Politics: Hillary Clinton, neoconservative?
I always chuckle when I hear Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the other conservative chatterboxes rail on Hillary Clinton as a socialist. I’m not the only one. Consider this post from Nick Rivera at The Moderate Voice:
Hillary Clinton may be loathed by leading neoconservatives and may loathe them in return. Yet they have more in common with each other than either of them would care to admit. As a U.S. Senator, Hillary Clinton has had seven years to lay out her political positions, and she hasn’t shied away from making speeches or meeting with constituents. But in the end, a politician is judged by how he/she exercises that unique power that distinguishes him/her from the rest of us-the power to vote for or against legislation. And on many of the most controversial and far-reaching pieces of legislation that have been passed these last seven years, Senator Clinton has voted the de-facto neoconservative position.
Yes, Clinton has cast votes that are at odds with fanatical loyalty some Democrats have for her. Still, I draw the line at calling her a neoconservative. The only “ism” in which she believes is “Clintonism,” a doctrine that holds that the only moral positions on the issues are those that help people named “Clinton” win elections. The instant she wins the nomination, she’s stop making noises that sound like she’s a liberal and begin to move to the center.
And THAT is why conservatives hate the Clintons so much. It;’s not that they are liberal. It’s that they hijack conservative issues, and offer more centrist, more moderate positions that address the issues conservatives like to use as rallying points for the party faithful. Look at Welfare reform. Look at gays in the military.
That’s why tend to vote for candidates that I believe I can trust to keep their word, and to put the welfare of the nation ahead of party loyalty and electoral considerations. I like consistency. I don’t mind so much when a candidate says their views have changed. I just want them to tell me. Up front.
NOTE: Also on The Moderate Voice is Joe Gandelman’s take on a poll that shows 50 percent of voters would never even consider casting a ballot for Hillary Clinton.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
We of the Democrats Against Hillary urge you to watch this video and make up your own mind…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_gI-_wQvQY
[...] –For observations on several facets of Hillary Clinton be sure to read Peoria Pundit. [...]
“That’s why (I) tend to vote for candidates that I believe I can trust to keep their word, and to put the welfare of the nation ahead of party loyalty and electoral considerations.”
Sounds like a prescription for always backing losers.
“Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.” — Charles de Gaulle
Republicans/Conservatives hate Hilary Clinton because she is the front-runner for the Democrats. If she wasn’t the front-runner, they would completely ignore her. If anything it is kind of flattering for her when she is the only candidate that they are bashing.
EOM: SO far off mark I don;t know where to begin…
Care to elborate?
Did you really expect him to?
Geez, would you pull the knife out, PI?
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/clinton-strategist-represents-blackwater/
October 5, 2007, 5:10 pm
Clinton Strategist Represents Blackwater
By Patrick Healy
Mark Penn is the chief strategist for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign, working 24/7 on her behalf (indeed, he is known to send email at 2 a.m.) and earning tens of thousands of dollars in fees.
With that sort of day-and-night job, you would think Mr. Penn would have time for little else. Indeed, other Clinton senior advisers took leaves of absences or turned down clients in order to work for the campaign.
But he somehow manages to remain president of Burson-Marsteller, a publicly traded global public affairs firm. And as such, he is inevitably linked to Burson’s clients – not all of whom are, shall we say, on Mrs. Clinton’s Christmas card list.
Today we learned that recently one of those clients was Blackwater – the American contractor that provides security to some top American officials in Iraq, and which is under investigation for allegedly aggressive tactics and the role of its guards in the shooting at a Baghdad city square where 17 Iraqis were killed.
Mr. Penn was on a plane this afternoon and could not be reached for him; a phone message has been left for a Burson spokesman as well. But Mr. Penn and the spokesman told other news outlets today that Blackwater was only briefly a client in a temporary assignment for a Burson subsidiary, BKSH. That assignment involved preparing Blackwater for a recent hearing before Congress. Blackwater is no longer a client, said Mr. Penn, who added that he never worked on the piece of business himself.
“Through a personal relationship, BKSH, a subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller, helped Blackwater prepare for their recent hearing before Congress. With the hearing over, BKSH’s temporary engagement has ended,” said the Burson spokesman, Paul Cordasco.
A blog for the Nation and the Associated Press carried stories on the Burson-Blackwater connection first.
Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, said that Mrs. Clinton had not asked Mr. Penn for an explanation about Blackwater – about which she has expressed concerns on the campaign trail – nor asked him to take a leave from Burson.
“Mark is an extremely valuable member of this team,” Mr. Wolfson said. “He is our senior strategist. Senator Clinton clearly believes Blackwater must be held accountable for its actions.”
About Mr. Penn’s ongoing ties to Burson, Mr. Wolfson said. “His situation is very typical for presidential campaigns. There is nothing unusual about a consultant maintaining outside affiliations. Hillary has trust in Mark.”
