Hillary Clinton: U.S. presidential election, 2008/political attacks

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This article is part of the
SourceWatch and Congresspedia coverage
of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and
the 2008 presidential election
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Democratic ticket "top tier"
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The following relate to political attacks made against Democratic 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

Contents

AttackTimeline

HillaryAttacks.com

Gender and the B-word

Campaign strategy

False reports

On asking the Pentagon about an exit strategy from Iraq

On August 2, 2007, Clinton "'finally got the Pentagon briefing on how the military is planning to withdraw troops from Iraq,' two weeks after Undersecretary for Defense Eric Edelman told her that 'public discussion' of Iraq withdrawal 'reinforces enemy propaganda.' But Clinton said that the briefing didn't 'by any means' answer all the questions about the White House’s exit strategy. Additionally, Clinton and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) introduced legislation[1][2] ... requiring the Pentagon to keep Congress informed of such contingency plans."[3]

Since May 2007, Clinton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has "requested a briefing from Pentagon officials as to whether they have undertaken any serious planning for a future withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq," Jake Tapper wrote July 19, 2007, for ABC News.[4]

On July 19, 2007, Clinton reported that a "letter[5] from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman did not mince words."[6]

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia."[7]

"'I deeply resent the administration's continuing effort to impugn the patriotism of those of us who are asking hard questions,' Clinton told ABC News." Clinton said that Edelman's letter "gave the impression 'that it's none of my business as to whether or not the Pentagon is doing what needs to be done to secure the safety of our troops.'"[8]

"Clinton was not the only official expressing concern," Tapper wrote.[9] "At a hearing [July 19], Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the Bush administration to prepare for an exit from Iraq, saying that Pentagon officials and others in the government 'are not prepared for these contingencies, they may be executed poorly, especially in an atmosphere in which public demands for troop withdrawals could compel action on a political timetable.'"

On July 13, 2007, Lugar and John Warner (R-Va.) introduced an amendment "that would require the White House to begin planning for a variety of scenarios, including a drawdown of troops, following the receipt of a U.S. report on progress in Iraq."[10] "They were also shut down by the administration. When national security adviser Stephen Hadley was asked whether the White House would do as the Republicans asked, Hadley simply said, 'No'."[11]

Clinton "hit back" at Edelman on July 20, 2007, in a letter to his boss, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, "asking if he agreed with Edelman's charge." Clinton said "Edelman had ducked her questions and 'instead made spurious arguments to avoid addressing contingency planning. ... Undersecretary Edelman has his priorities backward,' Clinton wrote, calling his claim 'outrageous and dangerous' ... [and] repeated her request for a briefing - classified if necessary - on the issue of end-of-war planning."[12]

Related external articles

Cheney says Clinton's request is helping the enemy

By Republican candidates

Fred Thompson

Thompson blames Clinton for his "suitcase bomb" remark.[13]

Rudy Giuliani

Mitt Romney

By the media

By bloggers

  • For a neverending string of anti-Clinton blog postings, see The Daily Kos.

Conservatives swiftboating Hillary

"The New Right-Wing Smear Machine" (e-mail chains)

Background

Bush bloggers

On October 31, 2007, Mark Noonan and Matthew Margolis of Blogs for Bush filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the "Hillary Clinton for President Committee" alleging that it "violated 2 USC 441f, the provision of law that prohibits campaign contributions in the name of another, and that some donors may have violated 2 USC 441e which prohibits donations by foreign nationals without permanent resident status."[14][15]

The complaint was filed based on an October 19, 2007, newspaper story published by the Los Angeles Times[16] and a second story published October 20, 2007, by the New York Post[17] alleging that the Clinton campaign had received illegal funds "from impoverished Chinese neighborhoods in New York City."[15]

"This is not the first time Margolis and Noonan have pointed an accusatory finger at leading Democrats.

