Posted on 04/12/2005 3:28:18 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Former President Bill Clinton unleashed an attack yesterday against a gay Republican strategist who has plans to work against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's re-election, suggesting that the man may be "self-loathing" to work on behalf of the Republican Party.
The former president was reacting to reports that the strategist, Arthur J. Finkelstein, was in the midst of setting up a political action committee to defeat Mrs. Clinton in 2006. Republican officials close to Mr. Finkelstein have said that he hopes to be able to finance an advertising campaign similar to the one orchestrated against John Kerry last year by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
"I was sort of sad when I read it," Mr. Clinton said, speaking at a news conference at his office in Harlem, where he announced that his foundation was donating $10 million to treat children with AIDS.
The former president noted that an earlier article over the weekend reported that Mr. Finkelstein had married his male partner in a civil ceremony at his home in Massachusetts, then he alluded to the Republican Party's use of the same-sex marriage issue to mobilize conservative voters.
"Either this guy believes his party is not serious and he's totally Machiavellian," Mr. Clinton said, or "he may be blinded by self-loathing." Mr. Finkelstein, a reclusive former adviser to Gov. George E. Pataki, did not respond to a message left at his office seeking a comment on Mr. Clinton's remarks. But his allies quickly did.
"It's really beneath a former president to comment on someone's personal life like that," said Michael McKeon, a Republican strategist, former Pataki aide and friend of Mr. Finkelstein's. "After everything he has been through in his own life, you'd think he'd know better."
The spectacle of the former president coming to the defense of his wife, a tough politician in her own right, generated considerable buzz in political circles, particularly since Mr. Clinton has tried to keep a low profile and stay out of Mrs. Clinton's way since she took office.
While Mrs. Clinton's popularity rating is high and Republicans are having trouble finding a strong candidate to run against her, the senator's political advisers have seized on Mr. Finkelstein's plans as a strong sign of the fierce campaign they expect from Republicans.
Mr. Finkelstein, who helped engineer Mr. Pataki's 1994 victory over Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, has not publicly commented on his plans to establish an anti-Clinton committee.
But the Republicans familiar with those plans say he is attempting to line up donors to help the committee, called Stop Her Now, reach its goal of raising as much as $10 million to finance an independent campaign against her. In that context, Mr. Clinton offered high praise for his wife's record in office, describing her as a hard-working senator. "I don't think he'll stop her," he said, referring to Mr. Finkelstein.
Mr. Finkelstein's associates have said they were surprised to learn of his marriage to another man, in light of his history with the party and his own place as a prominent conservative. He has been allied over the years with Republicans who have adamantly opposed gay rights measures, including former Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina. Mr. Finkelstein has been the subject of attacks by gay rights advocates who have accused him of hypocrisy.
Donald G. McNeil Jr. contributed reporting for this article.
This IS one thing Clinton ought to know about ..... self loathing.
Except when he is slicing her with one of a thousand cuts.
Bill Clinton is the enemy of our enemy in this fight.
This is good for a laugh this morning...low profile...bwahahahaha.
If anyone should be self loathing....Bubba should be at the top of the list.......
Rudy.....Where are ya when we need ya?
Ya gotsta see this...
Maybe Mr. Fincklestein thinks the government has no damn business in who he marries or how...
*Ping*
That brings back memories...
It's hard for me to understand that the folks at the NYT don't understand that everything Bill Clinton does or says has a double and reverse meaning. I guess they've been drinking the Kool Aid for so long, they can't change now.
Just like Bill Clinton to bash gays.
Sorry Bubba, it's just CLINTON LOATHING.
Bill must have taken Psych 101 at some point in his college career.
He sounds like a freshman expounding his knowledge after taking an intro course.
I'd love to get a look at that foundation's books....
except maybe missing an opportunity to talk about himself in front of a camera.
Bill Clinton does not have to loathe himself. He has Hillary! to do that for him!
(from article)"I was sort of sad when I read it," Mr. Clinton said, speaking at a news conference at his office in Harlem, where he announced that his foundation was donating $10 million to treat children with AIDS.
Does anybody check to see if this money actually ever goes to where Bubba says it goes, or does he get to issue these self-serving press releases for free? What's next, $20 million to provide shelter for the orphan puppies of 9/11?
If we were to take Bill Clinton seriously, he is saying that the Democratic Party is the party of sexual predators such as himself, radical feminists, homosexuals and - I shouldn't forget - the poor who can be bribed by the policy of redistribting the wealth of the middle class to them.
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