Which Side Wants To Lose The Least?

National Review Online: Clinton's Brawling, GOP Attacks On McCain Bring Down Both Candidates

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Victor Davis Hanson

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Just a few months ago, the 2008 presidential contest seemed predetermined. The New York lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton were far ahead in their respective party polls. And in the one-on-one match-up, Sen. Clinton was all but declared the foreordained winner a year in advance.

But not now.

After Barack Obama’s unexpected surge in Iowa, Bill and Hillary Clinton resorted to chewing him up through their trademark politics of personal destruction. Thanks to Clinton Inc., we now hear almost daily that Obama is inspirational but inexperienced, that he had admitted to drug use, that his middle name is Hussein, that he really was not against the Iraq war, that he consorts with Chicago slumlords, that he spins fairy tales, and that he likes Ronald Reagan.

Hillary found her many voices and pulled out all the stops - screeching, accusing, and nearly crying - until finally Bill Clinton himself was unleashed.

Long gone was Bill’s carefully crafted veneer of ex-president as global humanitarian and bipartisan senior statesmen. Instead, the Bill of old lost his legendary temper at reporters. He shook his finger. He bent the truth. Always he distorted Obama’s record.

Then a funny thing happened. Hillary’s liberal audience jeered at the pro-wrestling tactics of the Clinton tag team. The Democratic referees warned the Clintons to stop the eye gouging. Liberal spectators were bewildered not so much at the familiar Clinton knee-in-the-groin, but that it would be turned on one of their own good guys - and a young, soft-spoken and idealistic African-American at that!

Suddenly, “shocked” Democrats cried foul and recalled the tawdry pardons and impeachment - the tainted Bubba of the 1990s, not the rehabilitated William Jefferson Clinton who helps tsunami victims and presides over the Clinton Global Initiative.

When the Clintons’ return to power crashed into liberal dogmas about race and gender, all sorts of unexpected ironies arose:

Bill, as our first “black” president, had encouraged identity politics among a collective black electorate, so why was he angry that African-Americans might vote collectively for Obama? And had any recent ex-president ever regressed to such nasty character assassination on the campaign trail? As a committed feminist, why was Hillary calling for a male bailout by outsourcing her dirty work to her husband? And whom were we now voting for -- Hillary, Bill or some sort of Clinton centaur, her supposedly rational head and torso implanted on his frisky body and legs?

The result of all this has been that while Hillary still polls ahead of the surging Obama in most states, in hypothetical general-election polls she runs behind Republican frontrunner, Sen. John McCain.

End of story?

Hardly. In reaction to McCain’s own surge and the Republican windfall, the conservative base went ballistic. Soon a Republican civil war broke out over how best to lose the election.

Despite McCain’s 82-percent career ranking by the American Conservative Union, and his support for balanced budgets, an end to pork-barrel spending and earmarks, strong support for the war, and expressed regret over once supporting the Bush illegal immigration reform package, McCain was branded by the conservative media as a sellout and a near liberal. Not to mention that he was supposedly too old and hot-tempered to be the Republican nominee. The more McCain was discovered not to be a perfect conservative, the more he was accused of not even being a good one.

Even stranger, the various Republican candidates began invoking Ronald Reagan’s three-decade-old tenure as the new litmus test of the times - apparently to show how moderates like the wayward McCain fell far short of the Gipper’s true-blue conservatism.

Were conservatives supposed to forget that a maverick Reagan raised some taxes, signed an illegal-alien amnesty bill, expanded government, appointed centrist Supreme Court justices, advocated nuclear disarmament, sold arms to Iran, and pulled out of Lebanon - but to remember only that John McCain was not for the original Bush tax cuts or once supported the administration’s offer of a quasi-amnesty?

The Democratic cat-fighters are doing their best to give away a once-sure general election, but the Republicans seem to be doing even more to ensure that they forfeit the unexpected gift they’ve been given.

If Hillary Clinton does end up winning her party’s nomination, November’s vote may hinge on whether moderates and liberals are nauseated enough by the Clintons’ brawling and character assassination to cross over and vote for a decorated Republican war hero - that is, if his own flag-waving party doesn’t destroy him first.

[b-easy63]

Romney is the only candidate prepared to fix our economy!

His record for proof: In 1990, Romney was CEO of Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse.
Romney knows how to help our economy!
Posted by news4all
----------
BRAVO!!!


