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Hillary hides behind skirt?
Yahoo! News ^ | November 1, 2007 | Ron Fournier

Posted on 11/04/2007 9:28:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is looking for sympathy, support and political cover as her rivals show the temerity to run aggressively against the Democratic presidential front-runner. But don't feel sorry for her — Clinton is no stranger to "piling on."

In fact, she's an expert at it.

Ask anybody who stood on the marble floor of the state Capitol rotunda in 1990 and heard the click, clack, click of her low-heeled shoes approach the news conference of Tom McRae, a mild-mannered public servant who had the nerve to challenge then-Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas for re-election.

"Tom!" the state's first lady shouted. "I think we oughta get the record straight!"

McRae, a former Clinton appointee, stood a good chance of defeating the incumbent until Hillary Rodham Clinton sandbagged him. Holding a sheaf of papers, she crashed the news conference to undermine McRae's measured criticism of her husband's record.

"Many of the reports you issued not only praise the governor on his environmental record," she said, "but his education and his economic record!"

McRae didn't know how to respond without looking like a sexist bully. His candidacy was over. The Clintons' dreams for re-election and the White House lived on.

The McRae massacre came to mind this week after the Democratic presidential debate, when Clinton essentially hid behind her pantsuit in response to a public shellacking like the one she gave McRae.

Clinton's rivals for the Democratic nomination seized on her refusal to give straight answers about Social Security, immigration, her White House-era documents and other important issues. They hope to further the perception that she is slippery and overly political.

Rather than rebut her rivals' charges or confront the issues with facts and details, Clinton accused her rivals of ganging up on her.

She released a cleverly edited video showing rivals John Edwards, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd uttering her name in rapid-fire succession to the strains of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

The video then cuts to the words, "The Politics of Pile On."

Her top strategist, Mark Penn, told supporters on a conference call that Clinton needed their help to survive "this six-on-one to try to bring her down."

In the call, first reported by The Hill newspaper, pollster Penn said he had already detected backlash from female voters.

On Thursday, the senator returned to her all-female alma mater, Wellesley College, and called it a place that taught her to compete "in the all-boys club of presidential politics."

Clinton's advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss internal matters, said there is a clear and long-planned strategy to fend off attacks by accusing her male rivals of gathering against her.

The idea is to change the subject while making Clinton a sympathetic figure, especially among female voters who often feel outnumbered and bullied on the job.

As one adviser put it, Clinton is not the first presidential candidate to play the "woe-is-me card" but she's the first major female presidential candidate to do it.

The victim is a familiar role for Clinton.

In her first run for the Senate, Republican rival Rep. Rick Lazio alienated many women voters when he strode across the stage in their first debate and demanded Clinton sign a pledge banning unregulated contributions known as "soft money" from her campaign.

Analysts considered the confrontation a turning point in the race, generating sympathy for Clinton while making Lazio look like a menacing bully.

Still, her advisers privately concede there is a potential down side to the 2008 woe-is-me strategy: Male and female voters alike want their presidents to be strong — not weak and whining, which is the perception Clinton must be careful to avoid.

The good news for Clinton is that she, unlike many women, has the upper hand.

High name recognition, lots of campaign cash, her husband's political legacy and her own three decades in public life more than level the playing field — as illustrated by Clinton's wide lead in national polls.

And this isn't her first rodeo. Remember, it was Clinton who defined and defied the "vast right-wing conspiracy," and who lashed out — or piled on — critics of her health care reform efforts in the early 1990s.

She has an alternative to the risky piling-on defense. Clinton could undercut her rivals' criticism by simply coming clean on more issues.

Just what is her stance on drivers' licenses for immigrants? How would she preserve Social Security? Why would her public views differ from what she says in private?

Why doesn't she demand that her husband release records from the White House, and donors to his library?

When would she withdraw troops from Iraq? What would cause her to wage war against Iran?

As she told McRae nearly 20 years ago, we oughta get the record straight.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New York
KEYWORDS: 2008; democratparty; democrats; election; electionpresident; elections; feminazi; feminism; gender; gendercard; genderpolitics; hillary; hillaryclinton; johnhuang; victimculture
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

the piaps only hides behind a pantsuit!!!


21 posted on 11/05/2007 3:28:56 AM PST by nyyankeefan
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
there is a clear and long-planned strategy to fend off attacks by accusing her male rivals of gathering against her.
No surprise that Team Hillary has a long-planned strategy to play the I Am Woman, Poor Widdle Me card.


The idea is to change the subject while making Clinton a sympathetic figure, especially among female voters who often feel outnumbered and bullied on the job.
Sympathetic figure? That one could backfire.

Do we want a sympathetic figure leading the Nation in the continuing war against Islamic extremists?

Do we want a sympathetic figure leading the Nation in facing radicals such as Chevez, or countries China or Russia?

Do we want a sympathetic figure leading the Nation dealing with a nuclear nation in turmoil, such as Pakistan is?

Do we want a sympathetic figure leading the Nation in facing down UN resolutions designed to weaken the United States of America?

Do we want a sympathetic figure leading the Nation?

If poor widdle Hillary can't face up to 3 or 4 of her colleagues in a debate, how is she going to face up to the threats and issues that impact the Nation?
22 posted on 11/05/2007 4:22:16 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: PROCON
I know I’m a newbie, and I really want to learn this HTML stuff so I can’t post pictures,etc.

