Reader Posts
« previous | TPM CAFÉ READER POSTS HOME | next »
Faced With Bosnia And Now Tax Returns Hillary Camp Embarks On Wright Blitzkrieg
It would seem that after being hit with her embellishing of her Bosnia trip the Clinton camp is hitting back hard on the Wright issue with Hillary herself making comments about it. Was this something they always planned on doing or is the Bosnia flap making them more desperate to shift the conversation? I think Obama's Tax Return release is something they didn't see coming.
Who will get more media coverage of their attack? If recent weeks are any indication, Clinton should dominate the headlines. Which of these attacks is more substantive? Can Hillary really do more damage to Obama than Fox News and the rest of MSM already has with the Wright story? Maybe but she'd have to really go into deep race baiting territory. Maybe she'll task Bill with that. The most substantive of all these issues is the reluctance of Clinton to reveal her tax returns. Her campaign has changed the date they said they'd release the information a few times already and 8 years of Obama returns cranks up the pressure. This week should be very interesting.
Comments (7)
This simply goes to show that given the opportunity to make a positive argument about her candidacy, and to present herself as a worthy Commander in Chief, she instead chooses to attack her opponent in order to deflect attention from herself.
All she would have to do to answer Obama is release her tax returns and her earmarks. That's it. If she's done nothing wrong, she has nothing to hide.
But she can't do that. No, instead she has to launch into yet more diatribes about how Obama harps on race, how he attacks at every opportunity, how he's not ready blah blah blah blah blah - but never does she tell us why we should vote for her.
So let's say, for argument's sake, that Hillary ends up in the White House. Let's also say, for argument's sake, that a coalition of her best legislators has drafted a proposal for health care coverage. And let's also say, for the sake of argument, that the bill faces significant opposition, mostly from Republicans but also from a few Democrats who are concerned about provision X or Y.
So let's say, in that situation, given Hillary's behavior in this campaign to date - how does she respond to that opposition?
Based on her past behavior, she does not attempt to persuade those legislators, nor does she ask the American people to write their Congressman and Senators and ask them to vote in favor of the bill, nor does she attempt to take a moral lead on the bill's passage and the subject of its necessity -
No, Hillary's response, then, is to begin releasing ads, and making speeches, attacking her opponents for hating Americans, for wanting you all dead and dying, accusing them of dishonesty and treason, and by extension, every American who disagrees with the legislation.
Yep. That's the kind of President I want. She's a fighter alright.
One might argue that I'm constructing a strawman; I contend I'm not. I'm basing that very likely situation on Hillary's pattern of past behavior. I realize it's a hypothetical... but it's reasonable to assume a Democratic president is going to push for health care reform. It's not much of a stretch, then, to anticipate how our two Democratic candidates will answer their opposition in such a case.
March 25, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll grant you the Bosnia comments are damaging, but I don't agree about the taxes. They have said they will release them on Apr. 15th. They have already released more years of their taxes than Obama has of his. Besides that, who really cares about what is in their tax return? What do you expect to find there that would be so damaging? It is a nice try on Obama's part to make something out of nothing.
March 25, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Bosnia stuff, although she outright lied when asked precisely about this a few days ago, seems not to serious to me. Anyone who knows what First Ladies do on the tea and crumpet tour knows that her stating "when a place is too dangerous for the president they send the first lady" is pure non-sense. Like the First Lady is some sort of ninja or Hannibal Smith from the A-Team. To me, the tax returns are more relevant and potentially damaging. She loaned $5 million to her campaign and her husband has been globetrotting for various energy industry guys. She and her husband have been under scrutiny for past business deals so I think it is totally relevant.
I'd also argue Obama is not making something out of nothing, Clinton has by not revealing them earlier. I have a problem with any citizen of this nation who believes a politician's finances are not important information. Corruption has destroyed this nation.
----
I also want to note that Hillary said today that she will release some return info next week.
March 25, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
That isn't the point - this isn't a witch hunt. Candidates release their financial information for the same reason I was required to enumerate every aspect of my financial life to get my security clearance - to avoid any conflict of interest, real or apparent.
I might have let Hillary's tax returns slide until she felt like releasing them, except for one thing: She loaned herself $5 million of her own money. That makes her income fair game for campaign finance transparency, because we have to know our President isn't being financed by drug running, or arms dealing, or human trafficking or whatever (I'm not saying Hillary is into any of those things - I don't think she is - but without this kind of demand for transparency, ALL of our candidates might as well be criminals).
I guess that's what Hillary was doing back in 2000 then, when she was heckling her Republican Senate opponent to release his returns.
This isn't a non-issue. Candidates have released their returns for years as a matter of course, and she's trying to play some game where the rules are different for her. Sorry, but that dog won't hunt.
March 25, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am so piss mad at her and her campaign I could puke.
March 25, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just re-read these posts -- they reflect DIRECTLY ON OBAMA. He's responsible for every aggressive statement that you make, because he doesn't approach voters with a discussion of the issues but goes right for the emotional jugular. He has you accusing Hillary Clinton because of the high-priced "Glitzkrieg" he has waged with the trendy singers and let's throw in a few dance steps between the "words just words" that we'll lift from Axelrod's former client, the African American governor of Massachusetts who -- after two years -- has made the states SO happy with his way of governing that they voted for Clinton.
If American voters fall for this, they might not just lose their homes but they might lose their planet. We need somebody who'll buckle down and clean up the mess.
March 25, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lose the planet????????? This looks like a job for The First Lady!!!!!!!!!!
March 25, 2008 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Post a Comment