resurrectionsong

September 18, 2003

Just Muddying the Waters

Hillary and Bill cannot stand to be outside the limelight of presidential politics. I cannot believe that she would be foolish enough to make a run right now, but she keeps allowing little teases to slip out while shy coyly says "no."

Clinton loyalists were startled yesterday to hear former President Bill Clinton suggest that his wife hasn't made up her mind yet about running for the White House.

Asked in Monterey, Calif., on Tuesday about chatter that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) might join the crowded Democratic field, the former President hinted that it remained an open question. "That's really a decision for her to make," he said, according to The Californian newspaper.

Clinton said his wife was being urged to run by supporters in spite of her commitment to serve out her six-year Senate term, the newspaper said.

As I said before, bring it on. Mobilize the Republicans.

Stop this stupid little, late-game dance, grab your balls and make a decision. That just seems to be oh-so-difficult to the former First Lady, as she has the power to end speculation by denouncing statements like these strongly (even if they come from her husband, former President, and philanderer extraordinaire, Bill).

"He's clearly not discouraging speculation that she could be in the race in 2004," said former New York State Democratic chairwoman Judith Hope, who is close to the former First Lady but is supporting ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
Former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, who moderated the Monterey event, said the ex-President's remarks should be taken "at face value. In the end, she's going to make the decision."

"She's getting a lot of people talking," said Panetta.

Instead, she gets even more people talking--and making it look like a well-orchestrated media-grab.

Stop teasing us, Hillary, and make a choice.

Read the story.

Posted by zombyboy at September 18, 2003 08:03 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Well, what if she runs and wins? Then what?

Posted by: IB Bill at September 18, 2003 08:21 AM

I do not believe that would happen, but, if it did then I doubt we'd have someone worse than Dean in office. It wouldn't be the end of the world--just a political set-back and a change in course in some pretty important areas.

I wouldn't be happy, neither would I despair. If our nation can survive Pearl Harbor, 9/11, and Jimmy Carter, it can survive Hillary Clinton.

Posted by: zombyboy at September 18, 2003 08:27 AM

Look for a Dean/Clinton or Clark/Clinton ticket. That's my bet. If Hillary Clinton were to become president or vice-president this country would change beyond all recognition and I'm not being dramatic. Were would we go? To whom could we turn?

I still think my boy G.W. is gonna pull it off. I also think he can do it in a Regaganesque land slide. Whaddaya think Zombyboy?

Posted by: Patrick at September 18, 2003 09:26 AM

I do think that GWB will win (although I'll hold off on guessing at numbers). And I plan to do what I can to support that.

I truly don't think that a President Hillary Clinton would be that bad, though--I think that, in comparison to the Carter White House, the H. Clinton White House would be a good thing, in fact. Don't get me wrong--I still wouldn't be happy with that outcome, but I don't think it would be too terribly different from a Kerry, Gephardt, or Dean win, and maybe not too different from a Clark win.

Posted by: zombyboy at September 18, 2003 10:00 AM

Here are my thoughts:

1) Hillary would be a centrist, appeasing President who, like her husband, would be more concerned about her legacy than progressive change. In order to get elected she'd have to have a strong running mate (like Clark) so things probably wouldn't be too bad.

2) Hillary will not be someone's running mate. There is speculation that Clark is only running this year as a way of making himself nationally known so that he can be Hillary's running mate later. A Hillary/Clark ticket is more plausible than an Anyone/Hillary ticket.

3) Hillary won't run this year if Bush looks unbeatable. Most people don't get a second chance to run for President (see Al Gore) and Hillary has too mach baggage to get a second chance.

4) If Bush wins this year then Hillary will run in 2008. If it looks like Bush is going to get beat this year then Hillary's next chance to run again won't be until 2012 so she'll run this year. Guaranteed.

Posted by: StumpJumper at September 18, 2003 10:56 AM

This tease that all politicians do, not just Hillary, is to maximize name recognition and hopefully garner votes. Whether she runs now or later, it still helps her by doing this little dance, at least that is the common political tactic these days.

I don't think Hillary will be that good a President, much in the way that Carter was not that great.

Besides which, isn't she term limited out anyway? Wasn't she co-President for 8 years?

Posted by: Ben at September 20, 2003 05:39 AM