Wash Post Dubs Hillary a 'Shadow Candidate'

NewsMax.com ^ | 12/18/03 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[kattracks]

Hillary Clinton is running for president.

That's the verdict of the Washington Post, a newspaper that could hardly be described as an organ of Hillary's "vast right-wing conspiracy."

"In recent days a half-dozen leading Democrats have delivered major speeches on foreign policy," notes the Post on its Thursday editorial page.

"Mostly, they follow a similar track. Presidential candidates Howard Dean, John Edwards, John F. Kerry, Joseph I. Lieberman and Wesley K. Clark and shadow candidate Hillary Clinton accept many of the goals of the Bush administration but diverge sharply on the means to achieve them."

A few lines later the Post laments that Howard Dean's protectionist trade policy is "shared by every Democratic candidate except Mr. Lieberman (and Ms. Clinton)."

Though we don't often agree with the paper conservatives have dubbed "Pravda on the Potomac," this time the Post has it 100 percent right.

When it comes to this year's crop of presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton is walking, talking and acting like a duck.

She refuses to step away from the political spotlight, takes every opportunity to bash President Bush and even has her minions, like former top White House aides Harold Ickes and Leon Panetta, trash her party's presidential front-runner, Howard Dean, in published interviews.

Then there's her appearance on "Meet the Press" 10 days ago, where she left the door on a 2004 run, if not wide open, decidedly more than slightly ajar.

If she truly is running, skeptics ask, then why won't she make an official announcement?

Why should she? Mrs. Clinton already has everything a presidential front-runner needs. She's the No. 1 choice of Democrats from coast to coast, she has more name recognition than the entire Democratic field put together, and she and her husband are the top fund-raising draws of their party.

Add to that the fact that Hillary has acquired all this without doing a lick of official campaigning, not to mention having to answer all of those pesky media questions announced candidates tend to get asked.

If President Bush looks strong next spring as convention time draws near, Mrs. Clinton can beg off with the simple excuse, "See, I told you I wasn't going to run."

If, however, the president looks vulnerable, Democrats demoralized by the prospect of following Howard Dean over the cliff will welcome Hillary as their standard-bearer with open arms.

[BenLurkin]

It does makes sense. After all she could in league with

[expatpat]

And the new nomination rules make it much easier:(1) Only 60% of the delegates at the convention are determined by the primary elections, (2) and these are allotted on a proportional basis, not the old winner-takes-all way.

[TheCrusader]

Frankly I'd prefer that Hillary run in 2004 than in 2008, when she'd have a much better chance of becoming the first woman President of the United States. ~ Wonder if her husband would be her running mate for VP?

As an aside, wouldn't it be brilliant for Bush to have Mayor Giulianni be his VP this time around? It would help his election, (I think), and would also help Guilianni get elected President in 2008. Just some rambling thoughts.

[princess leah]

The prospect of Hillary going over the cliff would be even more welcome!

[Tired_of_the_Lies]

pesky media questions

What???

As if the left-wing propaganda machine would pitch anything but softballs to St. Hillary.

As if she would show up on any other kind of news show.

[billorites]

Yeah, she walks like a duck alright.

[theFIRMbss]

>And the new nomination rules ...

Wouldn't it be cool
if the 'Rats end up in court
to decide who runs?!

[b4its2late]

The WP just loves to torture us.....

[BlessedByLiberty]

Let's see was their first clue that
-whenever Dean gives a speech, say on foreign policy, she is also giving a speech on foreign policy?
-whenever someone like Dick Morris says that if Bush's poll numbers begin to dive, Hillary will run; Bush's poll numbers magically begin to dive?
-could it be her sudden interest in being in the Middle East at Thanksgiving?

No, those couldn't be clues, could they? P.S. Where is Nancy Pelosi?

[Yak]

Q: As an aside, wouldn't it be brilliant for Bush to have Mayor Giulianni be his VP this time around? It would help his election, (I think), and would also help Guilianni get elected President in 2008.?

