Hillary Clinton: The Teflon Candidate?

Democratic Presidential Hopeful Continues To Slip Rivals' Punches

(CBS)  It's getting a little more rough and tumble among the Democrats who want to be president, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod

“I heard Sen. Clinton say on Sunday that she wants to continue combat missions on Iraq. To me that's a continuation of the war,” Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said at the Democratic debate in New Hampshire Wednesday night.

Hillary Clinton's rivals see her turning a steady-as-she-goes campaign performance into solid front-runner status and they're sharpening their attacks.

Barack Obama reached back 13 years to her unyielding approach during her health care failure of 1994.

“If it was lonely for Hillary, part of the reason it was lonely, Hillary, was because you closed the door to a lot of potential allies in that process,” he said.

But so far, no one's laid a glove on her. During the latest debate, she said "no" when asked by moderator Tim Russert if torture was acceptable to break up a terror plot, as another politician suggested to him.

“The guest who laid out this scenario for me, with that proposed solution, was William Jefferson Clinton last year. So he disagrees with you," Russert said.

“Well, he is not standing here right now,” she responded to applause.

Clinton's 2002 vote for the war, the health care debacle and ties to a corrupt fundraiser -- something was supposed to stick. So far, nothing has.

“Don't people think there's so much negative attached to this woman?” asks Axelrod.

“You might think there's more negative because she's in the public eye for a lot more years. All these other guys, all of a sudden they're popping up from here and there. She's been there through thick and thin with Bill,” says New Hampshire voter Debbie Fields.

The war and health care are both potential minefields for her, and she’s slipped both punches, says Democratic consultant Anita Dunn.

“It's a very risky proposition to be the person who goes and really starts defining differences in a negative fashion and that's because, generally there's a third candidate who ends up being the beneficiary of those fights - you can ask Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt who wins those fights, and the answer is John Kerry,” Dunn said.

Nothing points up this Teflon quality of Clinton more than the war. She took a lot of hits from the left when she wouldn't apologize for her vote to go to war. But in the most recent national polls, when asked which Democrat Americans trusted most on Iraq, the answer was Hillary Clinton.

[sftodd]

Hillary has obviously learned a lot since she ran for the senate (thank god). We need a president that learns from experience instead of digging his heels in deeper as he drives the country off the cliff. I''m glad to see how she has matured and raised the bar for this next election. There is hope we will have competency in the White House again, whether it is Hillary or someone else.

[wonderyman-2009]

If Obama can comment on Hillary''s political work back in 1994, it must be something he read in a book.
Could hardly be first-hand analysis given his age.

[tburzio]

Who killed Vince foster?

[reallydeal]

Using George Bush as the bar for measuring presidential candidates... enough said. Judging a person based on their age? Really? I hope voters use a better set of criteria, when selecting their candidate. How about trust, integrity, results, and leadership? All I see from Mrs. Clinton is positioning, dodging, and (prior to running for President) the Democrats tool for anti-Republican rhetoric. Wake up people.

[burneb]

Most of the rival attacks are failing because most have been cheap shots without much substance. Hopefully, this time voters may put more weight on actual subject knowledge and balanced positions that take realistic and dynamic circumstances into account.

Someone who expects to agree exactly with everything a candidate has ever said or done (including those erroneously reported) is bound to be disappointed. Nothing ever gets through Congress exactly the way any candidate proposes anyway, but we need leaders who will push in the right directions.

Overall I suspect Hillary will do more good and less damage than any other candidate. If Democrats again devour their own in a quest for perfection that sidelines the good, we will again wind up with a troll like Guilani or Thompson, who will prove much less than they seem.

[willymack]

How can anyone think that Hillary Clinton can lead a nation when she could not even control her husband. She is a great reader of character and truth...... as illustrated when she supported her husband.....I did not have *** with that women. I guess she is a women of strong character and morals because she put up with his several affairs........ or maybe she simply could not bear not having power.

[pwrslm]

Posted by willymack4

Most women would leave thier husbands for all everything billy boy did....

Hillary didnt have the sense to stand up for her own rights, either that or she really isnt a very good example for society because she accepts it.

Billy should have had his pants sued a dozen times over for his sexual misconduct. If hillary didnt help him hide the truth about his sexual harassment of women over a decade before he became president, billy boy would never have been elected.

Hillary has no problems helping billy decieve America. It makes you wonder why she went to court to supress information about what she did when she was 1st lady. There is no doubt about it. Hillary is decieveing America again.

Will we fall for it a second time?

