Rove Steps Up His Attacks on Clinton's Candidacy

[Professor]

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/us/politics/16rove.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1187280044-0wozK0h11sfttrYR8dDMww

Rove Steps Up His Attacks on Clinton’s Candidacy
By PATRICK HEALY
Aug 16, 2007

Karl Rove intensified his attack on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday, saying she lacked the vision to be president while saying she was “so weak” on national security and support for the armed forces.

Mr. Rove, President Bush’s political adviser, has been criticizing Mrs. Clinton since Monday, when he announced his intention to resign from the White House and coupled it with candid analysis, notably, calling Mrs. Clinton a “fatally flawed” presidential candidate.

Mrs. Clinton, of New York, and her advisers have denounced the attacks while privately welcoming them, hopeful that Mr. Rove, a bête noire to Democrats, will spur liberal skeptics of Mrs. Clinton to rally to her.

Advisers to Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a Clinton rival, conjecture that Mr. Rove is trying to help Mrs. Clinton win the Democratic presidential nomination because, this thinking goes, she would be easier to beat than Mr. Obama.

Mr. Rove gave two high-profile interviews yesterday, on Rush Limbaugh’s radio program and to Reuters, essentially delivering the same message: that Mrs. Clinton had opposed Republican efforts to overhaul health care and expand medical benefits to more Americans and that she had opposed the USA Patriot Act, domestic surveillance programs and other antiterrorism measures.

“Look, she is who she is,” Mr. Rove said on Mr. Limbaugh’s syndicated program. “There is no front-runner who has entered the primary season with negatives as high as she has in the history of modern polling.

“She’s going into the general election with, depending on what poll you look at, in the high 40s on the negative side and just below that on the positive side. And there’s nobody who has ever won the presidency who started out in that kind of position.”

Mrs. Clinton, campaigning yesterday in Iowa, inserted a retort into her prepared remarks for the Iowa Federation of Labor, A.F.L.-C.I.O. Convention Presidential Forum. “I feel so lucky that I am now giving them such heartburn,” she said.

She went on to criticize Mr. Rove and other Republicans for describing her support for universal health care as equivalent to, in her words, supporting “socialized medicine.”

“That’s just an absolute falsehood,” Mrs. Clinton said. “What we want is to get the costs down, the quality up, and cover everybody. And I think we can do that.”

Her advisers squeezed advantage from the Republican attacks, going so far as to link Mr. Rove with Mr. Obama.

“It sounds like Mr. Rove and Senator Obama are reading off the same set of talking points,” said Phil Singer, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Obama’s advisers scoffed and said Mr. Rove was aiding and abetting a Clinton nomination because Republicans believed that she was too divisive to be elected.

[ECW]

Rove is running scared, sounds like to me...

[ViolaLee]

LOL!!!! Rove on Limbaugh talking bad about Hillary can ONLY HELP HER approval ratings. Keep talking to the right wing druggie nut jobs Bush admin! Too funny. LOL![hr]Here's her new ad that the White House is so upset about.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/

[BoogyMan]

LOL!!!! Rove on Limbaugh talking bad about Hillary can ONLY HELP HER approval ratings. Keep talking to the right wing druggie nut jobs Bush admin! Too funny. LOL!


I honestly don't think Hillary is electable Viola. The baggage she is carrying just isn't going to go away. Now I may be proven wrong here, but I am willing to wait and see.

As for the "right-wing druggie nut jobs" commentary, I would like to know at whom that is aimed.

What seems funny here, to me, is that the left has been harping over every time the president coughs or goes to the bathroom, yet when the favor is returned there seems to be a serious uproar. THAT is funny. :madlaugh:

[ViolaLee]

LOL!!!! Rove on Limbaugh talking bad about Hillary can ONLY HELP HER approval ratings. Keep talking to the right wing druggie nut jobs Bush admin! Too funny. LOL!


I honestly don't think Hillary is electable Viola. The baggage she is carrying just isn't going to go away. Now I may be proven wrong here, but I am willing to wait and see. If it's Giuliani v. Hillary, I think she'll win it hands down. Giuliani is just more of the same and Hillary represents change.

As for the "right-wing druggie nut jobs" commentary, I would like to know at whom that is aimed.You haven't heard of Rush Limbaugh's journey into illegal drug use and sending his maid to the corner drug dealer to pick up his downers?

What seems funny here, to me, is that the left has been harping over every time the president coughs or goes to the bathroom, yet when the favor is returned there seems to be a serious uproar. THAT is funny. :madlaugh:
What kind of misleading, dishonest smear is this?

Bush and his cohorts have lied about WMD, lied about Iraq/AQ connection, lied about torture, lied about outing a CIA agent, lied about lying about WMD, LOL!!!! This has nothing to do with coughing and using the bathroom. Get your head outta the sand dude!