Other Democratic and Republican candidates do have consultants whose firms have a bevy of clients as well; Harrison Hickman, the pollster for former Senator John Edwards, one of Mrs. Clinton’s rivals, continues to be a member of Global Strategy Group, which represents insurance and drug companies, for instance.
But Mr. Penn’s firm has netted the sort of bad headlines that Mrs. Clinton would not seek: Other than Blackwater, clients have included Countrywide Financial, which has been tainted by the subprime mortgage scandal, and Cintas Corp., which has fought the unionization of its workforce.
One of Mrs. Clinton’s rivals, former Senator John Edwards, went on the attack this afternoon, meanwhile. His campaign e-mailed a statement from Mr. Edwards:
“Bush has been a perfect example of cronyism because Blackwater has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to republicans and to President Bush. I also saw this morning that Senator Clinton’s primary adviser, Mark Penn who is like her Karl Rove – his firm is representing Blackwater. I think it is important for Iowa caucus goers to understand the choices they have in this election. And it is the reason I continue to say we dont want to replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats. I think it is important for caucus goers to see this choice.”
Asked to comment on Mr. Edwards’ shot, Mr. Wolfson repeated that Mr. Penn was a valuable and trusted member of the Clinton campaign.
Mr. Edwards himself was a consultant in 2005 and 2006 with a hedge fund, the Fortress Investment Group, which has had investments in subprime mortgage companies that have foreclosed on victims of Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Edwards has also had a portfolio with Fortress, but has divested holdings that related to the mortgage companies.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
October 20, 2007, 8:28 pm
Looking for President Dean
By Christine Hauser
Where is President Dean?
This notion came up when John Edwards was asked at a news conference here in Las Vegas, Nev., on Saturday how he was going to overtake Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. And using his old lawyer tactics, he asked questions to make his point.
“Have we had an election yet?” Mr. Edwards replied to the reporter. “What is there to overtake?”
Well, you know what the polls are showing, the reporter pressed on.
“I know what they showed in 2003 and I haven’t met President Dean yet,” Mr. Edwards said. “I don’t think he got the nomination and I don’t think he became elected president.”
He was referring to Howard Dean, of course, who was ahead in both the polls and with fund raising in 2004 – until he wasn’t.
Mr. Edwards has been lagging in national polls behind his better-financed Democratic rivals, Mrs. Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.
Mr. Edwards often emphasizes in his appearances that the race is not over, sometimes even asking his audiences whether they have made their decisions about whom to support. Often he will get a resounding “No!” in reply. He urges caucus goers to scrutinize each candidate, saying it is not a money contest.
“I have heard all these same questions in the fall of 2003,” he said today. “What I know is once we get ready to actually vote, it will not be an auction. It will actually be an election. And people are going to look at who is ready to be president. And who has the ideas to move this country forward.”
“When we are 30 days out in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, all the early states, people will be taking a very hard look at who is actually prepared to be president.”
“When that test comes I am confident about how it will work out.”
Mr. Edwards has looked to labor unions as a way to amplify the campaign’s ground efforts, and he was in Las Vegas to accept the endorsement of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, whose members and delegates held a rally at their training center here and have promised to promote his candidacy.
The union did not endorse anyone in 2004, but decided to look for a candidate this year because it felt the agenda of the working class was not being represented in Washington.
“Our union does not make endorsements early or make them lightly,” said the general president, Douglas J. McCarron, addressing the rally. “But this year is different. This year we see a candidate who truly shares the concerns of working Americans.”
In picking a candidate, they discussed how Mr. Edwards would fare against Senator Clinton, said Mr. McCarron in an interview.
“We had a rigorous debate within the union,” he said. “And we figured, look, where are our core values? Are they closer to Hillary, or Obama, or are they closer to John Edwards?”
Mr. McCarron said they did not choose Mrs. Clinton because of her economic staff and policies.
“When I look at the Clinton side of the Democratic Party, they are corporate Democrats,” he said. “So what are we going to do. We are going to support Hillary and switch from Republican corporate people to Democratic corporate people?”
It was a phrase voiced many times during the Edwards campaign.
“It’s the truth,” Mr. McCarron said.
There were few supporters for Mr. Obama. “We just figured he was too green,” he said.
The crowds at union rallies, Saturday in Nevada and Friday in Los Angeles, have been more spirited than the audiences of voters that Mr. Edwards has addressed in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Mr. Edwards received loud applause during his speech in which he emphasized better health care and keeping unions strong. When he mentioned he would make it as easy to join a union as signing a name to a card, like people do when they note their Democratic or Republican affiliations, the crowd rose to its feet. Several people pumped their fists in the air.
When it looked like some would take their seats again, he said, “You just as well stay up. Save yourself the trouble.”
He continued: “When I am president of the United States, nobody, nobody will walk through that picket line and take your job away from you.”
Steven Cox, a union member, and his wife Michelle brought their three young children to watch Mr. Edwards. He said he was supporting Mr. Edwards because the union was, “asking us to do that. I am here to support my union.”