"They co-authored a book published this year alleging rampant corruption in the Democratic Party, Caucus of Corruption: The Truth about the New Democratic Majority."[15]

RNC: 1992 eavesdropping allegation

Attacks orchestrated by the Republican National Committee—in "a coordinated effort to paint Hillary Clinton as hypocritical on the issue of government surveillance"—seized upon an "allegation" in the June 2007 book Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr. "that Clinton secretly listened to phone conversations of political opponents in 1992." The attacks are "part of an evolving GOP strategy to attack Senator Clinton with dual goals: tarnishing her image and rallying the GOP base," CNN correspondent Dana Bash wrote October 16, 2007.[18]

"In terms of the Republican attack, Clinton Campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson told CNN, 'As Hillary Clinton continues to beat all Republicans in poll after poll this is just politics as usual from Republicans who can't defend this president's failed policies. The story is categorically untrue'," Bash wrote.[18]

"So -- what will the Republicans seize, who's doing the seizing, and why telegtraph your plans in a newspaper article?", Marc Ambinder asked October 16, 2007, in The Atlantic.[19] Ambinder adds:

  1. "This is a trial balloon floated by the RNC to see whether anyone bites."
  2. "The RNC is willing to associate itself with the Clinton sex stuff. Also: the Clinton's tenure in Arkansas is fair game."
  3. "The RNC wants state parties to start challenging Clinton."
  4. "The RNC doesn't mind the world knowing that they're going to throw everything, including the kitchen plumbing, at Hillary Clinton."
  5. "From a reader:
"My guess on that RNC thing was that they did it that way because they knew it would get them a story on Drudge -- classic ploy, 'we plan to use this in an attack' sources say...whereas if they'd actually used it in an attack, it would have been widely ignored, because it's so thin.'"

Related external articles

Hunting Hillary

"For years, Republican Party operatives and their surrogates have been predicting, dreading, and in some cases reveling in a Democratic Party presidential ticket headed by Hillary Clinton. In attempts to destroy her reputation and derail her political career Hillary hunters have thrown just about everything but the kitchen sink at her. While they haven't succeeded in stopping her, they have managed to drive up her negatives and turn a significant portion of the electorate against her.

"For more than two decades, Hunting Hillary has been a major right wing preoccupation. Anti-Hillary books were written and strategy papers devised. Over the years the hunters became more sophisticated, better funded and more determined; direct mail campaigns morphed into e-mail alerts which now coexist with rants in the right-wing blogosphere. For the 2008 campaign, Hillary bashers are using humor, planning more books, and even a movie to get their message across," Bill Berkowitz wrote August 15, 2007, in Media Transparency.[20]

On January 27, 2007, Robert Novak wrote in his syndicated column[21] that "Jerome Corsi, co-author of the 2004 campaign book Unfit for Command attacking Sen. John Kerry's war record, [had] joined up ... with the organization intended to similarly undermine Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2008 campaign.

"TheVanguard.org is intended to be a right-wing version of the leftist MoveOn.Org. It was founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, including Gil Amelio, former CEO of Apple and National Semiconductor.

"Coming on board Feb. 16 [2007] as TheVanguard’s full-time editorial and creative director will be Richard Poe, who has served as editor-in-chief of FrontPage Magazine. He has been described as the conservative movement's leading expert on MoveOn.Org's strategy in bringing together disparate elements with a common viewpoint."

Related external articles

About Norman Hsu

In June 2007, Irvine, California, businessman Jack Cassidy "warned authorities and the Clinton campaign" that Norman Hsu "was engaged in shady business enterprises." On September 11, 2007, the Clinton campaign announced that Sen. Clinton was "returning $850,000 to donors tapped by felonious financier Norman Hsu - a stunning admission that a longtime fugitive managed to buy his way into Clinton's inner circle of fundraisers," Glenn Thrush wrote in Newsday,[22] owned by the Tribune Company.

"We're seeing an excellent example of what the general election campaign has in store for us if Sen. Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic presidential nomination," Frank James wrote August 30, 2007, in the Chicago Tribune's The Swamp Blog.[23]

What started out as a report in the August 28, 2007, Wall Street Journal about wealthy Chinese-American businessman and mega-Democratic Party fundraiser Norman Hsu, alleged to be a fugitive from a 15-year-old grant theft charge, quickly evolved into another right-wing opportunity to swiftboat Hillary Clinton.

