Was it this one?
Posted on 11/04/2007 9:28:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is looking for sympathy, support and political cover as her rivals show the temerity to run aggressively against the Democratic presidential front-runner. But don't feel sorry for her — Clinton is no stranger to "piling on."
In fact, she's an expert at it.
Ask anybody who stood on the marble floor of the state Capitol rotunda in 1990 and heard the click, clack, click of her low-heeled shoes approach the news conference of Tom McRae, a mild-mannered public servant who had the nerve to challenge then-Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas for re-election.
"Tom!" the state's first lady shouted. "I think we oughta get the record straight!"
McRae, a former Clinton appointee, stood a good chance of defeating the incumbent until Hillary Rodham Clinton sandbagged him. Holding a sheaf of papers, she crashed the news conference to undermine McRae's measured criticism of her husband's record.
"Many of the reports you issued not only praise the governor on his environmental record," she said, "but his education and his economic record!"
McRae didn't know how to respond without looking like a sexist bully. His candidacy was over. The Clintons' dreams for re-election and the White House lived on.
The McRae massacre came to mind this week after the Democratic presidential debate, when Clinton essentially hid behind her pantsuit in response to a public shellacking like the one she gave McRae.
Clinton's rivals for the Democratic nomination seized on her refusal to give straight answers about Social Security, immigration, her White House-era documents and other important issues. They hope to further the perception that she is slippery and overly political.
Rather than rebut her rivals' charges or confront the issues with facts and details, Clinton accused her rivals of ganging up on her.
She released a cleverly edited video showing rivals John Edwards, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd uttering her name in rapid-fire succession to the strains of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.
The video then cuts to the words, "The Politics of Pile On."
Her top strategist, Mark Penn, told supporters on a conference call that Clinton needed their help to survive "this six-on-one to try to bring her down."
In the call, first reported by The Hill newspaper, pollster Penn said he had already detected backlash from female voters.
On Thursday, the senator returned to her all-female alma mater, Wellesley College, and called it a place that taught her to compete "in the all-boys club of presidential politics."
Clinton's advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss internal matters, said there is a clear and long-planned strategy to fend off attacks by accusing her male rivals of gathering against her.
The idea is to change the subject while making Clinton a sympathetic figure, especially among female voters who often feel outnumbered and bullied on the job.
As one adviser put it, Clinton is not the first presidential candidate to play the "woe-is-me card" but she's the first major female presidential candidate to do it.
The victim is a familiar role for Clinton.
In her first run for the Senate, Republican rival Rep. Rick Lazio alienated many women voters when he strode across the stage in their first debate and demanded Clinton sign a pledge banning unregulated contributions known as "soft money" from her campaign.
Analysts considered the confrontation a turning point in the race, generating sympathy for Clinton while making Lazio look like a menacing bully.
Still, her advisers privately concede there is a potential down side to the 2008 woe-is-me strategy: Male and female voters alike want their presidents to be strong — not weak and whining, which is the perception Clinton must be careful to avoid.
The good news for Clinton is that she, unlike many women, has the upper hand.
High name recognition, lots of campaign cash, her husband's political legacy and her own three decades in public life more than level the playing field — as illustrated by Clinton's wide lead in national polls.
And this isn't her first rodeo. Remember, it was Clinton who defined and defied the "vast right-wing conspiracy," and who lashed out — or piled on — critics of her health care reform efforts in the early 1990s.
She has an alternative to the risky piling-on defense. Clinton could undercut her rivals' criticism by simply coming clean on more issues.
Just what is her stance on drivers' licenses for immigrants? How would she preserve Social Security? Why would her public views differ from what she says in private?
Why doesn't she demand that her husband release records from the White House, and donors to his library?
When would she withdraw troops from Iraq? What would cause her to wage war against Iran?
As she told McRae nearly 20 years ago, we oughta get the record straight.
the piaps only hides behind a pantsuit!!!
there is a clear and long-planned strategy to fend off attacks by accusing her male rivals of gathering against her.No surprise that Team Hillary has a long-planned strategy to play the I Am Woman, Poor Widdle Me card.
The idea is to change the subject while making Clinton a sympathetic figure, especially among female voters who often feel outnumbered and bullied on the job.Sympathetic figure? That one could backfire.
I would love to see Hunter or Thompson in a debate with her.That would be fantastic.She would implode worse than she did against the metrosexual girly boys.
Those pants not only stand by themselves... they've been known to walk out the door on several occasions
I love seeing these articles. The more journalists write about Hillary hiding behind her gender the less she will be able to get away with it. This is effectively taking that weapon away from her, setting up a perfect “There you go again, Hillary” moment for the Republican nominee in a debate.
Funny how fast that Hsu story went away, when it was obvious to a blind horse that this guy was the Riadys and John Huang all over again.
Well, if you do, make sure you do it before calendar year 2009 begins, and make sure you apply to the penguins for Antarctic citizenship.
Otherwise you'll be getting visits and letters from the IRS demanding you pay your punitive, retroactive Hillary taxes on penises, cars, anybody with money or gold, and anyone who ever tuned in to Rush Limbaugh.
It was a rainmaker's answer. I'm for it and against it -- depending on who next pays me. I'll be for it it, then someone bribes me -- then I'm against it. Very simple. Straightforward.
See, there's a Silver Lining in every Cloud.
Pray for W and Our Victorious Troops
Yup, real CinC material there, all right....
SNORT.
Margaret Thatcher
Great quote!
You nailed it.
How our enemies and adversaries must be laughing right now. (And how our allies are groaning.)
She’s a brilliant tactician (in combination with X42) and it’s why the GOP shouldn’t take her lightly. She can suckerpunch like the boys and get all of the benefits afterward of a girl.
Was it this one?
LOL! Hillary Chameleon is hiding in plane sight. Focus.
Sheesh! She also hides in plain sight. (Where’s my coffee!)
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