A couple of threads of interest:

HTML Sandbox

How to post a thread and other interesting facts, part II. (Welcome Newbies)


23 posted on 11/05/2007 4:28:01 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: TomGuy

I would love to see Hunter or Thompson in a debate with her.That would be fantastic.She would implode worse than she did against the metrosexual girly boys.


24 posted on 11/05/2007 4:31:54 AM PST by HANG THE EXPENSE (Defeat liberalism, its the right thing to do for America.)
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To: ARE SOLE
...she hides behind Ole Crusty.

Those pants not only stand by themselves... they've been known to walk out the door on several occasions

25 posted on 11/05/2007 4:38:24 AM PST by johnny7 ("But that one on the far left... he had crazy eyes")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I love seeing these articles. The more journalists write about Hillary hiding behind her gender the less she will be able to get away with it. This is effectively taking that weapon away from her, setting up a perfect “There you go again, Hillary” moment for the Republican nominee in a debate.


26 posted on 11/05/2007 4:39:00 AM PST by LadyNavyVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
There’s a large number of people here on FR who think half of the Republican candidates are just as bad as Hillary and say they will not vote if their Republican candidate is not running aginst her in the fall.
27 posted on 11/05/2007 4:51:49 AM PST by kempo (blA)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Ellen Ratner & Georgette Mosbacher were on Fox with the Friends this morning discussing Mrs. Clinton & the victim card...Ellen said that of course Hillary is being beaten up by the boys because she’s winning and kept insisting that she gave straight answers in the debates. Georgette & Gretchen weren’t buying it but Ellen kept sputtering and was all over the place trying to defend her pal, Hill.
28 posted on 11/05/2007 5:03:16 AM PST by Miss Didi ("Good heavens, woman, this is a war not a garden party!" Dr. Meade, Gone with the Wind)
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To: rabscuttle385
High name recognition, lots of Chinese campaign cash,....

Funny how fast that Hsu story went away, when it was obvious to a blind horse that this guy was the Riadys and John Huang all over again.

29 posted on 11/05/2007 5:24:07 AM PST by lentulusgracchus ("Whatever." -- sinkspur)
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To: righting-wrongs
....if she actually becomes Pres. I might quit my job and take up fishing in Antartica.

Well, if you do, make sure you do it before calendar year 2009 begins, and make sure you apply to the penguins for Antarctic citizenship.

Otherwise you'll be getting visits and letters from the IRS demanding you pay your punitive, retroactive Hillary taxes on penises, cars, anybody with money or gold, and anyone who ever tuned in to Rush Limbaugh.

30 posted on 11/05/2007 5:30:29 AM PST by lentulusgracchus ("Whatever." -- sinkspur)
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To: Miss Didi
Her answers were straight. The answer is as always with the Clintons: "Pay me to play!"

It was a rainmaker's answer. I'm for it and against it -- depending on who next pays me. I'll be for it it, then someone bribes me -- then I'm against it. Very simple. Straightforward.

31 posted on 11/05/2007 5:34:19 AM PST by bvw
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To: Theresawithanh
Yeah, and she set feminism back 20 years.

See, there's a Silver Lining in every Cloud.

Pray for W and Our Victorious Troops

32 posted on 11/05/2007 5:35:37 AM PST by bray (Think "Betray U.S." Think Democrat)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
The victim is a familiar role for Clinton.

Yup, real CinC material there, all right....

SNORT.

33 posted on 11/05/2007 5:35:59 AM PST by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: Miss Didi
Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.

Margaret Thatcher

34 posted on 11/05/2007 5:38:17 AM PST by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: mewzilla

Great quote!


35 posted on 11/05/2007 6:39:33 AM PST by Miss Didi ("Good heavens, woman, this is a war not a garden party!" Dr. Meade, Gone with the Wind)
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To: Hillary4Penetentiary
So let’s see, this great feminist icon in addition to being a doormat to her cheating husband now also uses her gender to shield her from accountability and having to answer her critics. How can someone present herself as ready to take on the rigors of the presidency, a job held by men for over 200 years, when she wants to put out the message that she’s too effeminately dainty to take the heat of a political campaign?

You nailed it.

How our enemies and adversaries must be laughing right now. (And how our allies are groaning.)

36 posted on 11/05/2007 6:43:32 AM PST by bootless (Never Forget - And Never Again. And Always Act.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

She’s a brilliant tactician (in combination with X42) and it’s why the GOP shouldn’t take her lightly. She can suckerpunch like the boys and get all of the benefits afterward of a girl.


37 posted on 11/05/2007 6:47:34 AM PST by GraniteStateConservative (...He had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here...-- Worst.President.Ever.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Was it this one?
38 posted on 11/05/2007 6:49:30 AM PST by Eye of Unk
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
...when Clinton essentially hid behind her pantsuit...

LOL! Hillary Chameleon is hiding in plane sight. Focus.

39 posted on 11/05/2007 6:50:52 AM PST by PGalt
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To: PGalt

Sheesh! She also hides in plain sight. (Where’s my coffee!)


40 posted on 11/05/2007 6:53:57 AM PST by PGalt
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