Compare that to Rove and Limbaugh bashing Hillary with words like weak and flawed.

THAT is funny. And pathetic.

[BoogyMan]

What kind of misleading, dishonest smear is this?

Bush and his cohorts have lied about WMD, lied about Iraq/AQ connection, lied about torture, lied about outing a CIA agent, lied about lying about WMD, LOL!!!! This has nothing to do with coughing and using the bathroom. Get your head outta the sand dude!

Compare that to Rove and Limbaugh bashing Hillary with words like weak and flawed.

THAT is funny. And pathetic.


The left has cried wolf about everything this admin has done for several years now and I think you should expect those on the right to return the favor. It is an ugly cycle. My commentary was honest Viola, the left gets angry when their candidates are examined they way the left wants to look at the right.

You still cannot get the difference between wrong and lied Viola, oh well.

The only change represented by Hillary and company is that there will be a different body in the office.

What was the movie where one of the candidates told people to vote for "none of the above?" That is where I stand right now.

[ViolaLee]

You can deny the Bush admins lies if you want to Boogy. I choose to see the truth. And the truth is, they've lied and then they've lied about lying.

Have you watched these videos yet? Or are you in denial and hiding your head?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz-6A59qzAU

http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/64513/detail/

[BoogyMan]

I could add a "just as" clause to your commentary Viola.

Just as you refuse to see that what we are going to get from Washington, is more of the same. You assume that I whole-heartedly support Bush in all that he says and does and that isn't true.

Did he lie us into Iraq? I don't think so. Was he wrong, yes. Was there intent to lie us into iraq? Neither you nor I can prove that.

Clinton is more of the same. A politician is a politician. When the left screams and squeals about honesty and then points to one of their politicians like Clinton to provide it, you have to see why my skepticism kicks in.

[Buck Laser]

Boog, Karl Rove is the guy who started the rumor in South Carolina that John McCain was the father of a black child. A few years earlier, when Bush was running for gov in Texas, Rove cleverly spread rumors that the incumbent gov, Ann Richards, was a Lesbian.

It's shit like that that makes me hate not only Rove, but anyone who employs his services.

[Labrocca]

I almost wish she wins..imagine the next 4-8 years that conservatives get to call for impeachment, finding scams, and at every turn attacking people surrounding here. If she gets elected...it's a certainty that politics will heat up. We could use the traffic. ;)

[ViolaLee]

If she tells half the lies the Bush admin has told, if she sends half the troops to a war of choice, if she fucks with the constitution half as much as Bush has, I'll join the rabid righties in calling for her removal.

I have confidence that she will be a million times better President than that lying sack of sh it George W Bush has been.

[red states rule]

Oh please libs, please go with Hillary. What a great election it will be. The Dems putting up another Northeastern liberal for President

[Deadshot]

Labrocca talked about impeachments and finding scams, while others have talked about her inablity to get elected.

1st, what happened after Bubba got impeached? His rating and numbers went up. You wanna know the real reason the Democrats haven't impeached Bush, they don't want to help him out.

2nd, as to "finding scams" and simply having bad press, Jeez-Louise haven't you guys been watching the news and the implosion of the Bush White House for the last 2 years?

3rd, as to her "inablity" to get elected, compared to what? To be honest there's a reason Obama's polling 3rd in Iowa among REPUBLICANS!!! Let's see what happens between now and March. I don't think ANY of the top runners for either side can be counted out just yet. Let's see what the primaries hold.

[red states rule]

With Dems all but stuck with Hillary, it will be nice to see the myth of the Clintons crash and burn in Nov 08

[Buck Laser]

Oh please libs, please go with Hillary. What a great election it will be. The Dems putting up another Northeastern liberal for President

How about the democrats go with Senator Clinton and the publicans go with Newt? :nana:

[red states rule]

It will probably be Rudy VS Hillary - and the Red Queen will lose badly

[preservanation]

The Queen will railroad the Dem party into nominating her, but for her to win it will take the majority of the American people to surrender to socialism.
I hope that will not be the case.

[Elrathin]

Hillary is as close to a socialist as Bush is to a fascist.

[preservanation]

Ok... I'll go with that.
So, El. you support a socialist in Hillary?
Is that what you want?
Remember....Bush is not running.[hr]Should I interpret "Unaffiliated" as socialist now?
Have trouble with your definitions.
I will always be who I am.
Who or what are you?

[Buck Laser]

Hillary is as close to a socialist as Bush is to a fascist.

Well, until Rove jumped ship, Bush was standing right next to a fascist! :madlaugh: But of course, various dumbasses will continue to call Senator Clinton a socialist just because it gives them some self pleasure...if you take my meaning.

[preservanation]

Got rid of Rummy, Libby, Rove...
There is nothing that will sate your hate for conservatives until the last one has fallen..
The others have stronger legs.

