The Candidates
I see that the Ever Vigilant Defender of the 2nd Amendment (Hillary Clinton) has released a mailer that attacks Barack Obama for favoring “a ban on the manufacture, sale and possesion of handguns” in addition to resurrection of Obama’s infamous San Francisco “bitter” comments.
Now, some of you might laugh and say that this is utterly shameless political pandering because after all, hasn’t Hillary Clinton been an advocate of gun control all of her life? Of course you’d be right if you were talking about the old Hillary Clinton. That’s a very distinct person from the new Hillary Clinton. You see, the old version was the classic New Deal liberal politician. The new version of Hillary has become, essentially, a conservative defender of the everyday man. She attacks her opponent from the right on virtually every issue these days and she has co-opted almost the entire attack strategy of the Republican Party. She’s successfully painted him as an out of touch elitist, an inexperienced liberal politician that isn’t ready to be Commander in Chief. Indeed, Hillary has gone out of her way several times to praise the Republican nominee, John McCain, instead of her democratic rival. She has earned praise from conservatives such as Pat Buchanan, Joe Scarborough, Rich Lowry, Bill Kristol, Richard Mellon Scaife, among others.
As the Weekly Standard wrote in it’s current issue:
And better–or worse–[Hillary Clinton] is becoming a social conservative, a feminist form of George Bush. Against an opponent who shops for arugula, hangs out with ex-Weathermen, and says rural residents cling to guns and to God in unenlightened despair at their circumstances, she has rushed to the defense of religion and firearms, while knocking back shots of Crown Royal and beer. Her harsh, football-playing Republican father (the villain of the piece, against whom she rebelled in earlier takes on her story) has become a role model, a working class hero, whose name she evokes with great reverence. Any day now, she’ll start talking Texan, and cutting the brush out in Chappaqua or at her posh mansion on Embassy Row.
In the right-wing conspiracy, this adaptation has not gone unobserved. “Hillary has shown a Nixonian resilience and she’s morphing into Scoop Jackson,” runs one post on National Review’s blog, The Corner:
She’s entering the culture war as a general. All of this has made her a far more formidable general election candidate. She’s fighting the left and she’s capturing the center. She’s denounced MoveOn.org. She’s become the Lieberman of the Democratic Party. The left hates her and treats her like Lieberman. . . . Obama is distancing himself from Wright and Hillary is getting in touch with O’Reilly. The culture war has come to the Democratic Party.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
[...] Russ Wellen wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIndeed, Hillary has gone out of her way several times to praise the Republican nominee, John McCain, instead of her democratic rival. She has earned praise from conservatives such as Pat Buchanan, Joe Scarborough, Rich Lowry, … [...]
May 4th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I know one policy where Hillary differs much from Obama:
The gas tax.
At what point does rhetoric overwhelm reality?
These two agree on policy and disagree only on symbolic issues.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
[...] Ed OKeefe wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI see that the Ever Vigilant Defender of the 2nd Amendment (Hillary Clinton) has released a mailer that attacks Barack Obama for favoring “a ban on the manufacture, sale and possesion of handguns†in addition to resurrection of Obama’s … Read the rest of this great post here [...]
May 4th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Good article
The Clintons are pragmatic and both of their roots are more conservative and Bill’s successes have been when he moved to the right.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
If Billary hadn’t changed their minds so many times when it was politically expedient (and hadn’t such horrible personal lives), I think I’d be tempted to hope Hillary beats Obama.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Typical election year politics .. Hillary running to the right as Conservative and John McCain running to the left.
The problem is only Hillary is faking it.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Except we’re all smart enough to know that if elected Hillary would govern from the left.
May 4th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I disagree, Sean. The Clintons are the most unprincipled people to ever run for national office. Hillary would move right whenever it suited her interests — just like her husband.
I would be profoundly disappointed if Hillary beat McCain. But I would not fear for the future of the republic as much as I would if Obama were to win.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
She has earned praise from conservatives such as Pat Buchanan, Joe Scarborough, Rich Lowry, Bill Kristol, Richard Mellon Scaife, among others.
Add DaveG to that list. I just posted a piece on the front page.
The woman just feels right-wing. And the fact that Buchanan, O’Reilly, Kristol, and the Standard all seem to agree makes me feel somewhat better, as we’re either all jumping the shark or none of us are.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Hillary wants some of those swing voters. She’s already gonna have the left if she’s nominated, so why wouldn’t she? If she bites off a chunk of the swing voters we had better hope McCain energizes the conservatives by his VP appointment. Her numbers have been looking better, and its because she is getting more of the swing voters by acting more conservative. McCain will have to get the real conservatives behind him if he is to have a chance. I still think its going to be Romney or Pawlenty. If he goes with Huckabee or Giuliani, he’ll lose by a lot; won’t even be close.