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Clinton Supporters Gear Up Against 'Swift Boat' Tactics
New York Times ^ | April 1, 2005 | RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

Posted on 03/31/2005 9:17:23 PM PST by RWR8189

WASHINGTON, March 31 - With 19 months to go before the elections and no opponent in sight, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign is nonetheless warning her political supporters that she is the prime target of "the right-wing attack machine."

In a fund-raising e-mail message sent out on Thursday, Mrs. Clinton's campaign also said her critics were preparing an advertising campaign against her similar to the one orchestrated by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that attacked Senator John Kerry's Vietnam service during the presidential election.

"The right wing is already getting ready, naming Hillary as their 'No. 1 target' and boasting about their 'Swift Boat' style ads," said the e-mail message, which was sent by Ann F. Lewis, the director of communications for Mrs. Clinton's campaign committee, Friends of Hillary. "Help us show the right wing that we will be ready and able to fight back."

In many respects, the fund-raising letter is a fairly standard piece of campaign literature, employing the kind of scare tactics that Republican and Democratic politicians routinely use to mobilize their supporters.

That said, the fund-raising solicitation exposes a side of Mrs. Clinton - fiery partisan - that she has rarely displayed in the four years since she arrived in the Senate, where she has won over many Republican colleagues with a nonconfrontational and even cordial style.

In an interview, Ms. Lewis said the e-mail message was largely sent in response to published reports that Republicans are creating a political action committee seeking to raise $10 million to run a campaign against Mrs. Clinton in 2006. The committee is reportedly going to model its campaign after the one that the Swift Boat veterans used in 2004 to attack Mr. Kerry's war record, Ms. Lewis said.

The Clinton e-mail solicitation - one of two sent this week - also suggests that her formidable fund-raising apparatus is gearing up for what her aides say could become a tough re-election season. To date, Mrs. Clinton has amassed $5.5 million in her war chest, according to the latest campaign disclosure statement.

Though Mrs. Clinton's popularity rating is high and New York Republican leaders have yet to find a candidate to run against her, people close to the senator say they expect Republicans around the country to pump money into New York in an effort to defeat her. Indeed, some Republicans say they believe that if they do not stop Mrs. Clinton in 2006, she will be in a strong position to run for the presidency in 2008.

In the 2000 Senate campaign, Mrs. Clinton spent nearly $30 million. She faced two Republican challengers: Rudolph W. Giuliani, who spent about $20.7 million before dropping out, and Rick A. Lazio, a congressman from Long Island who spent $40.6 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; clinton; electionussenate; hillary; hrc; sbvt; swiftboatveterans
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1 posted on 03/31/2005 9:17:24 PM PST by RWR8189
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To: RWR8189
Long live the VRWC!!!

Let's win one for Terri!

2 posted on 03/31/2005 9:19:25 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all)
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To: RWR8189

The know about Alamo Girl's files and FR's archives ?


3 posted on 03/31/2005 9:21:33 PM PST by nopardons
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To: RWR8189

LOL.....TRANSLATION......"Clinton supporters gear up against the "TRUTH"


4 posted on 03/31/2005 9:24:26 PM PST by goodnesswins (Tax cuts, Tax reform, social security reform, Supreme Court, etc.....the next 4 years.....)
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To: RWR8189

Where do I join this VRWC?


5 posted on 03/31/2005 9:25:30 PM PST by Aussie Dasher (Stop Hillary - PEGGY NOONAN '08)
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To: RWR8189
"the right-wing attack machine."

Where do I signup? :P

6 posted on 03/31/2005 9:27:48 PM PST by Echo Talon (http://echotalon.blogspot.com)
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To: RWR8189

Didn't the WITCH say hundreds of times she isn't running?


7 posted on 03/31/2005 9:29:04 PM PST by RasterMaster (Saddam's family were WMD's - He's behind bars & his sons are DEAD!)
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: RWR8189
Come on senator,we know the people of New York are too important to you to only serve 2 years of a second term.You would let down your village??

/sarcasm

9 posted on 03/31/2005 9:29:12 PM PST by smoothsailing (Qui Nhon)
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To: Texas Eagle
In a fund-raising e-mail message sent out on Thursday, Mrs. Clinton's campaign also said her critics were preparing an advertising campaign against her similar to the one orchestrated by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that attacked Senator John Kerry's Vietnam service during the presidential election.

Indeed, Hillary has her own boat misadventures to account for. Hillary is gearing up her defense against charges she misappropriated coinage while serving as an assistant to Cheron, on the Tartarus ferryboat that travels the river Styx.

10 posted on 03/31/2005 9:29:22 PM PST by Alex Murphy (Psalm 73)
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To: Aussie Dasher

You don't really "join" the VRWC. You just announce, nay, proclaim that you are part of it.


11 posted on 03/31/2005 9:33:35 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all)
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To: Texas Eagle

In that case, I'M IN!!!!!


12 posted on 03/31/2005 9:34:36 PM PST by Aussie Dasher (Stop Hillary - PEGGY NOONAN '08)
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To: RWR8189
she is the prime target of "the right-wing attack machine."

This is the liberal description of an organization like the Swift Boat Vets that made well documented claims that were rarely denied and never refuted. This is generally the case when you simply state the truth and have the backup necessary to prove it. Of course Hillary fears this kind of "Right Wing Attack Machine". Lies are much easier to handle than the truth, and we have Jack ("You can't handle the truth) Nicholson to remind of that whenever we get a little forgetful.

13 posted on 03/31/2005 9:35:15 PM PST by InterceptPoint
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To: Aussie Dasher
Where do I join this VRWC?

You're here!!!

14 posted on 03/31/2005 9:36:13 PM PST by GOPJ (Liberals haven't had a new idea in 40 years.)
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To: Aussie Dasher

See how easy that was. No forms to fill out. No blood tests to take. No Union dues.


15 posted on 03/31/2005 9:36:36 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all)
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To: RWR8189

Does anyone else ever have dreams about putting their hands around the throat of Ann Lewis?


16 posted on 03/31/2005 9:36:42 PM PST by doug from upland (MOCKING DEMOCRATS 24/7 --- www.rightwingparodies.com)
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To: Texas Eagle

Let's get 'em!!!!


17 posted on 03/31/2005 9:39:33 PM PST by Aussie Dasher (Stop Hillary - PEGGY NOONAN '08)
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To: RWR8189
where she has won over many Republican colleagues with a nonconfrontational and even cordial style.

The old grey lady needs to name names.

18 posted on 03/31/2005 9:39:40 PM PST by Milhous
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To: Echo Talon

You already have. :-)


19 posted on 03/31/2005 9:40:47 PM PST by nopardons
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To: RWR8189

Did Hillary spend Christmas in Cambodia too?


20 posted on 03/31/2005 9:41:18 PM PST by AntiGuv (™)
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