A: No. Freepers shouldn't want Rudy (or anyone, for that matter) just because they have an 'R' behind their name . . . Bush needs a conservative running mate. Look how well that's worked for him so far. Rudy's domestic policies would be similar to those in the NY Senate delegation. We can live without that, and 'Dubya won't need Rudy on the ticket to get re-elected.

[Always Right]

And the new nomination rules make it much easier:(1) Only 60% of the delegates at the convention are determined by the primary elections, (2) and these are allotted on a proportional basis, not the old winner-takes-all way.

That could happen if the Democrat establishment decide Dean is not fit to represent the party. The biggest problem is there is no way Hillary could unite the party, because all the Deaniacs would be so pissed they would walk out of the convention. Deaniacs really don't like the semi-pro-war, pro-free-trade Hillary. They could be mad enough to go third party, not that there's anything wrong with that.

[LibertarianLiz]

Actually, I believe this and watching her in action the past few months has only strengthened that belief.

She claims not to be running, yet is fundraising constantly, is giving speeches to the faithful and on "serious" subjects. She has moderated her views so that people will be fooled into believing that she is not a lefty.

People will try to draft her at the convention, and, I think they may be successful. Don't give me any flak about the "rules". When did Bubba or Lady MacBeth EVER worry about rules. Rules are for other people.

She will then be in the catsbird seat, having not had to face the onslaught of her fellow Dems during the primary season or questions from the press. She looks perfect, because she has not had to get in the ring and take and give punches.

More importantly, she will not have spent a dime of the fundraising money that she has been raking in over the past year and will have a substantial amount of cash for the short sprint to the November elections. The press will give her a pass, just as they did in the NY Senate race and she will be a contender.

Just MHO.

[Lucy Lake]

Ping.

[BlessedByLiberty]

But could they really walk out of the hall with Bill serenading them on his sax, while Baba Streisand singing "Happy Days are Here Again?" :)

BTW, it might be interesting to see Hillary drafted and Coward Dean defect run to Ralph Nader as running mates.

[Always Right]

But could they really walk out of the hall with Bill serenading them on his sax, while Baba Streisand singing "Happy Days are Here Again?" :)

Yes

BTW, it might be interesting to see Hillary drafted and Coward Dean defect run to Ralph Nader as running mates.

I can't see Dean being anyone's running mate, not sure how he would get on all the ballots. Maybe Perot's party could let him run.

[BlessedByLiberty]

I was kidding on the square.

However, I do think what the Clintonistas and old-time Libs have not grasped is that their posing as "centrists" or attempting to appeal to the mainstream is not appreciated by the lefties who they have led around by the leash for years. Many of those segments of their party have removed the leash and the collar and now follow or lead, Dean.

[johnny_cat]

I think that's part of the reason for everything Hillary's been doing. Not only is she positioning herself for a run next time around, but she is trying to keep control of the party in her and Bill's hands. A lot of leftists are on the Dean bandwagon, and most of what she has been doing makes sense in terms of derailing Dean and naking herself into the responsible, "centrist" alternative.

For her, the two likely scenarios are winners:

1. Dean wins the nomination and gets blown out by Bush. Which Dem is still standing? Not Al Gore, but Hillary.

2. Dean loses the nomination to Clark, and the party stays in Clintonian hands.

[expatpat]

Yeah, the Deaniacs have got used to the idea that they are going to win the nomination, and a lot of them are going to go ape5h%t if/when it is "stolen" from them. Nader is probably thinking the same thing.

[BlessedByLiberty]

IMHO, she's running now because the farther away from the "Clinton Camelot" years we get - the dirtier the more tarnish accumulates on the Legacy.

Her recent attack on President Bush in Miami was cloaked in rhetoric that makes the Kennedy's Camelot myth pale in comparison, hence the Clinton Camelot phrase.