As I indicated in an earlier post, some Democratic elders are concerned about the unseemly tenor of the Clinton campaign – particularly the sight of an ex-president publicly brawling with his wife’s political opponent. The Clintons have the support of many back-room party apparatchiks on their side. But several well known senior Democrats in elected and cabinet positions have come out publicly in support of Obama and others have angrily questioned the tactics employed by Hill and Bill. Some prominent Democrats who have either endorsed Obama or expressed their concern about the behavior of the Clintons are:
- Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont
- Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachussets (supposed to have called Bill Clinton on the phone to make his displeasure known)
- Senator John Kerry of Massachussets
- Former Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey
- Senator Tim Johnson of S. Dakota
- Senator Kent Conrad of N. Dakota
- Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska
- Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri
- Former Senator and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of S. Dakota (now a national campaign chairperson of the Obama campaign)
- Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona
- Robert Reich, Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration (See Reich’s blog entry on this matter)
- Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina
We haven’t yet heard from Jimmy Carter or Al Gore but I doubt that either is very happy with the way the Democratic primary campaign is unfolding. Perhaps what they are really scared of is this. [link: Sujatha]
Accidental Blogger 
7 responses to “Democrats Worried About The Clintons”
hey hey, is the link included in your blog(Bill Clinton: ‘Screw It, I’m Running For President’) give an accurate report? or is it some some joke? dont remeber seeing this any newspapers in india
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Kochuthresiamma,
The Onion is a well-known satirical news website, here in the US. Everything on it is strictly for laughs, but the faux article about Bill Clinton might very well reflect a secret desire of his, judging from the way he has been pulling out all stops in dirty campaign tricks so far.
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ok ok. thought as much-after i posted my comment:-)
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And yet listen to how Lanny Davis, YLS friend of Hillary and special counsel to Bill from 1996-1998 (read: legal scandal janitor) responds to those concerns in this NPR podcast. He can’t think of a single high-minded response. It says worlds about the Clintons (I initially changed that to singular, but realized it’s more acurate as is) that these are the folks in their circle.
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Thanks for the NPR audio link, Anna.
Katrina vanden Heuvel said it all. As for Lanny Davis, he is indeed on the Clinton janitorial staff along with Ann Lewis, James Carville and the unctious Terry McAuliffe.
Another point I have made before and so did Katrina and the moderator. What does it say for the future of other women candidates if the public is left with the perception that they cannot hold their own in a political arena without their alpha male spouses duking it out on their behalf?
The Clintons don’t care about the country, the Democratic Party, minorities, women or children although they constantly like to remind us that they are the tireless champions for all the above. But ironically enough, the Clinton campaign would set the clock back for all of them after the dust settles. They only care about themselves and Hillary’s candidacy, as Krauthammer wrote recently, is beginning to look more and more like a plan for an “alimony” that Bill wants us to pay for his marital woes. Normally I would find this comment offensive. But in the case of the Clintons, nothing is too demeaning or shameful.
I had wondered before if I would be able to hold my nose and still vote for Hillary Clinton in November in the general election. But she is not John Kerry, a lightweight with little capacity to do harm. And a vote for her is not a vote for her alone. So, more and more it looks like I won’t vote at all if she is the nominee because there is no choice for “None of the above” on the ballot. The way I am looking at it is as follows. If the country is going to get screwed over by either the incompetence of the Republicans or the sleaze of the Clintons, I would rather see the bumbling Republicans take the blame. I don’t want the Dems to be branded as the party of the Clintons for the next few decades and thus spell disaster for good candidates for a long time to come.
I think many others will be thinking along the same lines, many Democrats and most left leaning independents. The line that got the loudest laugh in last night’s Republican debate in Florida came from Mitt Romney who was asked if he was looking forward to facing Clinton & Clinton in the general campaign:
“I frankly can’t wait, because the idea of Bill Clinton back in the White House with nothing to do is something I just can’t imagine. I can’t imagine and the American people can’t imagine,” Romney said, declining to elaborate.
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So, more and more it looks like I won’t vote at all if she is the nominee because there is no choice for “None of the above” on the ballot.
I will not vote for her in the general election for similar reasons, but there are many other options on the ballot besides Democrat and Republican. Whether or not Nader runs, some Green Party candidate will run (frankly, I’m about ready for a new face in the Green Party, too); there are a host of other options at the bottom of the ballot as well.
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You are right. There will be other names including the Greens and the Libertarians. Do you know if the e-slate ballot allows for a “write in” candidate? I should know – I am a precinct worker and have already worked in two elections. But I don’t remember.
Let us see what South Carolina has in store at the end of the day. As I said to Sujatha, the Clintons have all eventualities covered. If Hillary loses, it will be because of a large number of “black” voters (wink, wink) in S.Carolina. If she wins then it’s Hillary’s coup de grace and a death knell for Obama. I wonder what happens if Edwards takes second place and Hillary comes in third. I guess then it will be the fault of the “white males” who couldn’t vote for either a woman or a black man. Gosh, this is getting really dirty and dispiriting.
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