Posted on 12/11/2003 12:25:24 AM PST by kattracks
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has launched a behind-the-scenes campaign to pressure fellow Democrats not to support presidential front-runner Howard Dean – a move some say raises new questions about her own intentions in 2004.Aides to Sen. Clinton have begun contacting party movers and shakers in a bid to discredit Dean and dispel the notion that the Vermont Democrat has the nomination sewn up.
"Hillary Clinton's people – and I know, I get these calls all the time – call and bash on Dean," Democratic strategist Bob Beckel told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" late Wednesday. Beckel managed Walter Mondale's unsuccessful 1984 presidential bid.
Mrs. Clinton's husband has apparently joined in the effort, with the Rev. Al Sharpton revealing late Wednesday that he was contacted by the former president in the wake of Al Gore's endorsement of Dean.
Sharpton, however, denied to MSNBC's "Hardball" that the top Democrat engaged in any Dean trashing. "President Clinton has not talked to me about a battle with the Gore[-Dean] gang. President Clinton and I, as he has with other candidates, talked about how you beat George Bush."
Still, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Clinton doubts Dean will be able to transform himself into a centrist candidate who can win votes in the Midwest and South. Democrats "close" to Clinton have "grown increasingly critical" of Dean, added the Washington Times.
Democratic National Committee Chairman and Clinton confidant Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that "he was shocked" by Gore's decision to back the Vermont Democrat. While acknowledging that the endorsement was "a tremendous boost for Governor Dean," he warned on CNN, "it does not, however, mean that Dean has the nomination wrapped up."
Even before Gore's surprise Dean endorsement, at least two former senior Clinton aides were publicly blasting Dean as unelectable. Former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta told the Washington Times over the Thanksgiving weekend, "There clearly are concerns about Dean's ability to appeal to the entire country, particularly on national security issues."
A week before, former Clinton deputy White House chief of staff Harold Ickes slammed Dean to Time magazine, complaining that the Democratic front-runner was "quick of lip, and quick of temper and stubborn."
Ickes also seized on Dean's comments about wanting the votes of Confederate flag-bearing Southerners, saying, "In another time, the Confederate-flag story would have taken him down the drain."
The Clinton camp's anti-Dean blitzkrieg had one longtime Clinton watcher scratching his head. "If the Clintons want the Dems to lose next year so Hillary has a shot at an open seat in '08, they should be happy that Dean looks like a sure loser," he told NewsMax on background. "If that's the strategy, they should be boosting Dean, not bashing him."
Meanwhile, an organization formed to draft Sen. Clinton into the presidential race announced plans this week to launch an advertising blitz in New Hampshire urging Granite State Democats to write in Sen. Clinton's name in the state's Jan. 27 primary.
HillaryNow.com organizer Bob Kunst told the New York Sun he plans to run 60 television commercials in three New Hampshire cities this week on Sen. Clinton's behalf. Though the commercials won't be expensive prime-time productions - they're slated to run after midnight on CNN's Headline News channel - it's not clear how Kunst was able to finance such a substantial media buy.
Kunst told the Sun he is encouraged that Mrs. Clinton, who has denied she wants to run next year, has made no effort to shut him down.
Still, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Clinton doubts Dean will be able to transform himself into a centrist candidate who can win votes in the Midwest and South...
And
Former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta told the Washington Times over the Thanksgiving weekend, "There clearly are concerns about Dean's ability to appeal to the entire country, particularly on national security issues."
I see these as indirect references to Wesley Clark being a better option in the Clintons' view.
The Clinton camp's anti-Dean blitzkrieg had one longtime Clinton watcher scratching his head. "If the Clintons want the Dems to lose next year so Hillary has a shot at an open seat in '08, they should be happy that Dean looks like a sure loser," he told NewsMax on background. "If that's the strategy, they should be boosting Dean, not bashing him."
Yeah and like he's not doing his part in bashing Dean with that statement there.
Bob, we all know what kind of phone calls you make and get. 1-900-Hot-Time
As Harvey Logan in 'Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid' said to Butch, "Guns or knives, Butch, guns or knives!"
"I don't want to fight with you, Harvey. First we gotta get the rules straight." Harvey; "Rules? There's no in a knife fight."
Yes, this gets better every day. Ickes, Sharpton, McAuliffe, Hillary, Panetta, what a crowd! This is better than a good movie.
If Dean is stopped, his cult-like supporters will stay home or go to the Greens.
Not clear?! Yagottabekiddin'...this is the CLINTONS, silly boy.
That might be the problem...high SATs and all, maybe the part of the brain that makes good decisions is in atrophy. There's a process that's supposed to go on, through the primaries, that ensures that the candidate gains strength and campaigning skills by the time of the nomination. Going through that process probably helped GWB develop as a candidate.
AlGore had a coronation, not the process of fighting for the nomination. He just didn't have it together, and he chose a VP who'd never been part of the national scene. No process, lousy VP choice, no victory.
So, why would he want to do something that he must've hoped would make Dean a shoo-in? If the process is short-circuited like this, Dean will be a sure-fire disaster with all of his misstatements about his own positions and personal weaknesses. The Dems (and in no poll does Dean rise to majority) will be fed up...it looked like it just might have been an interesting convention with some Pres-VP coming out of it that would be a true consensus slate that the voters, not the party, chose.
Yeah, that's it, AlGore must be just plain dumb.
Nevermind another time, another party would be all it would take.
Democratic National Committee Chairman and Clinton confidant Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that "he was shocked" by Gore's decision to back the Vermont Democrat.LOL! Clueless Terry.
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