Nope. Romeny knows how to run a business--
God only knows all the job corpses and laid off people who fell in the wake of his turn around.
What it takes to be a CEO is NOT what it takes to run America--you can''t "DOWNSIZE" the country or juggle the books just to give investors money (well you can, but Bush has juggled them to death and now the balls are raining around our heads). YOu can''t give yourself a golden parachute and just lay off workers to make the numbers look good...(OK you can, but Bush has already done that one so we are on to it) You can''t keep diversions going to take out mind off the economy (Bush tried that too, but with the diversion/wars eating up MILLIONS per day, it looks like the "fix" is the problem--so fvck Romney''s proposal, the problem is, even if every conservative wanted him--he has to get past the Rest of us--and we hold the Republicans responsible for the war, the economy, the lies and the huge deficit in the first place.

[brianbwb-2009]

(National Review Online) This column was written by Victor Davis Hanson

Just more proof that an education is not an important criterion to be a contributor to the NRO.

In DC, there are no Republicans or Democrats, no conservatives or liberals, just a bunch of lying crooks jostling for their turn to put all four feet into the trough.

They pimp the attitudes of their constituents without delivering on their promises, since when does a "conservative" vote to borrow trillions to finance putting American GIs into harm''s way for the sake of the president''s lies?

And since when do "liberals" vote to allow businesses to export American jobs, gut social security, and privatize America''s vital infrastructure into the hands of greedy and corrupt corporations?

They are all thieves, but the ones who pimp the NRO''s fascist leanings get the support of the NRO.

This publication deserves no more respect than does some underground soft porn ragsheet, if it cannot see what even an adolescent can, that there is not much difference between a pig, and a swine, a hog, and a sow, they are all pork.

[tibu987]

This letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune, published February 1, 2008, struck me with it''''s brief but necessary approach to what is holding this Country from regaining it''''s supremacy in the world. Nothing will go well unless our politicians can drop this political partisan divisiveness and work for the common good and the uniting of all the people of this great Country. Only during World War II was this country united.
Together we can defeat any problem. To continue to be divided, is to lose control of our future.
......tibu987

Drastic Measure

For the second time in 35
years I''''ll take a Democratic
ballot. The first time was
when Barack Obama ran
for the U.,S. Senate. This
time it will be to support
his candidacy for president
The most critical problem
facing the U.S. isn''''t the
economy, global warming,
or Iraq. It''''s the divisive,
partisan politics that
dominates Washington.
Until we have leaders who
don''''t view every issue as a
"wedge" to divide the
electorate or as an
opportunity to make the
other side of the aisle look
bad, our government will
remain gridlocked --unable
to solve the problems that
affect its citizens.Obama is
the one candidate who
might be able to change
the tenor of the debate
in Washington.

Brent Grossland,
Petersburg, Ill.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by Kaelinda at 07:00 PM : Feb 02, 2008

I think you''ve already been proven wrong TWICE! But go ahead an hold your prejudices against the Clinton''s if it makes your little heart go pitty patter. If you can''t cast a thoughtful vote except based on a bunch of Neocon garbage, just don''t vote.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by roadking041 at 07:23 AM : Feb 02, 2008

The fact that you are so concerned with where Mr. Clinton put his application speak to where your mind resides, Sir. Frankly, what he applies himself to on a sexual basis is no concern of mine.

Let''s talk about running this government. Not you, nor any Neocon camel poop eating supporter, not the idiot son, Dubya, nor anybody else, can take away the fact that when Mr. Clinton was the President of these United States, that this country was in excellent shape...in economy and in foreign relations.

So why don''t you go visit old Joe and his four sisters and relieve your idiocies and dream some more wet dreams of the idiot son''s successes, of which there aren''t ANY!!!!

[kaelinda]

What many left-leaning liberals don''t understand is that many Republicans will vote for Obama and just as many would practically stand on their heads to keep Hill-Billy out of office. And why is that? Because Bill, who will be half of the Hillary presidency just as she was half of his presidency, is losing his marbles. His recent behavior smacks of someone who is just entering the stages of dementia.

[elz523]

It is always entertaining to see these cons turn things around. Yes the Clintons can play rough, but it is important to be able to do that when dealing with the double dealing cons. These cons deserve the rough treatment for all the bs they put the country through in trying to find some way to destroy Bill Clinton.
The reason why the left doesn''t like it when the rough political skills are turned on Obama is because he doesn''t deserve that. He is not some dim witted con doing a hatchet job on the Clintons like Hanson here and his ilk.

[sophielhu]

Romney is like the weather in New England--if you don''''t like his position, wait 10 minutes--he is ther epitome of a dishonest quack .
----------------------------------------
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[feelfree1]

Saddam was hanged, while those responsible for stampeding our country into accepting a calamitous fraud-based, mass-murderous, self-defeating crusade in Iraq, such as Victor Davis Hanson, William Kristol, Richard Perle, Rupert Murdoch, etc., remain at-large and have not yet been hanged.

Can anyone explain this seeming paradox?