The research department of the Republican National Committee "sent out a document" on August 29, 2007, "detailing the Hsu controversy and then flashing back to Clinton fundraising 'history'," Ben Smith of The Politico wrote. Additionally, Smith wrote on August 30, "This morning, their research department just e-mailed out, without comment, transcript of an interview between the Wall Street Journal's John Fund and Alan Colmes" in which Fund and Colmes speculated about a connection between Hsu and Asian-related Clinton fundraising questions from the 1990s. "Nothing conclusive came out of those 1990s investigations," Smith wrote.[24]

James also received the RNC's missive:[23] "The Republican National Committee's opposition-research staff has put out a piece[25] that cleverly misappropriates the title of her autobiography Living History, headlining its document Re-Living History then lists a number of newspaper citiations about shady campaign contributions not just to the senator but to her husband President Bill Clinton and Democrats generally during the 1990s," James wrote.

On August 30, 2007, Joseph Farah headlined with "Arrest Hillary" at WorldNetDaily. "Why isn't someone from the FBI reading Hillary her Miranda rights?" Farah asked.[26]

For her part, on August 30, 2007, Clinton "said she was 'surprised by the news' that Clinton fund-raiser Norman Hsu has an outstanding arrest warrant out for him, and added that after verifying the information, her campaign 'returned his money.'"[27]

"Hillary gave all the Hsu money to some charities or something but she might still be raising money from other Asian people, so it is Wonkette's recommendation that we round them all up and send them to internment freedom camps," Wonkette!! wrote August 30, 2007.[28]

Related external articles

By right-wing think tanks

New books about Hillary Clinton

Related external articles

New movies about Hillary Clinton

See Hillary: The Movie at HillaryMovie.com and SourceWatch related articles on David N. Bossie, Dick Morris, Citizens United, and The Presidential Coalition for details.

Related external articles

Anti-Hillary website redux

"In February 2005, longtime GOP public relations maven and campaign consultant Arthur Finkelstein, the head of Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates, launched what he hoped would be the death blow to the political aspirations of Hillary Clinton. His 'Stop Her Now'[32] website aimed to raise $10 million to help defeat her in the 2006 New York senatorial race. For Finkelstein, 'Stop Her Now' would be the mother of all gathering places for Hillary-bashers," Bill Berkowitz wrote[20] August 15, 2007, in Media Transparency.

"However, 'Stop Her Now' failed to live up to expectations as Hillary handily won election.

"The Washington, D.C.-based 'Stop Her Now' ... 'Rescuing America from the radical ideas of Hillary Clinton' -- however, is not yet history. It continues on under the management of Dallas, Texas businessman Richard H. Collins..., a major contributor to the campaign of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani," Berkowitz wrote.[20]

"In a recent column posted at a blog called 'Against Hillary'[33] ('Keep Corrupt and Dishonest Hillary Clinton Out Of The WhiteHouse'), Collins resuscitates a number of so-called Clinton-era scandals, warns voters not to be taken in by Hillary's claim of having 'experience,' and caps his assessment by writing that 'Even a cursory review of her time in the White House reinforces the truth that not only is Hillary a big government liberal, but an arrogant and vicious one'," Berkowitz wrote.[20]

