Clinton may be target of Rove's Reversed Psychology.

[illinoisprogressive]

Proof the Republicans want to run against Clinton and see her as their way to keep the white house.
I had my suspicions about this and it looks like I could be correct. I figured Rove was trashing Clinton to piss off dems and they would rally around her and nominate her. He sees her as our weakest candidate. easy to beat.
We may hate this pig but, he is not an idiot. he knows that democrats are at times over emotional and would react.


In this case, Rove's weeklong broadside against Clinton -- which he is expected to repeat in multiple appearances on television talk shows today -- looks suspiciously like an exercise in reverse psychology that his team employed three years ago when it was preparing for President Bush's reelection bid.

snip

Their thinking went like this, Dowd explained: Democrats, in a knee-jerk reaction to GOP attacks, would rally around Kerry, whom Rove considered a comparatively weak opponent, and make him the party's nominee. Thus Bush would be spared from confronting Edwards, the candidate Republican strategists actually feared most.

snip

"So we started attacking John Kerry a lot in the end of January because we were very worried about John Edwards," Dowd said. "And we knew that if we focused on John Kerry, Democratic primary voters would sort of coalesce" around Kerry.

snip


Is Rove playing a similar game against Clinton? Is he trying to stampede Democrats into nominating her, having concluded that Obama, Edwards or someone else would pose a stiffer challenge to the Republican nominee?

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-rove19aug19,1,4872976.story?coll=la-news-a_section

[msongs]

1. sorry, it's not proof of anything, just an opinon

but it does support your view.

Msongs
www.msongs.com

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. Supposedly, they really wanted Gov. Dean four years ago. If we try to mold campaigns around

what the Repubs want, or don't want, we've already lost.

They aren't to be dismissed. However, this would be my Democratic campaign strategy, were I to be asked. :-)

Respond appropriately and quickly when they attack, keep them on the defense and stop attributing them with some kind of awesome power to manipulate. They are in their descent.

MKJ

[draft_mario_cuomo]

3. So now we know Rove and co. recognized Edwards was the most electable candidate in 04'

So much for the myth about Edwards being unelectable promoted by one poster here...

[illinoisprogressive]

7. Oh yeah and he may be think it now. Either him or Obama.

[karynnj]

11. Or given that this was said when Kerry was likely a future candidate

as psychology for 2008. (You could make a better case that this was to prop Edwards up for 2008.)

Kerry would have won a fair election against a sitting president in a time of war even though the media was extremely biased against him.

The fact of the matter was that Kerry got very little press in 2004 before he won Iowa. The main topic of his pre-Iowa press was questions of when he would drop out. Go back and look at the reports at that time frame. The Republicans did not pay any attention until he won Iowa. The Republicans then were responding to Kerry attacks on Bush.

[madrchsod]

4. if hillary or anyone else in the party

responds to rove they are a fool. who cares what rove says? he`s no longer the court jester

[emilyg]

15. I agree.

[presspeal]

5. How sad is it that politics have come to this.

Because Rove's legacy is do what ever you need to get elected.:nuke:

[illinoisprogressive]

6. Rove thought it might be dean until his campaign started getting shaky.

Why else would Rove be trashing Cinton. he has nothing to gain except to help his side.

[CoffeeCat]

8. Damn straight the Republicans want to run against Hillary...

They are salivating for a Hillary run.

With all of her previous scandals---and new ones sitting in the closet just waiting for the light of day--you can
bank on it that the Republicans want Hillary. The Republicans want her, and that's why the MSM has all ready
crowned her. Does anyone really think that the MSM is leveraging Hillary because they like her and they like
the Dems now? They're continuing to kow tow to their corporate masters, who are Republican-led.

In '00, the Republicans were terrified of Dean and Edwards. There was little, if no, dirt on either. They
wanted a Kerry run, because they had the Swifties waiting in the wings. They couldn't wait to run against
a former war protester, during the wake of 9/11.

It's deja vu all over again with Hillary. If the Dems are stupid enough to nominate her, then we deserve
the political decimation that we will receive.

If Hillary was a true Progressive candidate and she wasn't bought and paid for by the corporations--I'd say
the Republicans and press be damned, and who cares about her past scandals. However, she's barely said a
word on illegal wiretapping, our civil rights being destroyed, the Constitution being torn to shreds,
our national torture policy and Habeas being destroyed. I rarely hear anything from her as our democracy
swirls down the toilet. That's unforgivable. Any one of us working as a US Senator from New York
would have done more, and that's a fact!

The potential for her candidacy to become a laughing stock (blue dress, blow jobs, Whitewater, Travelgate,
Vince Foster,) combined with her lack of passion for central issues in our nation's most desperate hour--
makes Hillary one of the worst candidates the Dems could nominate.

The election will be over by July if she's our nominee. They'll destroy us.

[screembloodymurder]

9. Yup.

No question about it.

[Skip Intro]

13. oh brother.

You rely on the assumption that past "scandals" which didn't take Hillary down when they were current will be a winning theme for the repukes in 08. That kind of scheme would far more likely backfire than succeed. The public would have no patience for a rehashed attack on Bill and Hillary's personal life as a substitute for an actual strategy to move this country out of the ditch bush and the gang ran it into. And Whitewater? Really. Vince Foster? Wow.


As far as having a plan to savage Hillary in the general, you can rest assured they have similar plans for our other candidates ready to go.

[AtomicKitten]

10. That prediction could go either way and would be believable. (nt)

[sandnsea]

12. Except that isn't how Kerry won Iowa

so that's just dumb. That's Republicans saying any stupid thing to fuck with people's heads.

[BenDavid]

14. Have you in here that buys into this

rove statement really really truthfully believe him? Maybe,he's making shit up because the truth won't serve his purpose.

I do thank you
Ben David