[dbrown671]

It''s sad that CBS continue to use its airwaves as infomercials for its worped views. Its as if Dan Rather is still there. These "is hillary teflon" by lines are absolutely dumb. Just do the news and present the facts..... FACT: Obama had a rally in Hillo land today. More than 25,000 supports rallying behind our next President and CBS gave 0 coverage. You are last in the ratins and will continue to be. Facts and News PLEASE!

[sftodd]

badaxmofo - is your screen name trying to make up for something? Do you have penile envy?

[sftodd]

That way, the US Military will be diminished in the long run, and it will be easier to subvert the US Government.

Sodomy is no good for the United States. Neither is Hillary.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by pwrslm at 09:28 PM : Sep 27, 2007

Get a clue -- the current chimp-in-chief has diminished the military -- squandered it on an imaginary threat so he could help his oil buddies. You, on the other hand, pathetic piece of cr*p that you are, will get nothing from George.

[tbweb]

Is it just me or does she seem like an opportunist ho riding her cheating husband''''s coattails to the top? Where the H did the ''''Rodham'''' go anyway?

Posted by badaxmofo at 09:55 PM : Sep 27, 2007,,,

This is a common problem when people are very upset or angry, they are so anxious to get away from something that they are not paying full attention to what their getting, taking an attitude that anything is better than what I have now approach, the proverbial jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire! History repeats itself, this is what happened when Pres. Bush was elected, Clinton fatigue, no one really paid close attention to what they were getting into with Pres. Bush, going on the Bush name, incorrectly thinking he was a slight variation of his father. The majority of Hillary supporters for Pres. are actually Bill Clinton supporters, and while Hillary is smart, Bill is brilliant, and at the end of the day while people think they are getting Bill voting for Hillary, they are in fact only getting Hillary and once elected she will make it clear that she is the Pres., not Bill!! You know how it goes, once the election is over and she gets drunk with power like Bush it will be Bill who? The real danger is that Hillary may go too far trying to show her independence from Bill and where does that road lead too? Pure speculation of course.

[sftodd]

This is a common problem . . .
----------------------------------------
Posted by tbweb at 10:42 PM : Sep 27, 2007

Thanks for a thoughtful post unlike the conservative rednecks who apparently love this website. Shouldn''t they be listening to Fox, or out on a ledge somewhere?

[coffee_guy1]

Ok, I''ll admit it. I''ve always had a crush on Hillary.

[coffee_guy1]

I liked what she said about fiscal responsibility. Thats a kind of a patriotism all by itself. Being able to pay for what ya buy.

[coffee_guy1]

"Hillary didnt have the sense to stand up for her own rights, either that or she really isnt a very good example for society because she accepts it."

The whole notion of having to explain yourself in front of everybody like that about your personal private stuff is absurd, and just like the two-faced GOP to ask of someone else other than themselves.

[pwrslm]

The whole notion of having to explain yourself in front of everybody like that about your personal private stuff is absurd, and just like the two-faced GOP to ask of someone else other than themselves.
Posted by coffee_guy1

The Office of the President isnt a position at McDonalds. The fact that Hillary helped Bill hide his sexual harrasment history is inexcusable in any forum, and an offense against the dignity of the Office of the President of the United States.

Hillary is a liar, a cheat, and probably a thief. She doesnt deserve a second though for sitting in the Oval Office. It borders obscene.

[pwrslm]

I liked what she said about fiscal responsibility. Thats a kind of a patriotism all by itself. Being able to pay for what ya buy.
Posted by coffee_guy1

Thats called a political shell game. The words normally dont match the actions. Even Billys claim to have balanced the Budget was a lie, because in order to do it, he stole the entire Social Security Fund, which isnt a part of the US Governments Budget, but an account that belongs to 300 million of us....

[agnim]

"Hillary Clinton: The Teflon Candidate?"

LOL

Right, not even her husband, Bill, wanted to touch her.

That''s why Bill went to smoke his big cigar in Monica Lewinski''s pussi: Hilary can''t be touched. LOL

[pwrslm]

Hillary supports sodomites.

She does. She knows that the majority of homosexuals in the world are men. She hates men. Sodomites have a life expectancy of 41 years. They get sick from terrible diseases and die young, and they dont reproduce. That makes Hillary happy.

The chinese like Hillary too. They dont want americans to reproduce, so they finance sodomy backers like the Clintons. That way, the US Military will be diminished in the long run, and it will be easier to subvert the US Government.

Sodomy is no good for the United States. Neither is Hillary.

[starleo146]

s it just me or does she seem like an opportunist ho riding her cheating husband''''''''s coattails to the top? Where the H did the ''''''''Rodham'''''''' go anyway?

