Posted on 09/25/2006 10:35:40 AM PDT by PDR
LET'S DO A THOUGHT experiment:
Perhaps Bill Clinton, an experienced and sophisticated politician, knew what he was doing when he made big news by "losing his temper" in his interview with Chris Wallace. Perhaps Clinton's aides knew what they were doing when they publicized the interview by providing their own transcript to a left-wing website as soon as possible Friday evening, and then pre-spun reporters late Friday and Saturday. Maybe it was just damage control. Or maybe Clinton did what he wanted to do when he indignantly defended himself, blasted the Bush administration, and attacked Fox News. What could Clinton have been seeking to accomplish? Three things.
1. Helping Democrats in 2006.
In the Fox interview, and in other recent interviews (Meet the Press, the New Yorker), Clinton has shown himself well aware of Republican efforts (engineered by the dastardly Karl Rove) to paint Democrats as unreliable in the war on terror. Clinton would have known that these were doing some damage to Democrats, and that Bush and Rove have had a few good weeks on this issue. And he would know that the Democrats haven't fought back well (e.g., they're now in a difficult position on the Bush-McCain detainees legislation).
In this interview, Clinton rallied Democrats. He reminded them of their talking points on Bush's alleged passivity in his first eight months in office (remember Richard Clarke!), and on the alleged distraction posed by Iraq from the more worthwhile war in Afghanistan. He nicely laid the predicate for the leaked portions of the National Intelligence Estimate that appeared in the press the next day. If the Bush-Rove war-on-terror offensive stalls out this week (and much of the media is committed to making this happen), and Democrats do well in November, Bill Clinton can take credit, at a crucial moment, for discrediting the terror issue as a mere political ploy, and showing Democrats how "to fight back" and how "to stand up to the right-wing propaganda machine" (in the words of Howard Dean).
2. Helping Hillary in 2008.
Hillary Clinton has been having problems with the left wing of the Democratic party. With this interview, Bill Clinton has the entire left wing of the Democratic party rallying to him. Some of this solidarity can presumably be transferred to Hillary. And the dangerous move of the left-wing of the party toward Gore and Edwards, and their rise in national and Iowa polls respectively, can perhaps be stopped.
3. Intimidating Critics.
Clinton wants to make it incorrect, or at least impolite, to criticize his record on terror. Chris Wallace stood up to him. Will others? Will his next interviewer raise the same set of questions? Will they be willing to take the criticism of being "conservative hit men" or part of the vast, Fox-centered right-wing conspiracy? Bullying and intimidation sometimes work. Clinton has used both effectively in the past. Now he wants to put out of bounds certain perfectly legitimate and straight-forward questions. Can we debate which party--based on their practice when in power--can better deal with the jihadist/terror threat? No, according to Clinton. That's illegitimate right-wing propaganda. Whose personal reputation benefits from putting such issues out of bounds? Which political party benefits? Which 2008 presidential candidate?
Bill Clinton is a smart (and calculating) politician.
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Huh?
Let's not give Clinton too much credit. It's kind of like the Democrats who think everything that happens was somehow a plot devised by the master of the universe, Karl Rove.
Answer: None of the above. He simply got caught with his pants....er, defenses down.........
4, and more important than 1-3. He genuinely believes he deserves better, and is genuinely offended by the least insinuation that he doesn't.
klintoon is a sham... a bull$hitter, satanist ba$tard!
He would lie, cheat or steal for advantage. His word is the word of evil. He is sinister, NOT brilliant!
LLS
No.
The only pundits giving Clinton credit for this are the usual suspects. Kristol is an idiot.
Clinton was so calculating, he tore into his staff afterwards.
He is always wagging that finger!
Clinton's lips are moving again, for some reason they always do when he is lying.
Lets see what has former President Clinton done for Democrats? Well with his Presidency, the Republicans became the majority both in the Senate and Congress for the first time in 45 years. Thanks to the former President, we have held this majority and it will be even larger after this next election.
I'd have snapped his finger backwards if he poked me like that.
He clearly was well-prepared for that subject to come up, and he may well have been even hoping for it to. That little tirade was preplanned all the way. He and the Democrats can see which way the poll winds are blowing lately, and it isn't in their direction. This was red meat to try and fire up his base now that we're heading into the home stretch.
Bill Clinton is a knob .....
Bill Kristol is one of those Republicans that was beaten so many times by Bill Clinton that he is convinced that everything Clinton does has a purpose & is thought-out. Kristol is kinda like those Union generals in the Army of the Potomac who were enamored with "Bobby Lee". They were already half-defeated before the first cannon shot.
read later marker
"Let's not give Clinton too much credit. It's kind of like the Democrats who think everything that happens was somehow a plot devised by the master of the universe, Karl Rove."
Which of course is silly because I'm master of the universe.
I think this just may have been Clinton's Jack Parr moment.
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