Hillary Clinton's "Coy" And "Calculating" Iraq Position Reminiscent Of 2004 Kerry Playbook
Last Week, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) Had Kerry-Like Moment On Iraq:
"Calculating" Clinton Vote "Wasn't Quite A John Kerry Moment" But It "Came Pretty Close." "It wasn't quite a John Kerry moment for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but she came pretty close. As is her tendency, Clinton muddied her stance on funding the Iraq war, the latest test of which mustered just 29 votes in the Senate this week. ... Clinton didn't commit a Kerry-like gaffe -- in 2003 he said he voted for an Iraq funding bill before voting against it -- but her tendency to be coy (calculating?) about her Iraq position caused a stir." (Editorial, "Playing Coy: Clinton Tap Dances On Iraq Funding," The Oklahoman, 5/18/07)
Clinton And Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Voted In Favor Of Deadline For Iraq Withdrawal And Cutting Off Funding For Troops. (H.R. 1495, CQ Vote #167: Motion Rejected 29-67: R 0-47; D 28-19; I 1-1, 5/16/07, Clinton And Kerry Voted Yea)
"Nineteen Other Democrats And Every Republican Opposed The Measure, Which Everyone Knew Would Fail." (Editorial, "Playing Coy: Clinton Tap Dances On Iraq Funding," The Oklahoman, 5/18/07)
Hillary For It, Then Seemed Against It, Then For It, Then Tried To Distance Herself From The Legislation:
"Clinton Voted To Advance Legislation Cutting War Funding By March 31, 2008, Refused To Pledge Support For The Bill If It Came To A Final Vote, Then Said She Would Vote For It." (Editorial, "Playing Coy: Clinton Tap Dances On Iraq Funding," The Oklahoman, 5/18/07)
"Later, She Sought To Distance Herself From The Amendment By Stressing Its Procedural Nature, Though When Pressed By Reporters, She Acknowledged That She Supports The Feingold Proposal." (Shailagh Murray, "Symbolic Measure To End War Voted Down 67 To 29 In Senate," The Washington Post, 5/17/07)
Clinton Then Refused To Answer Whether She Would Have Voted For Feingold Amendment Had Cloture Vote Passed. "[W]hen asked Wednesday afternoon, Clinton would not answer whether she would support the actual bill. 'I'm not going to speculate what I'll be voting on in the future,' she told reporters ..." (Ted Barrett and Dana Bash, "Opponents Hammer Clinton On Iraq," CNN Political Ticker Blog, www.cnn.com, Posted 5/17/07)
"Still Later, Clinton Refused To Concede She Said Or Signaled Anything Inconsistent With Long-Held Beliefs, Leaving Those Who Listened To It All Scratching Their Heads." (Editorial, "Playing Coy: Clinton Tap Dances On Iraq Funding," The Oklahoman, 5/18/07)
Hillary Offered Several Explanations For Her Vote:
Clinton Denies Charges That She Is "Being Intentionally Vague" By Giving "Conflicting Answers About The Meaning Of Her 'Yes' Vote" Yesterday. "Some of Sen. Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential opponents are accusing the New York Democrat of giving contradictory statements and being intentionally vague about a critically important issue: her position on Iraq. Clinton is denying the charge, which stems from conflicting answers about the meaning of her 'yes' vote cast Wednesday on a proposal to cut off funding for Iraq." (Ted Barrett and Dana Bash, "Opponents Hammer Clinton On Iraq," CNN Political Ticker Blog, www.cnn.com, Posted 5/17/07)
Clintonian Calculation #1 - Supports Underlying Bill: "Hillary, speaking to reporters including The Politico's John Bresnahan in the Senate today, made her position on Reid Feingold clear. 'I support the underlying bill,' she said." (Ben Smith's Blog, "Clinton Clarifies," The Politico Website, www.politico.com, Posted 5/16/07)
Attempting "To Quash A Political Controversy" Clinton Aides Made Her Available To Reporters To Explain She Would Have Voted For The Bill To Cut Off Funding Had The Procedural Vote Passed. "Knowing they had to try to quash a potential controversy, Clinton's aides made her available to reporters to try to explain she was 'misunderstood,' and clarify that she would have voted for the bill to cut off funding, if she had the chance. 'I support the underlying bill,' Clinton said, 'I mean, that's what this vote on cloture was all about.'" (Ted Barrett and Dana Bash, "Opponents Hammer Clinton On Iraq," CNN Political Ticker Blog, www.cnn.com, Posted 5/17/07)