Posted by badaxmofo at 09:55 PM : Sep 27, 2007,,,

Well seeing Hillary is the only women running and you have reason to call the woman running a ho, what do you call all those men (I think) running on the republican side toe tapping pimps.

[linfinster]

I''m willing to bet that long ago, on a dark and stormy night during President Clinton''s rein, when scandals where what people were talking about .. I BET Hillary made a pact with Bill to see him thru all that and, that one day he would have to do his part to help her get the Presidency. That''s what I think.

[starleo146]

Get a clue -- the current chimp-in-chief has diminished the military -- squandered it on an imaginary threat so he could help his oil buddies. You, on the other hand, pathetic piece of cr*p that you are, will get nothing from George.

Posted by SFTodd at 10:40 PM : Sep 27, 2007

You are so right the chimp-in-chief even hates little kids and the elderly. If we change all our names to oil do you think he not use his deadly pen?

[pwrslm]

Well seeing Hillary is the only women running and you have reason to call the woman running a ho, what do you call all those men (I think) running on the republican side toe tapping pimps.

Posted by starleo146

THATS a woman?

I been thinking it was lying, scumbag politician for 16 years now. Sure fooled me.

[pwrslm]

You are so right the chimp-in-chief even hates little kids and the elderly. If we change all our names to oil do you think he not use his deadly pen?

Posted by starleo146

Got any more bushophobic conspiracy theories? They all build up your crediblity.

Not the credibility you need to be believed, the credibility that your mentally unstable and cant think straight. Surely, if you could, you could document some of the lies as real life facts, but you dont, and cant.

You had your chance, and all ya did was post more bushophobica. Gratz, your a sucker for gossip.

[sftodd]

Got any more bushophobic conspiracy theories?
Posted by pwrslm at 11:37 PM : Sep 27, 2007

Typicaly ignorant conservative -- adopting liberal language without even knowing it -- what a dumb_ss pwrslm is! LOL -- Are you also wearing clothes designed by Verace? You are an i-****! LOL!

[radiob-2009]

You are so right the chimp-in-chief even hates little kids and the elderly. If we change all our names to oil do you think he not use his deadly pen?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by starleo146


He might adopt us, but now to teflon Hillary so teflon that she is going to slide out of her own pan and lose the election for being herself with all of her flip flops.

[sftodd]

I liked what she said about fiscal responsibility. Thats a kind of a patriotism all by itself. Being able to pay for what ya buy.
Posted by coffee_guy1

Thats called a political shell game. The words normally dont match the actions . . .

Posted by pwrslm at 11:07 PM : Sep 27, 2007

Really, pwrslm? stop embarrassing yourself -- your favorite chimp has run up the national debt more than any president in history.

[dutchfarmer]

Mrs. Billy Clinton can''t take the heat if the light of truth exposed her socialism and self-centeredness. She needs to get in the kitchen and make cookies.

[ajmarine1]

Is it just me, or does Hillary look manly in the pant suits she wears? Does she own a dress?

[socrates392]

Is it just me, or does Hillary look manly in the pant suits she wears? Does she own a dress?

Posted by AJMarine1 at 12:47 AM : Sep 28, 2007

Do you really want to see her legs? ;-(

[sftodd]

Mrs. Billy Clinton can''''t take the heat if the light of truth exposed her socialism and self-centeredness. She needs to get in the kitchen and make cookies.

Posted by dutchfarmer at 12:28 AM : Sep 28, 2007

Dutchfarmer -- I think you meant "into the kitchen" -- perhaps you could learn English before volunteering your intelligent opinions? Just a suggestion.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Democratic Presidential Hopeful Continues To Slip Rivals'' Punches"

As much as I despise Bush, I also condemn the Democrats for not forcefully advocating the end of illegal hostilities, and personal accounting by Hitler Jr.

I''d bet Hillary, or for that matter all the candidates on both sides couldn''t slip my verbal punches, that is why I''d never be allowed to address them.

[sftodd]

I''''d bet Hillary, or for that matter all the candidates on both sides couldn''''t slip my verbal punches, that is why I''''d never be allowed to address them.
Posted by brianbwb at 01:01 AM : Sep 28, 2007

True enough -- I wish one single journalist in this country had the guts to ask a politician a real question. They all laugh and make kissey faces and pretend like they are not destroying this country. The only thing more disgusting than a politician is an American journalist.

[ajmarine1]

Do you really want to see her legs? ;-(

Posted by socrates392

Call me sick, but once in a while wouldn''t be bad.