[Elrathin]

Ok... I'll go with that.
So, El. you support a socialist in Hillary?
Is that what you want?
Remember....Bush is not running.[hr]Should I interpret "Unaffiliated" as socialist now?
Have trouble with your definitions.
I will always be who I am.
Who or what are you?


I see you completely missed what I was saying. Oh well play your partisan games if you like.

Me, I live in the real world where there isn't one extreme or the other with a candidate. You think Hillary is a socialist. She isn't to the extreme you make her out to be just as bush isn't a fascist.

My question is, if she is elected will you leave the country? Because after all , it would be a the downfall of America is she is elected to you remember?[hr]
Got rid of Rummy, Libby, Rove...


Hmmmm I remember Rove resigned, Bush didn't get rid of him or fire him. So how did he get rid of Rove?

[ViolaLee]

Rummy resigned too. Libby got arrested. Bush doesn't fire anyone. He keeps the croneys and bad guys around as long as possible. And then gives them a medal of freedom. LOL!

[Truth_and_Power]

With Dems all but stuck with Hillary, it will be nice to see the myth of the Clintons crash and burn in Nov 08


Well both the democrats and the republicans have expelled the centrists from their parties. You're not a republican unless you want to haul doctors off in chains for doing what their patients ask.. unless you want to bomb everyone that blinks when we ask if they're our friend. You're not a democrat unless you want to socialize a couple of industries and kowtow to europe on every major international issue.

[Marley]

Bush doesn't fire anyone. He keeps the croneys and bad guys around as long as possible.

Kinda like Sandy Berger?

You know, the confessed criminal currently serving as Hillary's foreign policy or national security advisor?

The guy so crooked he's not even allowed to practice law in Washington DC?

Is THAT the kind of behavior you're referring to Viola?

LOL

Berger, you may recall, was Bill Clinton’s national-security adviser. He is also the star of The Case of the Stuffed Socks. Now Hillary Clinton wants to sock it to you: He is a Clinton campaign foreign-policy adviser. The Democratic presidential candidate is treating Berger like a respectable foreign-policy expert — exactly, in other words, what he ceased to be when he acted like a common criminal with exceptional classified clearance at the National Archives in 2003.

While preparing the former President Clinton for his 9/11 Commission testimony (as well as preparing his own), the former national-security adviser stole top-secret national-defense documents from the National Archives, stuffing them in a briefcase and in his clothing. (Yes, his pants and socks. And yes, that sounds ridiculous. It was and is. Archives staff thought so too, which is why they investigated the former senior Clinton administration official.) He destroyed documents. He hid others — some at a nearby construction site. He would later lie, claiming it was all a mistake, blaming the removal and destruction on “sloppiness” — “an honest mistake,” he said, with former-presidential backing.

That the Hillary Clinton campaign would even take Berger’s phone calls at this point, never mind hold him close as an adviser, is an outrage. Moreover, it’s a bright red screeching siren signaling a huge judgment problem on Senator Clinton’s part.

Berger, for the record, wasn’t stealing old lunch menus for his scrapbook. While we don’t know everything he took (and in some cases destroyed), we know he did take drafts of what people familiar with it have described as a scathing “after-action report” done after the intelligence community failed to foil the millennium plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, instead leaving it to an awake Customs agent to save the day. The report was a brutal internal review of our state of unreadiness—our vulnerability to domestic terrorism. A House Government Reform Committee investigation revealed that Berger had unsupervised access to uninventoried original documents on terrorism for which there were no duplicates.

So perhaps Mrs. Clinton is holding Berger close as a “thank you”: Thanks for making sure that some hard-hitting internal analysis of the Bill Clinton administration’s poor counterterrorism performance won’t become breaking news at some inconvenient moment on the way back to the White House. Or — as much as I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but one is left asking questions since the Clintons aren’t offering answers — maybe it’s because Berger simply knows too much, the kind of information that could hurt an aspiring President Clinton running on executive experience. That’s surely another reason to keep him on board.

Perhaps candidate Clinton feels the need to prove that she is up for a challenge. How, after all, can Hillary Clinton continue using the Democrats’ top talking point, i.e., the claim that they are the antidote to a “culture of corruption” in Washington? If Sandy Berger’s top-secret rampage isn’t corrupt, I don’t know what corrupt is.

However you view it, the facts are that the Berger case is weird, troubling, and mishandled. It’s been mishandled by the Clintonistas, who haven’t had an open-door policy on the classified after-action report. Berger hasn’t been in a rush to set the record straight, giving up his law license rather than let the D.C. bar do a thorough investigation. It’s been mishandled by the Bush administration: The Justice Department let Berger plea bargain, admitting guilt to a misdemeanor handling of classified information, slapping him with a $50,000 fine. No jail for Berger the Burglar.