Posted on 04/16/2005 6:14:47 PM PDT by MadIvan
Senior Republican activists have launched two high-profile campaigns aimed at sabotaging Senator Hillary Clinton's hopes of an elected return to the White House - even though the next presidential contest is three and a half years away.
It was also revealed last week that Mrs Clinton is to be the unwilling subject of a book in the autumn which will reportedly contain explosive revelations from her time as First Lady. The book, The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President, is being written by Ed Klein, a best-selling biographer and the scourge in print of the Kennedy clan.
The ratcheting-up of "Stop Hillary" operations reflects a grudging acknowledgement among Republicans that Mrs Clinton, long regarded as an unreformed liberal out of touch with the country's political mood, has been carefully staking out middle-of-the-road positions on issues such as abortion and immigration.
Both the Republican fund-raising initiatives are initially targeted at defeating Mrs Clinton when she runs next year for a second term in the Senate. Their organisers, however, make little secret of the fact that they are hoping to deal a crippling blow to a leading frontrunner for the Democrat nomination for the 2008 White House race.
"Stopping Hillary Rodham Clinton is the most important thing you and I can do as Republicans in the next two years," wrote Stephen Minarik, the New York Republican Party chairman.
"You could say it's our duty as Republicans," he said, launching the nationwide "Stop Hillary Now" campaign in a four-page letter to potential backers. They would establish a "truth squad" to "expose her lies", he promised.
In the other fundraising initiative, Arthur Finkelstein - a veteran, if reclusive, Republican strategist - is canvassing donors for a new advocacy group, "Stop Her Now", which aims to raise $10 million to fund advertising and media assaults on the New York senator.
Since Mr Bush's re-election in November, Mrs Clinton has tried to reinvent herself as a politician who would be more acceptable in the American heartlands which carried the President back to power.
She has railed against illegal immigration, moderated her public statements on abortion rights and backed American military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although her voting record places her firmly on the liberal wing of the Democratic party, recent opinion polls suggest that her new political look is winning support.
Many American conservatives, however, retain a visceral contempt for the Clintons, fuelled by their frustration that the president and his wife survived a series of scandals including the Whitewater financial affair and the impeachment proceedings over Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern.
Mrs Clinton is such a polarising figure that there will be little difficulty in soliciting funds for her followers, or her foes. When she launched her own fundraising campaign recently, she told supporters that she was "the number-one target for the Right-wing attack machine", although she insists she is not looking beyond her Senate campaign.
Crucially, New York Republicans have yet to find a strong contender to fight Mrs Clinton next year. Their two biggest local names, Rudi Giuliani, the former mayor, and Governor George Pataki, have counted themselves out. Party chiefs are concerned that a strong Clinton victory in 2006 would bolster her momentum for White House run in 2008.
In a clear signal of how the Republicans intend to attack Mrs Clinton, Mr Minarik's letter described her as a "radical liberal" or "ultraliberal", called her the "darling of the wealthy liberal Left - especially the Hollywood Left" and referred to her "vast network of far-Left contributors".
Mr Finkelstein played a key role in turning "liberal" into a dirty word in American politics when representing politicians such as Jesse Helms, the ultra-conservative North Carolina senator. He has also advised Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Right-wing Israeli prime minister.
It is understood that Mr Finkelstein hopes to repeat the successful formula used by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during last year's presidential campaign.
The pressure group of Vietnam veterans unleashed a series of fierce attacks on John Kerry's war record, fatally undermining the Democratic candidate's challenge to President Bush.
Bill Clinton, the former president and now vocal supporter of his wife's political aspirations, flew to her defence last week after it emerged that Mr Finkelstein, 59, had recently married his male partner in a civil ceremony in Massachusetts.
Referring to the Republicans' use of the same-sex marriage issue to mobilise conservative voters, Mr Clinton said: "Either this guy believes his party is not serious and he's totally Machiavellian, or he may be blinded by self-loathing."
It is not just the Republicans who are concerned about the Clinton bandwagon. John Edwards, the defeated Democrat candidate for vice-president last year who is touring key states in his own barely-veiled drive for the 2008 nomination, observed in a recent interview: "I think talking about a front-runner four years before an election is ridiculous."
but in the fourth quarter the GOP will choke.
You ain't even seen the bench yet newbie.
They are worried. We're in bad shape.
Get a grip, newbie. The economy is not "tanking". I will agree with you vis border control (or extreme lack thereof).
that's such an excellent foto!
says it all.
.
HILLARY was on the side of our Terrorist Enemy, Communist North Vietnam Dictator HO CHI MINH, and against US during the Vietnam War.
Nothing has changed since,
except we are in a...
new Time of War...
in a new Century...
with an enemy that's now...
just around the corner and...
up your street,
...with our own Freedom at ...stake...
...right here at home.
HILLARY = Way too expensive
Signed:.."ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer
Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965, Landing Zone Falcon
http://www.WeWereSoldiers.com
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set1.htm
.
I've seen this before, but it's good. Very good. Thank you.
There must be a million lines of attack. The RATS are idiots if they nominate the witch.
Too late, the troll is history.
I personally hope they DO NOT. Please renominate sKerry. Hitlery scares me beyond belief. I will take sabbatical if she is the nominee.
Just think of her as Kerry without Viet Nam ...
"They" had thought they would pull an upset with Kerry due to the confluence of left-wing MSM, Hollywood, and the CFR-loophole 527's and Soros and company's millions, after having neutered the NRA, et. al. They almost pulled it off, IMO.
Vince Foster?
Craig Livingstone?
Juanita Broaderick?
Monica Lewinsky?
Ron Brown?
Socialized healthcare?
Billing records?
Eleanor Roosevelt?
How this lady, and her supporters, think that she could become President with all of the baggage that she carries, is unbelievable. But then again, Ted is still a senator after Chapaquiddick. Sheets is still a senator after his midnight rides. Barney is still a senator after his lover was found to have a boys ring in the basement. Patty is still a senator after proclaiming Osama a hero.
I guess anything is possible as we allow illegal aliens, convicted felons, and dead people to vote.......
I've tried very hard to construct a scenario where HRC wins and I just don't see it. And I am not the overly optimistic sort.
The immigration issue is reaching the breaking point where it will be in congress's interest to make noise about it. There is nothing they will do that will make the dem position more appealing. I find Bush's proposal not nearly so problematic as some folks here do, and it will only become more conservative. What are the dems going to do? Anyone who seriously thinks they will come up with a more conservative position on immigration is smoking the weed.
I think Bush will have to soften his position on temporary worker visas--I can't see the dems gaining any strength by coming down harder. What is the dem immigration position that could shift political support to them?
The economy is not hurting Bush or the Republicans. Who knows in 2008, but what is the democrats's view? They are still perceived as the party that hikes taxes.
I don't worry about not having anyone on the bench this early. That front runner is usually toast by election day.
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