[ajmarine1]

[e-mail] John Gibson''

The far left is reeling today, and it''s their own anti-Bush candidates who have let the left down.

First, all efforts to end the war with legislation in Congress have now officially failed. Democrats run the Senate, except when it comes to the war it seems.

Second, last night''s Democrat debate. On that issue, let''s give a major league hat tip to Tim Russert, moderator of "Meet the Press." He went after the Democrats just as if the bunch of them standing up there were Bush, Cheney, Rummy and Scooter Libby. And Russert''s persistent and pointed questioning produced the most interesting results of the night.

Not one of the anti-Bush, anti-war Democrat primary leaders would promise to bring the troops home from Iraq before the end of his or her first term. Not Hillary Clinton, not John Edwards, not Barack Obama.

From the Daily Kos today, the far-left Web site run out of Berkeley, California, is this posting from Markos Moulitsas himself: "Hillary may be the most disciplined politician I''ve ever seen. If Obama is to make up ground, he''ll have to do it the old-fashioned politics way %u2014 by attacking."



Part 1

[ajmarine1]

OK. Should Obama attack Hillary for not promising to get us out of Iraq when he won''t make the same promise himself?

And this is from one of the Daily Kos posters later. Probably tells the real tale of the left right now: "Visit Draft Gore Central at AmericaforGore.org to find a Draft Gore group near you."

Have they given up on the big Dems, especially Hillary and Obama and Edwards? Starting to sound like it if the Draft Gore movement is picking up steam on the left.

Democrats have gone to great lengths to encourage the far-left voter to believe they will end the war and end it on the first day they have the power to do so. Now the secret is out. No they won''t.

The big three, at least, recognize that they don''t know everything there is to know about the war, and they may have to continue something they have been telling people they would end. Oops.

And to moderator Tim Russert: Thanks. That was really great.

Part 2

[shanev137]

Where does she "really" stand on the issues...she has flip-flopped so many times it''s hard to believe anything she says anymore.

She will say anything in order to win.

[ajmarine1]

She will say anything in order to win.

Posted by shanev137

I want to know how the records that she couldn''t find for three years turned up under her bed in the White House and no one nows how they got there.

[zorlacskates]

congratulations, bushies. your mud-slinging, lowest-common-denominator approach to political debate seems to have reached its inevitable conclusion -- nobody is paying attention to you anymore and you can''t find a way to even begin to slow hillary down. nobody cares what the right says anymore and you don''t have the faintest clue how to handle hillary. the moronic anti-hillary posts here are evidence of just how helpless you''ve become. she''s a man/lesbian/socialist/***/doesn''t look good in a pantsuit/flip-flopper/liar. brilliant stuff, guys. good luck with that next year.

[ajmarine1]

Starting during the 1992 presidential campaign, and throughout her time as First Lady, the Whitewater controversy was the subject of attention. The Clintons had lost their late-1970s investment in the Whitewater Development Corporation; at the same time, Clintons partners Jim and Susan McDougal operated a savings and loan that retained Hillary Clinton''s legal services at Rose Law Firm. When the McDougals'' savings and loan failed in 1994, federal investigators subpoenaed Clinton''s legal billing records for auditing purposes. Hillary Clinton claimed to be unable to produce these records. After an extensive, two-year search, the records were found in the first lady''s book room in the White House and delivered to investigators in early 1996. The delayed appearance of the billing records sparked intense interest and another investigation about how they surfaced and where they had been; Clinton attributed the problem to disorganization that resulted from her move from the Arkansas Governor''s Mansion to the White House as well as the effects of a White House renovation.[119] After the discovery of the records, on January 26, 1996, Clinton made history by becoming the first First Lady to be subpoenaed to testify before a Federal grand jury

[namesnames]

Dutchfarmer -- I think you meant "into the kitchen" -- perhaps you could learn English before volunteering your intelligent opinions? Just a suggestion.

Posted by SFTodd at 01:00 AM : Sep 28, 2007

SFTodd:
"Just a suggestion." is not a complete sentence.

[iceman_1960]

Hillary Clinton will be our next President.

More women will automatically vote for a reasonably qualified female candidate, than will admit that now to pollsters.

Even without that, she has extended her lead over the GOP candidates, even in several Southern states.

She will be our next President. And I predict she''ll turn out to be a very good one.

