The 2012 Election Strategy?

(photo credit)




Recently, journalist Sally Quinn made a serious proposal as to how Obama can finesse getting elected again in 2012. Excerpt from the Washington Post article:

Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden should switch jobs.

Really.

It makes sense for the Democrats, actually....

[...]

It would not be out of the question for Clinton and Biden to switch jobs sometime after the midterm elections. After the president announced the switch, majorities in both houses of Congress would have to confirm Clinton to her new position, following the rules laid out in the 25th Amendment. She could then immediately begin campaigning for Obama for 2012, and she would also have at least two years in the White House as vice president to give her unassailable experience, clout and credibility. For his part, Biden would simply need Senate confirmation to get to work in Foggy Bottom.

[...]

Take it seriously.

Of course, the following aspect plays an important part in Ms. Quinn's proposal, although the idea gets only a brief mention in an essay which mostly lauds Hillary Clinton:

...[C]onsider Hillary the Democratic campaigner. She is tireless and relentless. Given the combination of votes that she and Obama got in the 2008 primary campaign, they would be a near-unbeatable team. Clinton also appeals to independents...

Read the entire article HERE.

Now, we all know that, back in January 2010, Obama, in the face of falling poll numbers, which have continued to fall, has said the following:

“I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president,” he told Diane Sawyer of ABC News. He added: “I don’t want to look back on my time here and say to myself all I was interested in was nurturing my own popularity.”

However, politicians as the power-hungry creatures they are rarely choose to relinquish their offices without a battle.

Furthermore, in the words of Donald Boudreaux:

People who seek political power are, with exceptions too rare to matter, never to be trusted...[W]inning elections requires a measure of deceitfulness and Machiavellian immorality that no decent person comes close to possessing.

In my view, Obama is going to have an uphill battle to win in 2012. But is victory for him out of the question? No. And, although it grieves me to say so, with Hillary on the Democratic Party's ticket, he could maximize his chances for victory. In my view, American voters are among the most gullible people walking the planet and show little discernment when they step into the voting booth.

Additional reading: If you have time, find more wit and wisdom about politicians and politics HERE.

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Bill Clinton's Ideological Mistake (With Not-To-Be-Missed Addendum)

Did anyone else catch this fundamental error, an error running completely contrary to our Founding principles?

Excerpt from "Bill you are confusing an administration with America":

Former President Bill Clinton warned of a slippery slope from angry anti-government rhetoric to violence like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, saying "the words we use really do matter."

The two-term Democratic president insisted he wasn't trying to restrict free speech, but in remarks Friday he said incendiary language can be taken the wrong way by some Americans. He drew parallels to words demonizing the government before Oklahoma City.

...[T]he people are the nation, NOT the government....If the government takes steps in law that a substantial portion of the nation feels damages the core purpose of the nation..., then troubles ensue.

...[T]his is just another DESPERATE, DESPERATE attempt to marginalize the people....

Equating in any sense the Tea Parties with Timothy McVeigh is so far over the top as to beggar belief. In essence, Bill Clinton is telling the Tea Partiers, "Shut up! Don't dissent because dissension is dangerous and leads to terrorism. Submit to the will of the government."

America has never stood for the principle that dissent is dangerous in and of itself. If it were, we wouldn't have opposing candidates on our ballots.

ADDENDUM
With thanks to Beamish:



With all that screeching, let's be sure that Hillary Clinton's words are clear:

I'm sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we're Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration.

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All You Need To Know About Hillary

Hat-tip to my dear friend Mustang, who sent me the following (Click directly on the image to enlarge it):



[END OF THIS POSTING - NOTHING ELSE FOR ME TO SAY]

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The Clintons' So-Called Generosity

Hillary balked at releasing her tax-return information for the past several years, but finally did so on Friday, April 4. According to this article in the Washington Post:

...After earning more than $109 million over eight years, the Clintons took tax write-offs for $10.2 million in charitable contributions. In most of those years, that money was donated to the Clinton Family Foundation....

