The Clinton-Kerry Alliance

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: The Clinton-Kerry Alliance
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: August 6, 2007


(Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times)
Senators John Kerry and Hillary Rodham Clinton during a press conference on Capitol Hill.

....rather than keep Mr. Kerry (and these attendant negative associations) closeted away, Mrs. Clinton has taken something of a risk (Yes! A risk!) by asking one of the Republicans’ favorite punching bags to stand up to the Defense Department with her. The Clinton-Kerry alliance, however tactical and limited, carries potential benefits for both senators. Yet it has a particular personal dimension for Mr. Kerry, giving him another try at facing down critics who question Democrats’ patriotism.

“Both Senator Kerry and I were shocked at the timeworn tactic of once again impugning the patriotism of any of us who raise questions” about the administration’s war strategy, Mrs. Clinton said on a conference call with Mr. Kerry on July 20, after a Pentagon official -- responding to Mrs. Clinton’s request for troop withdrawal contingency plans -- said her inquiry would feed enemy propaganda.

It did not take the Republican National Committee long to hit back. After the two senators introduced legislation last week that would require the Pentagon to provide information on withdrawal plans, the R.N.C. weighed in with a picture of Mr. Kerry and Mrs. Clinton together next to the headline: “Hillary’s Iraq Advisor?”

From the Clinton camp’s point of view, in spite of Republican attacks on his reputation, Mr. Kerry has cemented an image as a serious thinker on foreign policy and national security issues after years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a Vietnam veteran himself.

A Washington Democrat who has worked with both senators offered another assessment: Mr. Kerry has “a certain credibility on Iraq right now,” given that his June 2006 Senate amendment to withdraw troops in a year – which Mrs. Clinton and many others opposed at the time – has now been embraced by many Democrats, including Mrs. Clinton....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/us/politics/06web-healy.html?8dpc

[AtomicKitten]

1. Interesting.

[jillan]

2. It will be interesting to see who Kerry endorses.

I have alot of respect for him.

[Major Hogwash]

3. Won't matter to me one whit.

Because he refused to run again, I won't give him any of my advice.

And I don't want his.
So there.
:P

[jillan]

4. I value his opinion. n/t

[laugle]

5. That's interesting, I had wondered why

BO had not sought advice from Kerry instead of going to Colin Powell...geez...even Wesley Clark would have been a better alternative!

Good for Hillary and Kerry, maybe he will play a role in her administation??

[Mass]

6. How do you know he did not?

They have cosponsored many bills these last two years. They obviously can meet very often without attracting the media, as they are both in the Senate and both in the SFRC, and Obama and Kerry have been spotted in DC for a long lunch.

As for this article, who knows what is true or not here. What I see is Kerry doing what he has done for other Dems attacked by the GOP like, for example, Murtha: defend him. Would it not be nice if all Dems were doing the same thing rather than stabbing somebody in the back? As for an alliance, who knows: may be yes, may be no.

[karynnj]

8. Why do you assume that Obama has not gone to Kerry?

Obama's plan looks very much like the earlier Kery/Feingold. There was also a report of Kerry and Obama having a very long pleasant dinner at a DC resteraunt. Kerry's plan is essentially the Democratic plan now and Kerry greatly influenced the ISG - Why wouldn't Obama or Dodd, who went to Iraq with Kerry last December ask his advice - possibly taking some of it.

I hope the role he will play if she is elected is a well respected MA Senator - who is given a role in developing policy on dealing with terrorism, which he has studied since the 1980s. His 2004 comments were way before their time.

[Mass]

7. A lot of noise about nothing - All this reflects are a lot f speculation about Hillary and Kerry

co sponsoring one bill, and certainly one that matters to Kerry: asking the Pentagon their plans to leave Iraq.

For the rest, the only thing this article is about are vague nothing about Hillary's motives for a temporary alliance with Kerry: he has a reputation in foreign policy (duh), he is well known and liked by the lefty blogosphere ... The usual emptiness of the NYTimes.

[jmp]

9. "The Clinton-Kerry alliance, however tactical and limited..."

Everything in politics is tactical and limited.