[quatrops]

N R O = No Responsible Opinions

[dmgenet]

"Romney is the only candidate prepared to fix our economy!" Posted by news4all;

We currently have corporate politicians in the White House and Congress. Look at the mess they have made. And they are not going to clean it up. Why in holy heck would we want another corporate patsy back in???

[dmgenet]

Typical NRO commentary on moderate Republicans and Democrats that act like moderate Republicans. Calling Clinton a dirty campaigner is certainly throwing stones from a GLASS cathedral.

Bush''s two horrendous campaigns of filthy and immoral campaigning was a new low even for the Republicans.

And as for McCain... any Republican who scares a neocon or right winger has my vote. Give it up NRO, Guiliani tried a Bush/rove tactic as well using the scare-them-to-hell-ritual and it didn''t have legs.

NRO empbarrassess itself with this type of commentary. I believe it is NRO that are scared little girlie men.

[idlepugilist]

If Hillary is critical, the NRO claims she gouging out an eye. Whatever Bill did 8-10 years ago is somehow transplanted to appear as if Hillary is complicit. If the NRO is critical, their non-biased claim is founded upon the utmost truth as they dun learnt from the George Dubya Bush playbook of how to screw John McCain in the 2000 campaign.
Facts still show the NRO is wrong: Hillary still leads. McCain will be the Republican candidate, and we will have our first woman Pres in 10 months.

[user168-2009]

Every intended wrong doing, harm, or crime starts with a moral problem. Our country''s future depends on the moral courage of our youth and whom they look up to as role model. When answering CBS Katie Couric''s question: Harry Truman once said, "A man not honorable in his marital relations is not usually honorable in any other", Hillary thinks having no moral has nothing to do with Bill as a president. So between Truman and Hillary, who is telling America''s children the truth?

%u201CWithout truth I know not how man can live.%u201D

Allowing Hillary and Bill back into the White House means RUIN TO EDUCATION.

%u201CKnowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.%u201D

%u201COne atom of the plane where He functions would shatter the world.%u201D

[lfitts1]

Romney is the only candidate prepared to fix our economy!

His record for proof:

In 1990, Romney was CEO of Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse. As CEO, within a year, he had led Bain & Company through a highly successful turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without layoffs or partner defections.

Romney served as president and CEO of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games held in Salt Lake City. Before he was called in, the event was running $379 million short of its revenue benchmarks. The Games ended up clearing a profit of $100 million.

In 2003, Romney was sworn in as Governor of Massachusetts--- Upon entering office, Romney faced a projected $3 billion deficit, but by 2006 the state had a $700 million surplus and was able to cut taxes.


Romney graduated from a joint Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration program coordinated between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. He graduated *** laude from the law school and was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top five percent of his business school class.

Romney knows how to help our economy!

Posted by news4all
----------
BRAVO!!!

Posted by commonsence

Romney is like the weather in New England--if you don''t like his position, wait 10 minutes--he is ther epitome of a dishonest quack

[lfitts1]

Then a funny thing happened. Hillary%u2019s liberal audience jeered at the pro-wrestling tactics of the Clinton tag team. The Democratic referees warned the Clintons to stop the eye gouging. Liberal spectators were bewildered not so much at the familiar Clinton knee-in-the-groin, but that it would be turned on one of their own good guys - and a young, soft-spoken and idealistic African-American at that!

This from a group that supported our current idiot in chief whose only known way to campaign is to character assasinate the other guy--ARE THEY KIDDING???

[tylenol6]

There is no such thing as a "free press" because it is
owned by person''s belonging to the wealthy class of our society (David Rockefeller, Edgar Bronfman, Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone, Ted Turner) as they have an agenda.... as they also have the power to make or break presidential candidates by how much coverage they provide them and by the quality of coverage provided. EXAMPLE: RON PAUL

It is criminal against Dr. Paul and the american people who want fair and unbiased reporting.
Those involved are: ABC, MSNBC, FOX, CNN, CBS
Wake up people...................

[roger_inkart]

My, what a fair and balanced piece of ''journalism''

You hyper-partisan brain dead hacks at the NRO are sickening.

[rayuk-2009]

You fools....Of course a vote for Hillary is a vote for Bill. Why should we bother to make it out to be anything else. Bill can fix the problems that Bush and his lackies have generated. No other person has the smarts required. So wake-up for onced and stop trying to deny the absolute truth. A vote for Hillary is a vote for a better future for you and your family dumba**.

[noloyalisti]

McCain vs. Hillary. What a nightmare for the middle class and all the workers of the world. Two republicans, both corporatists.

One McCain is a radical GOP enabler who wants endless war. The other, Hillary is in bed with Wal-Mart in turning the workers of the world into slaves.

Oh, my god!!!!!