Clintonian Calculation #2 - Democrat Unity: "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democratic presidential front-runner, previously opposed setting a deadline on the war. But she said she agreed to back Feingold's measure 'because we, as a united party, must work together with clarity of purpose and mission to begin bringing our troops home and end this war.'" (Anne Flaherty, "Senate Rejects Legislation To Cut Off Funds For Iraq War," The Associated Press, 5/16/07)
Clintonian Calculation #3 - Message To President Bush: "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), the 2008 Democratic presidential front-runner, has long opposed setting a withdrawal date. But she voted for the Feingold measure as a message to Bush." (Shailagh Murray, "Symbolic Measure To End War Voted Down 67 To 29 In Senate," The Washington Post, 5/17/07)
Clintonian Calculation #4 - Message To Iraqis: "She also demonstrated an awareness of her stature -- 'I am high profile' -- and the importance of her vote, and the message Democrats are sending, to the Iraqi leadership. 'I know they hear it,' she said." (Ben Smith's Blog, "Clinton Clarifies," The Politico Website, www.politico.com, Posted 5/16/07)
Clintonian Calculation #5 - Deauthorize The War: Clinton: "I will continue to pursue with Senator Byrd our legislation to deauthorize the war by October 11, 2007. I will continue to do everything in my power to convince the president to change course and to work with my colleagues in the Senate to bring an end to this war as soon as possible." (Hillary Clinton For President Exploratory Committee, "From The Senate: Statement Of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton On The Feingold-Reid And Reed-Levin Amendments," Press Release, 5/15/07)
"The New York Senator Refuses To Say She Regrets Her 2002 Vote To Authorize The War, And Has Been Looking For Other Ways To Speak Out Against The War." (Ted Barrett and Dana Bash, "Opponents Hammer Clinton On Iraq," CNN Political Ticker Blog, www.cnn.com, Posted 5/17/07)
And This Isn't Hillary Campaign's First Kerryaoke On Iraq:
In February, Clinton Claimed Her Use Of Force Vote Was "Cleary Intended" As Support "For Going To The United Nations" And "To Put Inspectors In Iraq." Clinton: "I have taken responsibility for that vote. It was based on the best assessment that I could make at the time, and it was clearly intended to demonstrate support for going to the United Nations to put inspectors into Iraq." (John DiStaso, "Hillary: I Didn't Vote For 'Pre-Emptive War,'" The [Manchester] Union Leader, 2/10/07)
In Late 2003, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Said Use Of Force Vote Was Vote "To Go The United Nations" And Noted Importance Of Getting Inspectors Back In Iraq. Kerry: "I voted to do the responsible thing for America, which was to have a threat of force to hold Saddam Hussein accountable and to go to the United Nations. We would not have had Hans Blix and the inspectors in Iraq were it not for the pressure that we brought to bear." (CBS's "The Early Show," 9/2/03)
In January, Clinton Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe Said Clinton's Vote For Use Of Force Was Vote For Negotiations. Clinton Advisor Terry McAuliffe: "[S]he voted to give the President the authority to negotiate and to have a stick to go over there and negotiate with Saddam Hussein." (NBC's "Today Show," 1/22/07)
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) Claimed Kerry Believed Use Of Force Vote Was A Use Of Negotiations Vote. "Levin said Kerry believed the resolution would help President Bush negotiate with Iraq but didn't think Bush would use it to go to war." (Dee-Ann Durbin, "Levin, Stabenow Endorsing Kerry," The Associated Press, 2/5/04)
With all the talk about how well our former Governor has done in the debates (and he has done incredibly well), we wonder what effect the coming announcement that Fred Thompson is joining the race for President will have on the Huckabee campaign?
