No Matter The 2008 Outcome, His Legacy Is Now Secure (again)

The Big Dog follows his wife's example from last night and gets it done for Team Obama.

Not that there was ever any real doubt.

AP's Beth Fouhy A Little Quick Out Of The Gate?

The mad dash to be first will always have its casualties.

From Fouhy's AP story:

"Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation’s first female president.”

Not true say Team Clinton's Ickes, McAuliffe & Wolfson.

Oh, clusterf*ck.

But the dance goes on. At least for a little while.

Noted: We're not calling this thing over until we hear (or hear reported) Bill Clinton yell, "Gas up Air F*ck One! I'm outta here!"

Take A Ride On Air F*ck One (UPDATED)

Todd Purdum has a piece up in Vanity Fair on Bill Clinton and his "Yes Sir" entourage.

It's a good fun read.

And should be enjoyed with this playing in the background:


(UPDATED) Purdum's piece has officially popped up on the radar screen of Washington's Old Guard (and is the new dead tree Vanity Fair even out yet?).

As one lady who lunches told us, "How perfectly disgusting. Of course, he was a revolting man."

Well, at least we don't have to hear anything more about McClellan.

Clinton To Brian Williams: "We Have To Get To The Point Where One Of Us Has 2210 Delegates And We're Not There Yet"

Hillary Clinton's extended interview with NBC's Brian Williams today.

We continue to think (flogging a dead horse) that Hillary is in it until Obama publicly hits 2210 delegates (or she does). If that's before June 3rd, fine. If it's June 4th, fine. If it's after June 4th, fine.

Why would she drop out before that? She hasn't lost until then. She's not a quitter.

And for all those people who argue "Party/media pressure will force her out", 1. She has public opinion on her side and 2. "Party/media pressure" ain't NOTHING compared to watching your husband (the President) be impeached for having oral sex with an intern while you were First Lady.

Noted: We're guessing on point 2, but we think it's a good guess.

We're Officially Off The 'Bill Clinton Is Good For Hillary's Campaign' Bandwagon

We've bought two '08 campaign narratives that have turned out to be wrong.

Flat wrong.

And they both have to do with Hillary Clinton (what are the odds).

The first false narrative we bought was that Hillary Clinton was a lock for the Democratic nomination. Whooooooops!

The second false narrative we bought went along with the first, that Bill Clinton would be a great asset to Hillary on the campaign trail. Whooooooooops again!

This is pathetic.

And all we can think of when we see Bill b*llshitting about Bosnia is Bill b*llshitting about Lewinsky.



And that can't be what Team Clinton '08 is shooting for.

Raines Talking About Clinton Talking About Obama: "Hey, This Guy Is Black."

"Hey, this guy is black."

Really, Barack Obama is black? And Bill Clinton is taking advantage by speaking in code to point out a fact that is as simple to see as the nose on one's face?

No sh*t?

Well good God! Call the Politically Correct police because we need to go to jail!

Snark.

Former NYT's editorial page editor Howell Raines lost his goddamn mind out in the Pennsylvania wilderness.

He's starting to hear and see things that aren't there.

Watch out! Squirrel!

Sexist Code?

Some folks believe that they heard racist "code" in Bill Clinton's attacks on Barack Obama.

So we have to wonder what those same folks (and Gang of 500 members) hear in this.

It's going to be a busy election season for the PC police.

"The Language You Use"

Will labeling Barack Obama "inexperienced" or Hillary Clinton "divisive" (which the Republicans absolutely will have to do in the general) turn off voters who tend to lean Republican?

What will be the effect of this in the battleground states?

From where we're sitting, Obama is inexperienced and Clinton is divisive. And saying so is absolutely fair game. With no downside for the Republicans.

But...

We were struck by Gwen Iffil's recent comments to Tim Russert about the role that language has played in the Democratic Primary with (non-"mainstream"?) voters:

MR. RUSSERT: Gwen, you mentioned William Jefferson Clinton, the former president. He was in Maine, and our NBC affiliate caught up with him there, and this was what he had to say about his role in the campaign thus far.

(Videotape)

FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON: Well, everything I have said has been factually accurate. But a lot of things that were said were factually inaccurate. I did not ever criticize Senator Obama personally in South Carolina. I never criticized him personally.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Now, the Obama campaign will say that saying it was "rolling the dice," "risky" or that his position on the war in Iraq was a "fairy tale" was personal criticism. The president differs.

MS. IFILL: You know, there's a real important lesson that's being learned here. Bill Clinton--who you would think would have known the lesson already--figured it out first, which is that you have to be careful in an election like this in the language you use. You have two firsts out here. And so if you make--there are huge groups of people who support each first, women for Hillary--that's roughly--and roughly blacks for Obama.