The family foundation is one of several philanthropic groups that bear the former president's name. But unlike the New York-based William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, which has directed more than $10 billion in corporate money and resources toward slowing the spread of AIDS, addressing climate change, and reducing hunger and poverty, the family foundation is a far smaller and more personal operation.

This charity is based at the Clintons' Chappaqua, N.Y., home. Bill Clinton serves as its president, Hillary Clinton as secretary and treasurer, and daughter Chelsea as a director. None takes compensation.

Between 2001 and 2006, the years for which tax records are available, the family put nearly $6 million into the foundation. The Clintons took a tax write-off for that money even though the foundation gave away less than half that amount -- about $2.5 million. A Clinton campaign official said that trend did not continue in 2007 -- the family moved $3 million through the foundation to other charities.

Of course, the Clintons took more care in 2007: Hillary's bid for the Presidency was in the works, and "the eye" was upon her and her finances.

The article goes on to mention the following:

In recent years, there were gifts that generated good will in ways that were potentially helpful to Hillary Clinton's presidential bid....

The article is careful to mention that the Clintons stayed within the letter of the law with their donations to "charity." Considering that Bill and Hillary are lawyers, I'd expect nothing less than their adherence to the letter of the law and still finding a way to give to their favorite charity — themselves.

(Crossposted to THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)

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Hillary's Past

As we enter the final swing of the primaries and as Hillary stacks up the count of delegates, the following details about Hillary Clinton should be kept in mind (Hat-tip to the individual who sent me the link via email):

Hillary Hopes You've Forgotten - Have You?
From Diane Rigali
2-6-8

Hillary Clinton has been telling America that she is the most qualified candidate for president based on her "record," which she says includes her eight years in the White House as First Lady - or "co-president" - and her seven years in the Senate. Here is a reminder of what that record includes:

HILLARY, As First Lady, assumed authority over Health Care Reform, a process that cost the taxpayers over $13 million. She told both Bill Bradley and Pat Moynahan, key votes were needed to pass her legislation, that she would "demonize "anyone who opposed it. But it was opposed; she couldn't even get it to a vote in a Congress controlled by her own party. (And in the next election, her party lost control of both the House and Senate.)

HILLARY assumed authority over selecting a female Attorney General. Her first two recommendations (Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood) were forced to withdraw their names from consideration, and then she chose Janet Reno. Janet Reno has since been described by Bill himself as "my worst mistake."

HILLARY recommended Lani Guanier for head of the Civil Rights Commission. When Guanier's radical views became known, her name had to be withdrawn.

HILLARY recommended her former law partners, Web Hubbell, Vince Foster, and William Kennedy for positions in the Justice Department, White House staff, and the Treasury, respectively. Hubbell was later imprisoned, Foster committed suicide, and Kennedy was forced to resign.

HILLARY also recommended a close friend of the Clintons, Craig Livingstone, for the position of director of White House security. When Livingstone was investigated for the improper access of up to 900 FBI files of Clinton enemies (Filegate) and the widespread use of drugs by White House staff, both Hillary and her husband denied knowing him. (FBI agent Dennis Sculimbrene confirmed in a Senate Judiciary Committee in 1996 both the drug use and Hillary's involvement in hiring Livingstone. After that, the FBI closed its White House Liaison Office, after serving seven presidents for over thirty years.)

HILLARY, in order to open "slots" in the White House for her friends the Harry Thomasons (to whom millions of dollars in travel contracts could be awarded), had the entire staff of the White House Travel Office fired. They were reported to the FBI for "gross mismanagement" and their reputations ruined. After a thirty-month investigation, only one, Billy Dale, was charged with a crime - mixing personal money with White House funds when he cashed checks. The jury acquitted him in less than two hours.

HILLARY also assumed the duty of directing the "bimbo eruption squad" and scandal defense:

...She urged her husband not to settle the Paula Jones lawsuit.

