers who are covering every base. I think that America was better served when the candidates were chosen in smoke-filled rooms."

The Clintons are unprincipled liars

"Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left the country rather than pay taxes or face justice?" Mr. Geffen says. "Yet another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things that they genuinely believe in. Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling."

[Excerpts Courtesy of the Telegraph]


Hillary overreacted to the Geffen interview. The impeachment of President Clinton and his success in surviving the affair prove that attacking Bill Clinton is a losing political strategy. Bill is still extremely popular among the Democratic faithful. By anointing Bill the world's most popular, Hillary has chosen a better strategy.

From California Yankee.

2 comments:

Centrist Dude said...

So you're doing a very good job of collecting a number of things together, but I'd like to know a bit more about your thoughts. As early as it is, how do you see things shaping up with the candidates for each party?

California Yankee said...

Randall, Thanks for the kind words. I am uninspired by any of the 24 prospective candidates. I am not convinced that the eventual nominees will emerge from the current gaggle.
The most reliable predictor of political campaigns is the futures market. Two weeks ago the first tier of candidates looked like this:

Republicans:
McCain: 37 percent (down from 50 in January)
Rudy Giuliani: 24 percent
Mitt Romney: 19 percent

Democrats:
Hillary Clinton: 49 percent
Barack Obama: 21 percent
John Edwards: 14 percent
Al Gore: 10 percent.