The Former First Lady's Threat to Take Her Fight Over Disputed Michigan and Florida Delegates to the Floor of the Denver Convention Raises Suspicions that Clinton Is Putting Personal Ambition Ahead of the Good of the Democratic Party -- and Risking Her Own Political Future
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NOTE TO READERS:Due to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, May 26, the next edition of The 'Skeeter Bites Report will be published on Wednesday, May 28. As we Americans celebrate this long holiday weekend, please remember on Monday to pause to honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country.
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FRIDAY SPECIAL By Skeeter Sanders
Hillary Rodham Clinton is well known for being a tenacious campaigner. But her comments and her actions since Tuesday's primaries in Kentucky and Oregon are sending alarming red flags among Democrats that the former first lady's campaign is transforming itself from a chase for the Democratic nomination into a full-scale "Stop Obama" movement.
It's a movement that -- despite repeated promises by both candidates to unify the party after the nomination contest is over -- threatens to sow lasting bitterness and rancor among the Democratic Party's rank and file. And that, in turn, could put Clinton's own political future at serious risk.
Clinton warned Wednesday that she's prepared to take her fight to seat disputed Florida and Michigan delegates to the convention floor if the two states want to go that far. In an interview with The Associated Press, Clinton was asked whether she would support the states if they continue the fight.
The presidential candidate said Wednesday, "Yes I will. I will, because I feel very strongly about this."
Clinton is calling for delegates from both states to be seated at the convention based on the primaries. Both states were stripped of their delegates because they voted early, violating national party rules. Clinton won both states; her arch-rival Barack Obama's name wasn't on the Michigan ballot.
Now badly trailing Obama among both pledged delegates and superdelegates -- as well as in the popular vote and number of states won -- Clinton's only hope of wresting the Democratic nomination away from Obama is to employ a scorched-earth strategy to force the party to allow Florida and Michigan delegates to be seated at the convention.
Party Officials Say Obama Has Begun Search for VP Running Mate
In a fresh sign that the general election campaign against GOP nominee-elect John McCain is well under way and his primary race against Clinton is basically over, Obama has begun a search for a vice-presidential running mate, the AP reported Thursday.
Obama has asked former Fannie Mae chief executive Jim Johnson to begin vetting potential VP picks, according to the news service, citing unnamed Democratic Party officials. Johnson did the same job for Democratic nominees John Kerry in 2004 and Walter Mondale in 1984.
Obama refused to acknowledge Johnson's role when the AP asked the Illinois senator about it on Captiol Hill.
"I haven't hired him. He's not on retainer. I'm not paying him any money. He is a friend of mine. I know him," Obama said. "I am not commenting on vice presidential matters because I have not [yet] won this nomination."
I'm a native of New York City who's called the Green Mountain state of Vermont home since the summer of 1994. A former freelance journalist, I'm a fiercely independent freethinker who's highly skeptical of authority figures -- especially when they're on the wrong side of the issues I care about. But I'm not afraid to also call into question those with whom I would usually be "on the same page" if and when they, too, are on the wrong side of the issues I care about.
"The lesson of 2000 here in Florida is crystal-clear: if any votes aren't counted, the will of the people is not realized and our democracy is diminished."
If Obama didnt run in Florida and Michigan, it makes no sense for Hillary to run and then complain her votes are not counted- there was no election in those strates. Her votes are only significant if paired against another candidate.
This steamroller will accept the vice presidential nomination. It is only a heartbeat away from the presidency. A Hillary vice president will throw a monkey wrench into every attempt by Obama to fix things. The Clintons are Washington old guard; Bill Clinton deepened and extended Reaganomics. He funded NAFTA and Plan Colombia. He refused the lifting of bans on gays in the military. He supported 3 strikes. He was very much hand in glove with the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development, or World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Along with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT), a multinational trade agreement, these economic arrangements represented what became known as the Bretton Woods system of postwar economic development, fully supported by Bill. He presided over the BCCI banking scandal (1991) -- BCCI was a British bank but did international business, including clandestine money-laundering for the CIA, DIA, DEA, the Israeli Mossad, Noriega, the Contras, and various terrorist organizations. It escaped regulation because of the state secrets involved. The Clinton Justice Dept. sat on its hands while the scandal unfolded.
Of course I realize that Hillary is not Bill, but birds of a feather fly together. She certainly fully supports "my husband" and has never uttered a whisper of repudiation for his nefarious activities. Surely Hillary in the White House would continue to work for those same masters.
by
Antonio (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 63 comments)
on Friday, May 23, 2008 at 2:51:21 PM
Hillary Caught in another lie - Listen to Keith Olbermann
Why did she say it? She is an intelligent calculated person that will do anything to win, including helping John McCain win, which would allow her to say, "I told you so. Elect me now."
The media tonight are being much too kind.
Hillary Clinton made the same statement about Robert Kennedy's assassination a few months ago, which further shows her apology was false. She did not know about Ted's tumor the last time she said it.
"The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy," she added, referring to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s recent diagnosis of a brain tumor. "I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever."
Keith Olbermann went through the different times she referred to Bobby Kennedy. He blasted her tonight, in my opinion, very much deserved, every word. Actually, I think Keith was still to nice in his word choices. Check out his site later for the video clip.
What is it about WE HAVE TO GET THE REPUBLICANS OUT does she not understand? If she keeps this up, McInsane will win & people will drop her like a hot potato.
The Clintons have been playing politics too long - it's getting to their heads.
by
Deborah Wells (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 37 comments)
on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 7:00:38 PM
Incredible. Only hours after my article was posted, Hillary Clinton committed a cardinal political sin by citing the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as her reason for staying in the race through June.
After the media jumped all over that, Clinton's campaign then had the unmitigated gall to accuse Obama of taking her comments out of context.
Not only are the Clintonites telling a bald-faced lie -- Obama has said only that there was no place for those comments -- they're proving my article to be prophetic: Clinton, knowing that she cannot win the Democratic nomination, really IS out to screw Obama.
I've got a newsflash for Hillary: She and Bill will NEVER live in the White House again. They've had their eight years -- and eight is enough.
by
Skeeter Sanders (32 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 78 comments)
on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 at 12:54:09 AM
4 comments
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