Posted on 10/29/2002 11:51:31 PM PST by kattracks
The presence of Bill and Hillary Clinton loomed large at Tuesday night's University of Minnesota memorial service for the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, leading some to question whether the family's decision to disinvite Vice President Dick Cheney was tied to the former first couple's reported efforts to "humiliate" President Bush.
In fact, Clinton operative James Carville may have played a key role in the Cheney snub by characterizing relatively innocuous comments made by ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday as an "attack" on Wellstone's successor, Walter Mondale.
"Wellstone's two adult sons, Mark and David, are upset with what they believe are Republican efforts to focus on the politics of the race before the family and friends have had time to grieve," Democratic sources told CNN when asked about the Cheney rebuff. "These source cited former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's comments over the weekend assessing Vice President Walter Mondale as candidate."
However, it's hard to see how Gingrich's remarks, delivered during an appearance with Carville on NBC's "Meet the Press," could be construed as offensive - at least before the Clinton operative mischaracterized the comments as "an attack."
"Look, the Democrats legitimately will try to ensure that nobody thinks about who Walter Mondale is or what he stands for, and that it's an emotional campaign," Gingrich said.
"Walter Mondale.... chaired a commission that was for the privatization of Social Security worldwide. He chaired a commission that was for raising the retirement age dramatically. He has a strong record of voting to raise taxes. "
Gingrich continued:
"If you want to raise your retirement age dramatically and privatize Social Security - Walter Mondale's a terrifically courageous guy to say that - and if you want a big-tax-increase person with a long history of raising taxes, Walter Mondale's a perfect (candidate) - but this is a six-year seat.... and people ought to vote over how they'll vote, not the emotions of this week."
Carville immediate pounced on Gingrich's words, complaining, "I think that [the people of Minnesota] are horrified that Senator Wellstone's memory has not even been paid respect to before the kind of attacks that you hear now out of Minnesota and right here on 'Meet the Press' against Senator Mondale, who is probably one of the great distinguished Americans in the last 50 years."
Even Gingrich, who delivered the so-called attack, said he had no idea what the Clinton operative was talking about.
"Why is it an attack to state publicly somebody's public positions that they have taken?," the ex-Speaker complained. "Now, that wasn't an attack on Walter Mondale."
By Tuesday, however, the Wellstone family had apparently adopted the Carville line, citing Gingrich's comments as the reason for the Cheney snub.
On Sunday, Newsweek political reporter Howard Fineman revealed that Hillary Clinton had challenged the legitimacy of the Bush-Cheney election at a California fund-raiser.
Fineman observed on "The Chris Matthews Show," "What the Clintons want - they want back in the action. They want credit for the, quote, Clinton years, and they want to humiliate the Bush family if they can."
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Guess I shouldn't have called the Memorial Service a "Democrat Ghoulfest, sucking the last political juices from the late Senator and Presided over by a Cadaverous Political has been".
Go Figure.
I wouldn't have believed it, but it would seem so.
People who think like that usually end up destroying themselves. Hillary and Carville=Sauramon and Wormtongue.
They already have the credit, their legacy of crime and corruption is secure: Whitewater, Filegate, Travelgate, firing all U.S. attorneys without any precedent in order to get rid of one of them who was investigating them, Vince Foster, Buddhist temple, White House "coffees," the largest tax increase in world history, dozens of mysterious deaths, land grabs against the wishes of the people living there, selling secrets to the Chinese, Monica, lying and wagging his finger to the American people, lying to grand jury, the only elected president to be impeached, selling presidential pardons, trashing the White House on the way out...need I go on? And this was supposed to have been the "most ethical administration in history!"
They want to humiliate the Bush family because the Bushes and the men and women who work for them represent the total OPPOSITE of what the Klintoons believe in and exemplify. Think about it, whether you agree with Bush's policies or not, you have to admit, he has been our president for almost two years and there has not been ONE SINGLE scandal, unless, of course, you are one of the ten drug-induced persons in this country who believe Cynthia McKinney's wacked tirade about how Bush knew about September 11th but did nothing to prevent it. The Democrats are DESPERATE to slime this president with something, anything, because he is a decent, honorable man.
Democratic Underground the anti-Free Republic.
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