Bill Clinton Defends/Hurts Hillary
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, Democrats, Edwards, Hillary
Hillary had a really bad debate performance. That was pretty evident. Now she’s having an even worse week because her husband is talking nonsense about the completely fair attacks launched by Obama and Edwards.
Bill Clinton’s suggestion that his wife faced a Republican-style “Swift boat†attack during and after the last Democratic debate drew a rebuke yesterday from Senator Barack Obama, who said, “I was pretty stunned by that statement.â€The comments by the former president, at a postal workers’ convention in Nevada on Monday, came as he discussed efforts by the moderators and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Democratic rivals at the debate on Oct. 30 to get Mrs. Clinton to give a quick and clear answer on the issue of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.
By invoking the so-called “Swift boat†advertisements of the 2004 presidential campaign, Mr. Clinton was calling to mind one of the most divisive episodes of that campaign, when the Democratic nominee, Senator John Kerry, saw his Vietnam War record questioned by a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
Is he mental? Seriously, I’m not joking. Because bringing up swift boating is beyond weird. It’s a completely erroneous statement and makes Bill sound like a hack trying to defend somebody who should simply take her lumps and move on. Instead, Bill has made it seem like Hill can’t fight her own fights. That’s not good for a lot reasons, not the least of which is she’s desperately trying to escape his shadow and still has yet to do so.
It gets weirder because Clinton claims he was talking about Republican attacks…
Jay Carson, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, said Mr. Clinton had not been referring to Democratic candidates’ criticisms of his wife but to Republicans’ criticism of her debate performance.
Here’s what he said…
“We listened to people make snide comments about whether Vice President Gore was too stiff,†Mr. Clinton said, “and when they made dishonest claims about the things that he said that he’d done in his life. When that scandalous Swift boat ad was run against Senator Kerry.â€â€œWhy am I saying this?†he continued. “Because I had the feeling that at the end of that last debate we were about to get into cutesy land again.â€
Not after the debate, but at the end of the last debate. Could just be semantics, but he do well to just not talk about it because, again, I think he’s ultimately going to end up hurting Hill a lot more than he helps her.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, Democrats, Edwards, Hillary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Eh, she’s his wife. It’s her first real stumble. He’ll doubtless learn to cope.
Frankly—speaking as a Democrat—I can’t see it mattering in a few more months. She’s not my first choice, but then I spend a lot of time on the internet. Most Democrats don’t. They’ll have forgotten about it and any fellow Democrat who brings it up is going to look a bit of a churl.
Edwards at least has made it pretty clear that he isn’t looking to be her running mate with that ad of his….
November 7th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I’m trying to have a “pleasurable commenting experience” here, but my comments keep disappearing. I am going to be extremely embarrassed if they’re just going to moderation. Trying again:
I think, since it was Hillary’s first stumble, Bill was upset and not able to maintain his objectivity. After all, she’s his wife.
I don’t think it will matter after another week or two. Speaking as a Democrat, I think she is very likely to win the nomination. I don’t dislike her, having seen little evidence of the “ruthlessness” that is somehow meant to distinguish her from the other candidates.
Most Democrats aren’t on the internet to the extent I am and quickly forget the stumbles and pratfalls of candidates. People who bring them up later risk looking desperate. Hillary’s biggest problem is inconsistency. But after Bush, people may crave a little inconsistency. Admitting error would be refreshing and I hope it occurs to the Dems at some point that stubbornly standing where you stood just because it’s where you first chose to stand makes you look a bit of a stubborn jackass (my Republican mom’s description of W, for whom she voted).
November 8th, 2007 at 12:29 am
I think you have misinterpreted his remarks. Here is a report from suntimes. I am posting a part of the excerpt. Be objective. you think the only democrat to win two term presidency and rip fox news, and make republicans look like fools is stupid to criticize his own party members? he is better than that for sure. Please dont run down democratic party and give more ammunition for republicans in general elections.
———–
Clinton said the hand-raising exercise made a “cartoon†out of a complex issue and created the kind of footage Republicans could use in the general election to create an attack ad against the Democratic nominee — similar to the one Republicans made in the last election that claimed Democrat John Kerry, despite his service in Vietnam, was less patriotic than Republican George Bush, who did not serve in Vietnam.
So Clinton never spoke ill of his wife’s rivals, he said, and the Las Vegas Journal-Review’s account of his speech backs him up. And that means Obama’s comment Tuesday that he was “stunned†at Bill Clinton’s alleged criticism and Sen. Chris Dodd’s comment Tuesday calling Bill Clinton’s alleged criticism “outrageous,†were all based on something Clinton never said.
“I want us to keep our party together,†Clinton said. “I want us to win in November.â€
November 8th, 2007 at 1:48 am
Who cares what Hitlary or her husband say? It’s lies and populist dogmatism all the way.
November 9th, 2007 at 10:51 am
Really? I find nothing wrong with those comments. In fact, after the debate ended, we have been treated to exactly the kind of crap we all expected in this campaign season, with people like Andrew Sullivan focusing to a wierd extent on Bill and Hillary’s sexuality and labeling her as an enabler of Bill’s allegedly horrific life practices. Couple that with the Obama and Edwards focus on alleged lying and double speak, and we are way off track to defeat the Repubs. The doublespeak one was particularly angering for me, because having listened to her immigration license comments four times now in their entirety, I fail to see where she took two positions. In fact I thought she answered the question very well. Why cant peple under5stand that while she may be personally concerned about such a system, at least as part of National policy, she would understand and defer to governors who felt it necessary to do this in their states for public safety reasons. Can someone tell me where that is doublespeak?
So in my judgment that was a manufactured issue to get to what Obama and Edwards really wanted to say, which is that they think she is a two faced liar. I dont agree and I believe that is a swift boat style negative attack.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
[...] the way, this echoes something I’ve said earlier. This entry was posted on Sunday, December 16th, 2007 and is filed under 2008 Election, Hillary. [...]
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
[...] and said he was referring to the right wing attacking her again, but I didn’t buy that. And at that time I warned her… Is he mental? Seriously, I’m not joking. Because bringing up swift boating is beyond weird. [...]
January 31st, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Yeah, what does swift boating have to do with any of this? They are just making things up now out of desperation.