Resources and articles

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Clinton slams 'arrogance' of US Iraq strategy," Agence France Presse (The Raw Story), August 2, 2007.
  2. ↑ Kate Phillips, "Clinton Fires Back at the Pentagon," The Caucus Blog/New York Times, July 20, 2007.
  3. ↑ Clinton finally gets Pentago Iraq exit strategy briefing," Think Progress, August 3, 2007.
  4. ↑ Jake Tapper, "Clinton Demands Pentagon Plan for Withdrawal. Pentagon Rebukes Clinton Request; 'Outrageous,' She Says," ABC News, July 19, 2007.
  5. ↑ Letter from Eric Edelman to Hillary Clinton, July 16, 2007, Talking Points Memo Document Collection.
  6. ↑ Jake Tapper, "Clinton Demands Pentagon Plan for Withdrawal. Pentagon Rebukes Clinton Request; 'Outrageous,' She Says," ABC News, July 19, 2007.
  7. ↑ Devlin Barrett, "Clinton Hits Back at Pentagon Official," Associated Press (Forbes), July 20, 2007.
  8. ↑ Jake Tapper, "Clinton Demands Pentagon Plan for Withdrawal. Pentagon Rebukes Clinton Request; 'Outrageous,' She Says," ABC News, July 19, 2007.
  9. ↑ Jake Tapper, "Clinton Demands Pentagon Plan for Withdrawal. Pentagon Rebukes Clinton Request; 'Outrageous,' She Says," ABC News, July 19, 2007.
  10. ↑ Jane Roh, "GOP Senators Offer Bill Directing Bush To Plan Iraq Withdrawal," The Gate/National Journal, July 13, 2007.
  11. ↑ Jane Roh, "Pentagon Not Endorsing Clinton Anytime Soon," The Gate/National Journal, July 19, 2007.
  12. ↑ Devlin Barrett, "Clinton Hits Back at Pentagon Official," Associated Press (Forbes), July 20, 2007.
  13. ↑ See SourceWatch section Thompson blames Hillary Clinton for his suitcase bomb remark.
  14. ↑ "FEC Complaint Filed Against Hillary Clinton for President Committee," Blogs for Bush, October 31, 2007.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Kenneth P. Vogel, "Clinton accused of illegal fundraising," The Politico, October 31, 2007.
  16. ↑ Peter Nicholas and Tom Hamburger, "An unlikely treasure-trove of donors for Clinton," Los Angeles Times, October 19, 2007.
  17. ↑ Charles Hurt and Elaine Chan, "Hill's Cash Eyed as Chinese-Laundered," New York Post, October 20, 2007.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Dana Bash, "Republicans seize on Clinton eavesdropping allegation," Political Ticker Blog/CNN, October 16, 2007.
  19. ↑ Marc Ambinder, " The Atlantic, October 16, 2007.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Bill Berkowitz, "Swift-Boating Hillary Clinton," Media Transparency, August 15, 2007.
  21. ↑ "Undermining Hillary," UnionLeader.com (Manchester, N.H.), January 27, 2007.
  22. ↑ Glenn Thrush, " Newsday, September 11, 2007.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Frank James, "RNC helps recall past Clinton campaign cash woes," The Swamp Blog/Chicago Tribune, August 30, 2007.
  24. ↑ Ben Smith, "RNC pushing the China angle," The Politico, August 30, 2007. Article includes numerous citations. Full Hannity & Colmes Fox News transcript: "Is a Possible New Fundraising Scandal Looming for the Clintons?"
  25. ↑ "Re-Living History," GOP.com/media, August 29, 2007.
  26. ↑ Joseph Farah, "Arrest Hillary," WorldNetDaily, August 30, 2007.
  27. ↑ Lauren Appelbaum, "Clinton 'Surprised' at Hsu," First Read/MSNBC, August 30, 2007.
  28. ↑ "RNC Calls Hill Manchurian Candidate," Wonkette!!, August 30, 2007.
  29. ↑ See Powell's Books listing.
  30. ↑ See Amazon.com listing.
  31. ↑ For a summary of Smith's book, see Juliet Lapidos' "The Condensed Bill and Hillary. Slate reads For Love of Politics so you don't have to," Slate, October 16, 2007.
  32. ↑ Bill Berkowitz, "Arthur Finkelstein is Hunting Hillary Clinton. Long-time Republican consultant/spin doctor intends to lead the campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton and de-rail her presidential aspirations," Media Transparency, January 9, 2005.
  33. ↑ Against Hillary Blog.

External articles

External resources

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