Oh noooooo, the Clintoons would never stoop to such tactics to advance their puppet man.
Posted on 01/15/2004 9:15:52 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean is plummeting in the polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire after a series of damaging reports tarnishing his image have appeared in the press. Capitalizing on the Dean plunge is none other than the handpicked candidate of Bill and Hillary Clinton - Gen. Wesley Clark, whose poll numbers are skyrocketing as the media ignores one outrageous Clark blunder after another. Is it a coincidence that Dean's political problems seem to have exploded as ex-president Clinton and his minions take a more active role in Gen. Clark's campaign? On Tuesday the New York Post's Fred Dicker reported that Mr. Clinton was personally calling potential donors on Clark's behalf - despite the ex-president's public pledge to remain neutral. On Wednesday the Clark campaign announced that a boatload of new staffers - Clintonistas all - would be added to his campaign to supplement the already bulging ranks of ex-Clinton officials running his operation. That same day a confidential letter written to Clinton by Gov. Dean in 1995 was splashed across the front page of USA Today. The Vermont Democrat was urging the then-president to take unilateral military action in Bosnia - a position that makes his anti-war stance in Iraq seem more than a little hypocritical. Speculation about how the press got their hands on Gov. Dean's private missive centered on Mr. Clinton. "I'd have to guess that Clinton leaked it himself, as part of his continuing effort to derail Howard Dean's campaign to clear the way for Hillary in 2008," posited top radio talker Rush Limbaugh. Wednesday night the Dean campaign suffered another blow, when ABC News ran with a story that some are calling Howard Dean's "Troopergate." In fact, the allusion to Mr. Clinton's earlier use of security guards to procure sex partners bore no resemblance to the Dean imbroglio, in which the Vermont governor is said to have once helped a state trooper in a child custody dispute who was later charged with wife beating. For those who have bucked the Clintonista machine is days gone by, it must seem like a case of deja vu. Clinton sex accuser Kathleen Willey, for instance, had the same thing happen to her when the White House decided to release her personal letters to Clinton in 1998. Others, like former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, saw ugly details from their private life suddenly splashed across the front pages, as happened just days before Giuliani decided to end his Senate bid against Hillary Clinton. Giuliani's replacement in the race, Rep. Rick Lazio, was immediately targeted by the Clinton S.E.C, which launched a probe into a meager $16,000 profit on a Lazio investment. While there's no smoking gun connecting Gen. Clark's campaign to the "unfortunate" revelations that have hit Gov. Dean in recent days, two of Mr. Clinton's most effective dirt diggers do indeed currently work in the Clark campaign. Bruce Lindsey, referred to in press accounts as Mr. Clinton's "consigliere," joined the Clark team early on. Lindsey's most memorable accomplishments include digging up information to discredit witnesses who corroborated Paula Jones, and tamping down stories of Mr. Clinton's friskiness aboard his 1992 campaign plane. Mickey Kantor is also now helping Clark in his battle against Dean. Past press accounts have detailed Kantor's efforts in securing out-of-country work for former Clinton paramours such as Elizabeth Ward Gracen. Other veterans of the Clinton scandal wars now working for Clark include ex-Sen. David Pryor, longtime Clinton friend Skip Rutherford, Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Chris Lehane, who, before joining the Gore campaign in 2000, co-authored the written version of Hillary's Vast Right Wing Conspiracy fantasy, then-titled, "The Communications Stream of Conspiracy Commerce." Lehane's partner in that endeavor, Mark Fabiani, is also on board the Clark train. When he wasn't helping Hillary spin her conspiracy theories, Fabiani was the White House press secretary in charge of scandal management. [Yes, the Clintons actually needed a press secretary dedicated to answering scandal questions]. With so many veterans of the Clinton attack machine currently working for Gen. Clark, Gov. Dean shouldn't be surprised that he faces a deluge of investigative dirt spread throughout the media as he comes down the home stretch in Iowa and New Hampshire. The only question is: will Dean connect the dots and call the Clinton gang's bluff? Or will he allow himself to be steamrolled by the former president and his minions?
Oh noooooo, the Clintoons would never stoop to such tactics to advance their puppet man.
If Dean is the nominee, then the Deanies get all the top positions in the DNC including bouncing Terry McAuliffe from his position as chairman. If the Clintonistas don't control the DNC, Hillary's chances will be hurt.
A preemptive strike has been made on Clark. Since Dean is now tanking in the polls and seems poised to finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th in the IA Caucuses Clark would seem to be the main beneficiary from an inconclusive IA result. Clark would automatically become the presumptive front runner in NH but for this nuclear sneak attack.
The fault is of course, Clark's, since Clark had to know this would come out and did nothing to preemptively soften the blow.
I would say that Gephardt now has the inside track.
Because most nominees except Al Gore take control of the party win or lose, and Dean has already made it clear that Terry McAwful is the first head on the chopping block. Getting their puppet nominated assures The Klintoons of control while allowing them to "advise" Clark away from winning the Presidency to maintain her Heinousness's road to coronation in 2008.
Gotta disagree. I think Hillary will be a force for the Deanites to deal with whether they want to or not. Hillary will be the 800 lb. gorilla in '08. You can't deny her immense popularity (at least within the Democratic Party).
The Clinton Gang IS the media.
Plus Katie Couric, Dan Rather, Eleanor Rodham Clift, Peter Jennings, Judy Woodruff, the NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, NPR...
If Dean wins, The Clinton's are no longer in charge of the democratic money machine.
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