Here's a problem. They hear things which mainstream voters might not hear. They hear offense; they hear insult. Bill Clinton found that out. He said something, whether you believe what--it was innocent or not, but he said something which struck a tone with a lot of African-American voters, and he's been trying to make it up ever since.

The same problem exists, however, for people who are supporters or just observers of the Clinton campaign, which is you make the slightest comment--there's a, there's a great--I get e-mails from them every day. There's a great groundswell sub rosa argument among women, who feel that this election is being unfairly taken from them; feminists who hear every insult, which is, you know, we heard what happened this week on NBC with the reporter who made the comment about Chelsea. That sort of thing starts to--it just starts a little roll going among people who are feeling aggrieved anyway. So if you make a comment and you say, "Barack Obama, he's a kid," or "Barack Obama, he's like Jesse Jackson," that rings a bell in the ears of a lot of African-American voters and other supporters of Barack Obama. If you make a sexist or demeaning comment about a woman, that also strikes a bell among a lot of women voters. And that's the problem in a tipping-point election, when any, any version of that kind of insult can affect the outcome probably more than the superdelegates.

Food for thought for the Republican Party going into the general election.

A Lot Of Folks Are Trying To Bury Bill Clinton Right Now...

as the South Carolina results trickle in (9% in).

And, it looks like Bill was unsuccessful in helping Hillary (and might have even hurt) in the Palmetto State.

But Hillary ain't running for Governor of South Carolina, she's running to have the most number of delegates at the Democratic convention.

And now, with SC out of the way, she's going to be running a truly national campaign.

And how effective Bill Clinton is (and will be) in helping his wife harvest delegates - on a national scale - that jury is still waaaaaaay out.

Besides, it's the Clintons.

The. Clintons.

Today In South Carolina We See How Effective This (And Everything Else Bill) Is

Today we think that the world will find out (again) what Bill Clinton already knows - how effective he is at competing in Democratic Primaries (and general elections).

Winning at all costs is still winning. And Bill Clinton has been winning at all costs longer than most.

Which is why Team Clinton has absolutely no intention of trying to rein in the former President. And they never did.

Ted Kennedy is on the line? Take a message.

Bill Clinton: John And Hillary Friends? No, They're VERY Good Friends!

If Karl Rove can screw around in a Democratic Primary with memos to Team Obama in the WSJ, why can't Bill Clinton screw around in a Republican Primary with comments to the NYT?

Bill Clinton is many things to many people, but one thing he is to everybody is a brilliant political strategist (even if you think his tactics are despicable).

And Bill Clinton is absolutely terrified that Johnny Mac is going to be successful in the Republican Primary.

Which is why John and Hillary are such good friends. According to Bill Clinton.

FPOTUS Tearing Obama Down: Appropriate? Absolutely Not. Effective? You Bet Your Life.

It's a good campaign strategy for the Clintons.

But Bill Clinton is absolutely cheapening the the Office of The Presidency with his actions.

Typical.

How Very "Clinton" Of Clinton

Bringing The Friday Funny (again)

It was a Bill Clinton kind of week.

But not in the way that Hillary Clinton wanted.

"Warlords".

Happy Friday everyone!

Bill Clinton: "I Opposed Iraq From The Beginning"

Oh Slick Willie.

*sigh*

Oh slick, Slick Willie.

*double sigh*

"Not The Adamses Of Massachusetts"

So argues the delightful Peggy Noonan, expanding on the Bush-Bush-Bush-Clinton-Clinton-Bush-Bush-Clinton(?) critique making the rounds.

It's a smart, bi-partisan and powerful critique. And it will look terrific in a 30 second campaign ad.

Which makes this particular critique a pretty good size problem for Team Hillary.

Bill

Bill Clinton is coming back to New Hampshire this weekend to join his wife for a little politicking.

Some of our very first campaign memories are from Bubba's magical '92 run.

The way he made folks around us scream and gnash their teeth.

As the good ol' boy from Nowhere, Arkansas thumped the (way out to lunch) GOP establishment at their own game.

Thumped them hard. Thumped them long.

We can't help but love Bill Clinton in spite of ourselves.

Halperin Has Time For The Clintons

Mark Halperin has a piece up in Time magazine about Bill and Hillary Clinton on the trail in Iowa.

Well worth the read. As always.

Hillary Clinton - "Caring, Working And Delivering"

We LOVE Bill Clinton. We always have.

Note: And just when folks thought they had GreenMountainPolitics1's politics all figured out.

Only political idiots believe that Bill Clinton shouldn't be spending every waking hour on the campaign trail for Hillary.

Ask Al Gore how his decision to keep Clinton bottled-up during the 2000 race turned out.