Hillary Drafted To Tackle The Right

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 11-20-2002 | Toby Harnden

[blam]

Hillary drafted to tackle the Right

By Toby Harnden in Washington
(Filed: 20/11/2002)

Hillary Clinton, who famously blamed her husband's woes as on a "vast, Right-wing conspiracy" is poised to become a Democratic leader charged with countering Republican attacks.

Mrs Clinton is expected to head the US Senate's steering and coordination committee, a promotion that would put her in control of the Democratic "message" for the 2004 elections.

The move could tilt the party, which is in disarray after its stunning defeats in this month's mid-term elections, further to the Left. Democratic centrists reacted with dismay while Republicans said they would welcome her as an opponent.

Although Mrs Clinton has maintained a low profile during her first two years as a senator for New York state, she is renowned for her skill as a political operative and is known to be considering a run for the White House in 2008.

"Nobody better understands the resources that the Right has mustered to clobber Democrats," a Democratic source told the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. "From the money to the media manipulation, she gets it."

But Senator John Breaux of Louisiana, a Right-wing Democrat, said Mrs Clinton's appointment would shift the party too far too the Left, particularly after the appointment as House minority leader of Representative Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco liberal.

"It would be a serious mistake, because the base of our party, as is the base of the Republican Party, is not enough to constitute a majority. It would make it more difficult to attract centrists, and that is the key to elections."

There has already been chatter in the drawing rooms of Georgetown about a possible all-women presidential race in 2008 in which Mrs Clinton would be pitted against Condoleezza Rice, President George W Bush's national security adviser.

Mrs Clinton is a hate figure on the Republican Right. At the annual Fourth of July conservative barbecue in Virginia, the plastic cups handed out had several cruel caricatures of her on them and the message: "Reasons for no Cloning."

As First Lady during Bill Clinton's presidency, she was vilified by Republicans almost as much as her husband.

Commenting on the Roll Call story, Tucker Carlson, a conservative commentator on CNN, said: "Days after installing San Francisco congresswoman and latte drinker Nancy Pelosi as House minority leader, Democrats have decided their party can, in fact, go even further Left."

Democrats are arguing publicly about the reasons for their election defeat, with some saying their "message" was drowned out by Mr Bush and others saying they had no message in the first place and need to be less supportive of the president.

Al Gore, the defeated presidential candidate in 2000, has stepped back into the limelight with a host of media interviews and two new books co-written with his wife, Tipper, called Joined at the Heart and The Spirit of Family.

Mr Gore, who has a difficult relationship with Mrs Clinton, has shed much of his old image as a centrist by criticising Mr Bush on Iraq, Afghanistan and the economy.

Mrs Clinton declined to confirm that she would be taking on a new leadership role.

[antaresequity]

Don't underestimate this woman. She wants to be President

We must not let this come to pass...I agree with you...she is dangerous...tenacious, cunning, ruthless...as formidable an adversary as one might find...a master of deception...hungry for power...

She must never be elected...

[Holding Our Breath]

Mrs Clinton is a hate figure on the Republican Right

Does the fact thata she is a hateful person make her a "hate figure"? Sheesh! She ia hate personified!

[blam]

"Mrs Clinton is a hate figure on the Republican Right"

Even my liberal friends in California think she is a joke.

[Fellow Traveler]

But Senator John Breaux of Louisiana, a Right-wing Democrat, said Mrs Clinton's appointment would shift the party too far too the Left

If Senator Breaux knows what is good for him he will shut up. If he keeps talking about her highness like that he is going to make a bunch of gators mighty happy.

[b4its2late]

Tackle? How about Center, Guard and Tackle, on both sides of the ball......

[lepton]

Although Mrs Clinton has maintained a low profile during her first two years as a senator for New York state, she is renowned for her skill as a political operative and is known to be considering a run for the White House in 2008.

She only gets in trouble when she talks about her beliefs.