Posted on 08/02/2005 1:47:19 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
SENATOR Hillary Clinton kept her counsel during her first two years in the United States Senate, learning the ropes and avoiding more controversy than a controversial former First Lady-turned-politician in her own right was likely to face.
Since then, and particularly since last year's election, she has begun to speak out, signalling her determination to lead the debate over the future of the Democratic party and use that as a stepping stone towards winning the party's 2008 presidential nomination.
Her efforts have been so successful that she is now the immovable obstacle any rival candidate for the presidency must manoeuvre round to win the Democratic nomination.
Three years ahead of the election she dominates the field and "is in the strongest position any non-incumbent presidential candidate has ever been in the modern history of the Democratic party" according to party strategist Chris Lehane.
"She has it," says Ray Buckley, vice-chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic party and an influential player in a key early primary state. "Some people don't, some people do."
Speaking this week to the Democratic Leadership Council's (DLC) annual conference, Clinton presented herself as a centrist capable of uniting the left and right wings of the Democratic party.
It was "high time for a ceasefire" between moderates and liberals, she said. "All too often we have allowed ourselves to be split between left, right and centre."
She complained that President George Bush's administration and the Republican Congress had turned "our bridge to the 21st century into a tunnel back to the 19th century" before arguing that the Democrats' "clear mission is to back us out of that Republican tunnel, fill it in, go back across the bridge and get America back in the business of building dreams".
The rhetoric may have been less than inspiring, but the message was clear: middle America had little or nothing to fear from the prospect of a Hillary candidacy.
Clinton was treading a familiar path. Her husband used the DLC as a stepping stone towards winning the party's 1992 presidential nomination.
Like Hillary, Bill Clinton argued that America needed to look to the future, not the past, and took a tough line on a number of liberal shibboleths, such as welfare and the culturally corrosive impact of violent and sexually suggestive rap lyrics. His wife has emulated that strategy, repeatedly criticising the graphic violence and sexual content of popular video games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Last month, she even appeared on the same platform as former House speaker Newt Gingrich to discuss healthcare reform. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington DC, Clinton was determinedly upbeat. She said: "My hope, my sense, is that we are at the end of a 40-year cycle of bitterness. I have spent enough of my life fighting.
"It would be nice to spend some time constructing, and I think there's a feel in the country that's very similar."
Where John Kerry preached pessimism last year, or at least allowed himself to be portrayed that way, Clinton is determined to look to the future and create an optimistic vision of America's potential. She can do this because she has greater flexibility than her rivals.
She made it clear earlier this year that while a woman's right to an abortion was sacrosanct, that should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the number of abortions conducted each year.
"Usually, a candidate has to nail down the base and move to the centre after the nomination," says Marshall Wittmann, a former communications director for Senator John McCain, and now a member of the DLC. "She has the flexibility because she has so much affection from the base."
Some liberals, however, have been angered by Clinton's willingness to court the centre. "There has been an activist resurgence in the Democratic party in recent years, and Hillary risks ensuring that there's a candidate to her left appealing to those activists who don't much like the DLC," said Roger Hickey, of the Campaign for America's Future.
Ironically, criticism from the left helps Clinton with independent and moderate voters who dislike the excessive partisanship of Washington politics and distrust the extremes of both parties.
But Clinton's moderation will soon be tested, however. She faces an awkward decision in determining whether or not she should vote to confirm Bush's selection for the Supreme Court - John Roberts.
Any contender determined to challenge Clinton seems certain to do so as a financial underdog. Clinton is the most formidable fundraiser in the Democratic party, with an ability to raise money across the United States.
So far this year, for instance, she has raised more money in Republican Texas than Democratic California.
In the second quarter of this year she raised $6m - a remarkable figure 18 months before she is due to be comfortably re-elected in New York state.
If Clinton maintains her fundraising pace, she could have as much as $30m in the bank at the end of next year to be transferred to a presidential race.
One danger of being the front-runner this far from the election, however, is that it both gives her opponents plenty of time to organise counter-Clinton strategies and, perhaps more dangerously, allows Democrats time to become afraid of suffering from "buyer's remorse" in the event of a Clinton nomination. Initial favourites such as Gary Hart, in the 1988 race, and Edmund Muskie in 1972, have not always prospered.
The only rolling she does is downhill when she trips.
"Republicans had better take care not to get in the anyone but Mrs. Clinton mode."
Are you kidding? It's NOBODY BUT the beast.
This woman will pull the whole rat party down once and for all. She has the highest "Not vote for her under any circumstances" number ( 40 ) since osama bin jerkface.
You just can't win if you give up 40% of the votes even before you put the key in your campaign HQ door.
In short PLEASE beast run!!!!!!
I am more afraid who Republicans offer up instead of the Dimwits.
Our choice will dictate who wins the next race.
Mr. Gillman, you talk just like the Mrs. She says a Democrat has been chosen, and neither of us believe it'll make a bit of difference who the figurehead in the White House ends up being. My problem is that looking at that smug, smarmy Witch upsets my tummy.
She complained that President George Bush's administration and the Republican Congress had turned "our bridge to the 21st century into a tunnel back to the 19th century" before arguing that the Democrats' "clear mission is to back us out of that Republican tunnel, fill it in, go back across the bridge and get America back in the business of building dreams".Her message was clear for someone on acid. She said absolutely nothing, except gobbledygook.The rhetoric may have been less than inspiring, but the message was clear
The author of this garbage is a shameless shill for Hill.
How many delegates does she have at this point?
Dont let Hillary fool you. There are a lot of women out there who would eat her crap. She is gonna be hard to beat.
Make it $200.
"I'd like to roll her off a cliff" you are going to need alot of help.I wouldn't want to be near her rump, might slip back and get crushed. She sure is getting her duck (snakes)in order.
If they put McCain, then we are doomed and her odds get better. That is all she needs. I can't believe GOP didn't start getting a solid runner after the election. Condi Rice would be a good choice if Hillary runs. Is she running as "Hillary" or HRC. I'd watch her closely, she'll slither in before we know what hit us. Don't trust her one bit
Don't you remember? She was the one who came up with a Socialist Health Care Plan that would have had people paying $100,000 to have their appendixes removed with a knife and fork at a seafood restaurant.
"But I cleaned them with my napkin!"
Not only will she not win the WH in 08, I predict she won't even win the dem nomination. Why do you think so many other dems are already running (Kerry, Edwards, Biden, Bayh, Vilsack, and Richardson to date)? They have no fear of her as they know she is one of the most divisive and polarizing politicians in America, period. The best she can hope for is if the eventual dem nominee asks her to be his running mate (very doubtful as no presidential nominee wants to be outshined by his/her running mate), or if the dem nominee wins and she is tapped for a Cabinet job.
BARF ALERT???
The witch reminds me of the Titanic. It was hailed as the latest, greatest thing in cruise ships, unsinkable. Ha, we all know how that turned out ...
She doesn't have a prayer.
She has a chance, anything can happen but she has never faced the scrutiny she will face in a Presidential run.
Fair enough.
This does not surprise me, but it does make me sick.
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