from the Nation:
BLOG | Posted 02/19/2007 @ 2:02pm
Clinton Would Rather Be Wrong Than President
"If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or has said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from."
So says New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who appears to be campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination on the theme that she would rather be wrong than president.
Perhaps, in this post-modern moment, Clinton is on to something. Henry Clay, a frequently contender for the Oval Office in the first half of the 19th century, suggested that he would rather be right than president and he lost. Maybe Clinton believes that by reversing the scenario, she can achieve the victory that eluded Clay.
At the very least, Clinton's steadfast refusal to admit that she was wrong to vote to give George W. Bush the power to launch a preemptive war against Iraq sets a news standard for stubbornness.
According to the New York Times, top Clinton aides have done everything in their power to get her to acknowledge that she read Bush wrong back in 2002. "Several advisers, friends and donors said in interviews that they had urged her to call her vote a mistake in order to appease anti-war Democrats, who play a critical role in the nominating process," reports the Times. "Yet Mrs. Clinton herself, backed by another faction, never wanted to apologize...
esterday morning Mrs. Clinton rolled out a new response to those demanding contrition: She said she was willing to lose support from voters rather than make an apology she did not believe in." ......(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=167433