...She refused to release the Whitewater documents, which led to the appointment of Ken Starr as Special Prosecutor. After $80 million dollars of taxpayer money was spent, Starr's investigation led to Monica Lewinsky, which led to Bill lying about and later admitting his affairs.

...Then they had to settle with Paula Jones after all.

...And Bill lost his law license for lying to the grand jury.

...And Bill was impeached by the House.

...And Hillary almost got herself indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice (she avoided it mostly because she repeated, "I do not recall," "I have no recollection," and "I don't know" 56 times under oath).

HILLARY accepted the traditional First Lady's role of decorator of the White House at Christmas, but in a unique Hillary way. In 1994, for example, The First Lady's Tree in the Blue Room (the focal point each year) was Decorated with drug paraphernalia, sex toys, and pornographic ornaments, all personally approved by Hillary as the invited artists' depictions of the theme, "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

HILLARY wrote "It Takes a Village," demonstrating her socialist viewpoint.

HILLARY decided to seek election to the Senate in a state she had never lived in. Her husband pardoned FALN terrorists in order to get Latino support and the New Square Hassidim to get Jewish support. Hillary also had Bill pardon her brother's clients, for a small fee, to get financial support.

HILLARY then left the White House, but later had to return $200,000 in White House furniture, china, and artwork she had stolen.

HILLARY played the "woman card" in the campaign for the Senate, by portraying her opponent (Lazio) as a bully picking on her.

HILLARY'S husband further protected her by asking the National Archives to withhold from the public until 2012 many records of their time in the White House, including much of Hillary's correspondence and her calendars. (There are ongoing lawsuits to force the release of those records.)

HILLARY, as the junior Senator from New York , passed no major legislation. She has deferred to the senior Senator (Schumer) to tend to the needs of New Yorkers, even on the hot issue of medical problems of workers involved in the cleanup of Ground Zero after 9/11.

Quite a resume, isn't it? Sounds more like an organized crime family.

American voters suffer from short memories, or so prove some studies along those lines. Or maybe voters just don't care about Hillary's past. Your call.

(Crossposted to THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)

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If Looks Could Kill

This photo of one of Hillary Clinton's unguarded moments reveals a lot about the woman and, possibly, the present status of the campaign of "She Who Would Be King," a gem of a phrase I found at Leatherneck M13, who stated the following:

Hillary's campaign seems to have made a crucial error in primary politics... running "nationally" and relying on national polls and the ridiculous, televised "debates" instead of pressing the flesh, eating rubber chicken and speaking anywhere 10 or more people are gathered. Instead, she assumed as the early front-runner... she didn't have to actually run.

That... and her campaign didn't see Obama coming.

I think I can smell panic in her just-announced, state-wide blitz in a "Hill-a-copter". That's sillier than her "Hil-raisers" which frequently turn out to be Chinese scam artists headed for prison. This is not the sound of a tight, professional campaign, it's more like she's running for student body president.

In addition to glares fit to chill the blood, Hillary Clinton has another way of revealing herself —that derisive laugh of hers. In "C'mon, Get Happy," an article which appeared in the December 14, 2007 edition of the Washington Post, Dana Milbank states the following in reference to the final Presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses:

[The other Democratic Party candidates] giggled like teenagers when Clinton said that "we do need a farm bill, and Tom Harkin's been working like a Trojan to get done." And they sensed a major story when Clinton interrupted one of Obama's answers with a burst of laughter. When Obama was asked how he would "rely on" so many of former president Bill Clinton's advisers, his wife cackled, then blurted out, "I want to hear that!"

"Well, Hillary, I'm looking forward to you advising me as well," Obama replied, and Clinton laughed again.

The cackle was the talk of the spin room after the debate....

The woman's laugh puts me in mind of the Three Witches' Chorus in Shakespeare's Macbeth:

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

Attention, casting directors! If Hillary loses her front-runner status in Iowa, maybe you can audition her for a witch's part in Macbeth. What a casting coup that would be! She's sure to pack 'em in for the entire run of your theatre's version of Macbeth. Who knows? Maybe you can find a role for Bill, too!

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