Hilly is chilly because she was stiffed out of campaign cash? Nahhhhhh, couldn't be!
Posted on 09/02/2003 9:13:35 PM PDT by BigWaveBetty
Insiders say a certain social hypothermia has developed between supermodel Christie Brinkley and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. (They deny it and proclaim deep mutual affection.) The scoop is that a year ago, Clinton agreed to speak at a benefit for Brinkley's charity, the Star
Hilly is chilly because she was stiffed out of campaign cash? Nahhhhhh, couldn't be!
You can get a copy of her book in India for under $5.00....
A Bangladeshi hawker sells the English and Bengali versions of 'Living History,' authored by former U.S. first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites), in Dhaka, September 2, 2003. Bangladeshi writer Pramit Hossain translated the book into Bengali and it is being sold for 250 taka ($4.28). The downloaded English version is sold for 400 taka ($8.56). REUTERS/Rafiqur Rahman
Democratic presidential hopeful and U.S. Senator John Kerry buys frozen yogurt cones for campaign workers, supporters and passersby, in Des Moines, Iowa, September 2, 2003. Slipping in the polls and searching for a spark to ignite his White House bid, the U.S. senator from Massachusetts formally launched his run for the Democratic nomination in 2004, drawing on his past as a war hero before heading to Iowa, site of the first major election test in January. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
"I've just got my hands full right now," Clinton (D-N.Y.) told reporters in Brooklyn, where she spoke to the borough's Chamber of Commerce.
"I'm just not thinking about it," she said. "I'm focused on doing my job [selling my novel], and I'm focused on electing a Democrat who is running."
But with speculation swirling to the contrary, Clinton's words were parsed yesterday for signs that her no really meant yes - or even maybe. Her denials were softer than on Friday, when she answered the same question with a flat, "I am absolutely ruling it out."
But one aide insisted, "It doesn't mean anything. ... She hasn't changed her mind."
Asked whether the rumors are harming the current field of Democratic candidates, Clinton replied, "I think that we have some very good candidates running. ... I think one of them will emerge, and I think [President Bush] is beatable."
Clinton repeatedly has vowed to serve out her Senate term, which ends in 2006. Many political insiders have speculated that Clinton would make a presidential push in 2008, assuming Bush wins a second term next year. But "Hillary '04" rumors were sparked last week when her aides posted gushing E-mails on her campaign Web site from supporters begging her to take on Bush. Word of a fund-raising meeting Clinton scheduled next week with strategists, along with recent polls showing Bush's support sagging, added fuel to the fire. But several political consultants were betting against a Clinton candidacy next year.
"Sometimes politicians should be taken at their word, and this is one of those cases," said Jeff Plaut, a Democratic consultant with Global Strategy Group. [Jeff, Jeff, Jeff - take a Clinton at his or her word? Are you crazy?]
Another strategist, who asked not to be identified, was more blunt: "I don't think she's running. I don't think she can win [against Bush]." NY Daily News
Her denial that there's anything to the speculation that she's running next year and not in '08 — a denial far short of a Sherman — hews carefully to a script carefully worked out by the fun couple.
She is "absolutely ruling it out," the former first lady told reporters in New York. Well, of course she is. Ruling it in comes later. She didn't say, as the infamous Tecumseh Sherman famously did, that she wouldn't run if nominated and wouldn't serve if elected.
Clintonspeak is not difficult to parse. Bill was similarly coy, back in Arkansas in that other century, making a solemn promise to his constituents that if they would elect him governor one more time he would absolutely, positively serve the full term and not even think about the White House. The dust had hardly settled on the Bible on which he made his oath before he was on his way to New Hampshire.
Organizing a spontaneous draft is not easy, but this one will be easier than most. There's even a secondary "draft" under way, to get Wesley Clark in place to be her running mate, as cover in a time of war for that well-known Clinton loathing of the men and women of the military.
Desperate is as desperate does, and panic is the only way the Democrats can keep their wits about them. Who but a nanny can burp and diaper a party with a terminal case of the colic? .... Rest of Wes Pruden column
But Clinton supporters have other reasons to be leery of a Dean candidacy. In June, the Drudge Report noted that Mr. Dean had confided to associates that he intended to change the leadership of the Democratic National Committee if he became the party's nominee.
A Dean adviser told Drudge that "it is important . . .to mark a new beginning, cut ties from the past."
Mr. Dean feels that Mr. McAuliffe, who served as Mr. Clinton's finance chairman in the 1996 election, has not performed well under pressure and was the architect of last year's disastrous off-year election results in which the Democrats became the first party out of power to lose seats in a mid-term election in over 60 years. Mr. McAuliffe is so controversial among Democratic activists that recently he has not been signing the patry's fund-raising mail. A no-name deputy now signs the direct mail appeals for funds. Mr. McAuliffe still has the confidence of Bill and Hillary Clinton, but his circle of admirers beyond that is limited.
Joe Trippi, Mr. Dean's campaign manager, disputed the Drudge account saying "No one from the Dean campaign leaked anything to Drudge. This report is like a National Enquirer headline." Doesn't sound like an unequivocal denial to me. Mr. McAuliffe has gone out of his way not to criticize Mr. Dean since the Drudge item, but privately is aware of the fact that Mr. Dean is the only one of the Democratic candidates who is hostile to his remaining as chairman. link
The theory or view that the self is the only reality.
Thanks for the new vocabulary word. Can you give me the phonetic pronounciation? This is one I'm going to use.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.