[cleossis]

dutch farmer this is for you gone are the days of women in the kitchen. It is high time our country have a woman president. She is tough to stand in front of all these male that can just critise her but she is like a rock. She is the best candidate so far we have seen and she will be the best president ever no doubt. We all women should stand up and vote for her only our vote can get her where she can do something good for not just women but all of her children too. Men have always called women names to bring her down so they look machos. i read some comment calling her ho and a woman to be in kitchen these men do not even respect their own mother so their opinion will dont matter much anyway

[iceman_1960]

"SFTodd:
"Just a suggestion." is not a complete sentence."
- Posted by namesnames at 03:44 AM : Sep 28, 2007

That''s why I gave up reading Shakespeare. All those sentence fragments of his !

"Nothing, my Lord."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
- King Lear

Sentence fragments. Can''t stand them. Never could.

[ajmarine1]

If anything, the fact that Hillary is a woman is probably a plus. But she can come across as too cerebral, lacking her husband''s ability to connect emotionally with voters.

She can also seem super-calculating, a politician who changes her positions less out of conviction than opportunism. That factor could play in particular into the hands of Obama, who will portray himself as a "new" politician, unsullied by the partisan political fray.

A further drawback is the Iraq war, which she supported in the crucial Congressional vote of October 2002. To the disappointment of liberals, she has thus far refused to disavow that vote.

Then there is Bill: spouse, informal adviser-in-chief, and the most gifted natural US politician of his era. None has a better sense of the electorate - but none is more scandal-prone. If he is caught playing the field again, not only would that be a huge distraction to Hillary''s campaign. It would remind voters of the Clinton marital psychodrama that played out in the Paula Jones/Monica Lewinsky sagas. Do Americans want to go through that again? That is why even some Democrats fear she is too divisive to be elected

[iceman_1960]

"...on January 26, 1996, Clinton made history by becoming the first First Lady to be subpoenaed to testify before a Federal grand jury..."
- Posted by AJMarine1 at 03:19 AM : Sep 28, 2007

Not bad. She''ll also make history when she becomes the first First Lady to become President.

Before that, Laura Bush made history by becoming the first First Lady with a verified vehicular homicide on her personal record.

[iceman_1960]

"She is also super-calculating"
- Posted by AJMarine1 at 04:56 AM : Sep 28, 2007

That will come in handy on Super Tuesday.

Too bad Dubya wasn''t super-calculating when he "planned" the Iraq War.

"A further drawback is the Iraq war, which she supported in the crucial Congressional vote of October 2002. To the disappointment of liberals, she has thus far refused to disavow that vote."
- Posted by AJMarine1 at 04:56 AM : Sep 28, 2007

Not true.

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005
Hillary Clinton: Iraq War Vote a Mistake

For the first time since she voted to authorize the Iraq war three years ago, 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is now saying that vote was a mistake.

"If Congress had been asked [to authorize the war], based on what we know now, we never would have agreed," Clinton said, in an email sent to her supporters on Tuesday.

While saying she took full responsibility for her error, Clinton repeatedly insisted that she had been misled by "false" intelligence on Iraq''s weapons of mass destruction presented by the Bush administration."

Source (and shame on me for quoting these bums):

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/11/29/195654.shtml

[ajmarine1]

Before that, Laura Bush made history by becoming the first First Lady with a verified vehicular homicide on her personal record.

Posted by Iceman_1960

According to the two-page accident report released Wednesday by the city of Midland, Laura Welch was driving her Chevrolet sedan on a clear night shortly after 8 p.m. on Nov. 6, 1963, when she drove into an intersection and struck a Corvair sedan driven by 17-year-old Michael Douglas.

Although previous news accounts have reported Douglas was thrown from the car and broke his neck, those details were not in the report.

The speed of Laura Bush''s car was illegible on the report. The speed limit for the road was 55.

Neither driver was drinking, the police report said.

Laura Bush and her passenger, Judy *****, also 17, were taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries, according to an accident account printed at the time in the Midland Reporter-Telegram.

The police report indicates no charges were filed. That section of the report was left blank.

``As far as we know, no charges were filed,'''' said Midland city attorney Keith Stretcher. ``I don''t think it''s unusual that charges weren''t filed.''''

The police report was released after an open records request was submitted to Midland officials in March. City officials had declined to release the records because the victims were under 18.

She was only 17.

[vet_sk]

She''ll never get the progessive vote. I say let the country die fast and perhaps all the internal organs won''t die - and then perhaps a good shock will wake us up and we''ll put this country back together.

...this why the country continue to spend and kill - but oh, yeah, no one hardly pays attention with their IPODS...and Iraq is 8 time zones away.

[iceman_1960]

RE: Post by AJMarine1 at 05:04 AM : Sep 28, 2007

That was below the belt on my part. I apologize.

I sank to the level of the Swift Boat crowd with that one.