Posted on 04/12/2005 3:28:18 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Former President Bill Clinton unleashed an attack yesterday against a gay Republican strategist who has plans to work against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's re-election, suggesting that the man may be "self-loathing" to work on behalf of the Republican Party.
The former president was reacting to reports that the strategist, Arthur J. Finkelstein, was in the midst of setting up a political action committee to defeat Mrs. Clinton in 2006. Republican officials close to Mr. Finkelstein have said that he hopes to be able to finance an advertising campaign similar to the one orchestrated against John Kerry last year by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
"I was sort of sad when I read it," Mr. Clinton said, speaking at a news conference at his office in Harlem, where he announced that his foundation was donating $10 million to treat children with AIDS.
The former president noted that an earlier article over the weekend reported that Mr. Finkelstein had married his male partner in a civil ceremony at his home in Massachusetts, then he alluded to the Republican Party's use of the same-sex marriage issue to mobilize conservative voters.
"Either this guy believes his party is not serious and he's totally Machiavellian," Mr. Clinton said, or "he may be blinded by self-loathing." Mr. Finkelstein, a reclusive former adviser to Gov. George E. Pataki, did not respond to a message left at his office seeking a comment on Mr. Clinton's remarks. But his allies quickly did.
"It's really beneath a former president to comment on someone's personal life like that," said Michael McKeon, a Republican strategist, former Pataki aide and friend of Mr. Finkelstein's. "After everything he has been through in his own life, you'd think he'd know better."
The spectacle of the former president coming to the defense of his wife, a tough politician in her own right, generated considerable buzz in political circles, particularly since Mr. Clinton has tried to keep a low profile and stay out of Mrs. Clinton's way since she took office.
While Mrs. Clinton's popularity rating is high and Republicans are having trouble finding a strong candidate to run against her, the senator's political advisers have seized on Mr. Finkelstein's plans as a strong sign of the fierce campaign they expect from Republicans.
Mr. Finkelstein, who helped engineer Mr. Pataki's 1994 victory over Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, has not publicly commented on his plans to establish an anti-Clinton committee.
But the Republicans familiar with those plans say he is attempting to line up donors to help the committee, called Stop Her Now, reach its goal of raising as much as $10 million to finance an independent campaign against her. In that context, Mr. Clinton offered high praise for his wife's record in office, describing her as a hard-working senator. "I don't think he'll stop her," he said, referring to Mr. Finkelstein.
Mr. Finkelstein's associates have said they were surprised to learn of his marriage to another man, in light of his history with the party and his own place as a prominent conservative. He has been allied over the years with Republicans who have adamantly opposed gay rights measures, including former Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina. Mr. Finkelstein has been the subject of attacks by gay rights advocates who have accused him of hypocrisy.
Donald G. McNeil Jr. contributed reporting for this article.
Oh, I love the smell of hypocracy and fear in the morning.
Right............ "You stupid, stupid, stupid bastard. My God, Bill, how could you risk everything for that?" -- Hillary to Bill on his conduct with interns. --- Bill and Hillary: The Marriage
The man has been through more than enough.
And it won't only be coming from the left, plent right here on the left just primed and ready.
"Hillary loves Bill. And Bill loves Bill. It gives them something in common." -- Dick Morris
They know to support and protect Hillary.
As an aside, does it ever occur to gay democrats that the worst attacks on them come from people in their own party?
He ought to but I bet he doesn't.
Carolyn
The left is willing to take the money from homosexual groups but in their hearts they seem them only as votes and not human beings.
Republicans are far more tolerant of others' lifestyles.
Exactly!
Agreed. He should run for Senator from NY. He cannot win the Republican presidential nomination.
Ironic how liberals will turn to gay-bashing in a second when it suits their purposes.
I guess you are mostly correct. But I hold out the thought that he is smart enough to know that he has wasted his abilities and personal "charm" only for self- indulgence and gratification in his life.
He trashed his responsibilities and his country and his friends.
I think he knows, but he hides it somewhat well.
"Self-loathing." This kind of cheap shot suggests that x42 is taking things personally. "I am the demi-god of the sexual non-conformist, thou shalt not have other politics before me." To be gay and Republican is to be personally disloyal to Bubba. Remember, it's all about him.
Anyone who leaves the reservation assigned to them by the liberals, must be insane, so it's ok to diagnose this obvious case even if you're not BC. But different avenues lead to the same conclusion, anyone who's both gay and Republican is hopelessly demented and begging for personal destruction.
'Hypocrisy' ............ I can't spell it either, I had to check myself. ;-)
But I have found that when you are going to criticize someone for being hypocritical, you should at least spell it right.
I'm smiling, I hope you are.
:-)
"only one agenda: make sure everyone knew the man is gay"
This is true.
But clearly he did much more than that by speaking about "self-loathing". The stereotype absolutely abhored by gays, because it suggests they know they are doing something very wrong, so they can't help loathing themselves.
If a Republican or conservative said it, it would be front page news and editorialized against to the max.
The MSM likely won't do that, but people like Rush will.
And we should never forget it, and we should use it against the Democrats whenever it is appropriate.
They do the same thing to African Americans who support Republicans and conservative issues. This is from their playbook.
Good insight.
Bill killed two birds with one stone.
Ya just can't make this stuff up!
You're right, of course, but what makes this a delicate issue for the Old Gray Lady on 43rd Street is the gay-bashing angle. For them, gay = good, no matter what.
I think x42 also is panicking about the soon-to-be-released Ed Klein book about Hillary. Here's what the NY Daily News' Lloyd Grove wrote about it today:
Is Sen. Hillary Clinton bracing for a literary "Swift Boat" ambush in the form of a scandalous biography by Kennedy family nemesis Ed Klein? Klein's latest book, "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President," won't be out till August at the earliest.
But already, cybergossip Matt Drudge - a proud member of Clinton's vaunted "vast right-wing conspiracy" - is claiming that Klein's publisher, The Penguin Group, is enmeshed in a bitter internal dispute over the publication of the sensational volume by Penguin's conservative Sentinel imprint.
"The revelations in it should sink her [presidential] candidacy," Drudge quoted a so-called "source close to Klein."
Klein yesterday wouldn't shed any light on Drudge's account and uttered a noncommittal "uh-huh" when I noted that some might consider the report a ploy by Sentinel to generate prepublication buzz. Meanwhile, Clinton's press secretary, Philippe Reines, told me: "We don't comment on works of fiction."
But Sentinel associate publisher Will Weisser insisted: "We are very excited about publishing the Clinton book for September, but it's an embargoed book. I can't comment about any kind of internal discussions at Penguin."
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