Why Hillary's 'Bittergate' smear seems a little bit familiar. *hint* It's Rovian.

[Diane R]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/14/AR2007081401722.html

"The Rove Legacy

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 15, 2007; Page A03

As he packs his desk just 15 steps from the Oval Office, Karl Rove says he will not join any 2008 presidential campaign. That's just as well because none of the Republican candidates presumably could afford the association even if they wanted his strategic smarts. Besides, none of them is running the campaign quite the way he would. The candidate who seems to be adopting his style and methods the most so far? Hillary Rodham Clinton.

At least that's what Nicolle Wallace thinks. The former Bush White House communications director, who worked closely with Rove, said that Clinton "has almost operationalized the whole idea of turning your weakness into strength, message discipline that is almost pathological -- she does not get off message for any reason -- and never skipping an opportunity to exploit her opponent's weaknesses."

<snip>

The Clintons recognize the skill Rove has brought to politics and admire his craft, if not his ideology. Just days after the November 2004 election, Bill Clinton pulled Rove aside at the dedication of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas. "Hey, you did a marvelous job, it was just marvelous what you did," Clinton told Rove, according to the book "The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008," by John F. Harris and Mark Halperin. "I want to get you down to the library. I want to talk politics with you. You just did an incredible job, and I'd like to really get together with you and I think we could have a great conversation."

<snip>


And why not? Harris and Halperin wrote last year that Rove and the Clintons shared some of the same understandings of how politics work, and the two authors even crafted a list they titled "What Hillary Clinton and Karl Rove Know About the Way to Win the White House in 2008." Clinton, they wrote, has "borrowed some strategies" from Rove for dealing with the news media, enemies and anticipated attacks. "Like Karl Rove," they wrote, "Hillary Clinton knows that playing offense is better than playing defense. . . . Hillary Clinton obviously dislikes Bush's policy goals, but she appreciates some of the methods he has used to achieve them."

<snip>

[dorktv]

1. She start a whisper campaign with a seriously horrific lie about her opponent?

Besides, not all of Rove's ideas were stupid or wrong.

Like say the one of CHANGING YOUR WEAKNESS INTO A STRENGTH.

[Cha]

21. You're sticking up for Rove now?!

you are a dork.

[dorktv]

27. And you are an idiot.

In fact, Rove was not the first one to come up with the idea to use a weakness as a strength.

[Why Syzygy]

2. Of course it is! Right off his play list.

He is writing in his column, and repeating in interviews, that Obama is "arrogant". I sure don't read O that way. He IS confident. And a threat to their power structure.

Then to hear Hillary parroting the same BS, just confirms what she's about.

I hope Obama doesn't stay in Defense for too long. He needs to get the ball back.

[funflower]

17. "Arrogant" = uppity black man n/t

[JoFerret]

29. Presumptuous.. All kinds of uppity.

Uppity women
Uppity blacks
Uppity people

Uppity and unite against the GOP

[guruoo]

3. Obama people didn't seem to think it was so bad when they were doing it.

[shellgame26]

6. and when was that exactly

Obama said NOTHING when HIllary's sniper fantasy broke out. Imagine if that had been the other way around. She would be all over him. Face it. She has nothing left to grab at but straws. She hasn't learned yet that it is when she lays low and keeps her lying trap shut instead of resorting to her kitchen sink tactics that her numbers actually begin to recover. Oh well, she just has to learn the hard way. SOmetimes the inevitable candidate turns out to be the unsinkable titanic.

[guruoo]

15. So, how does it feel to get a taste of your own kitchen sink?

Should have thought of this before you decided to do to Hillary
what the Republicans did to Gore, Kerry, and Bill Clinton.

Never, ever swiftboat a fellow Democrat.

[merh]

20. When did anyone swiftboat hillary?

Ermm, and what say you about hillary endorsing mccain over obama?

[shellgame26]

4. It will backfire

Clinton, Rove et al bank on the pre-youtube/blogosphere generation of Americans who count solely on the MSM for news.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. I hadn't seen this picture before...

BWAHAHAHAHAHA. I'm saving this one. :evilgrin:

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. good find....i wonder what they're cooking up? hhhmmmm....nt

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

7. WOW, Hadn't seen this before. Its sick!

Sick sick sick.

They don't give a shit about our country at all, its a big fracking game
of monopoly.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

8. Uh, this needs to be on the front page, top!

its too awful, but I guess that its true.

Yuck.

[MagickMuffin]

9. Birds of a Feather

It really is unfortunate that this is the legacy they sought to uphold. Too bad that "Bridge to the 21st Century" is being burned by the same people who thought they were building it.

Ashes, Ashes
We ALL fall down.


EDIT to include: from the same WaPo links:

Who Will Be the Karl Rove Of the 2008 Campaign?

Wednesday, August 15, 2007; Page A03

The most obvious heir to a position of Karl Rove-like influence is Mark Penn, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's top political adviser. Penn, the rare pollster who is also the chief strategist of a campaign, reinforces some of what liberals do not like about Clinton: He is a centrist who has pushed the New York Democrat to the middle and advised her not to apologize for her vote to authorize the war in Iraq.

David Axelrod, the Chicago-based admaker who piloted Barack Obama's 2004 Senate victory, is also involved in political strategy and policy and speaks to the Illinois Democrat every day. His influence could be even stronger than Rove's or Penn's in one way -- Axelrod came to advise Obama when he was a little-known state senator and has worked with him closely longer than Penn has with Clinton.



I don't know how much the author knows about the Clinton/Penn relationship but it goes back into Bill's candidacy as well as Hillary's Senate campaign.

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. Many of us have said this all along. Thanks for finding this Diane...

That little "protest", outside MSNBC had Karl Rove tactics written all over it. I kept wondering what it reminded me of, and I recalled the GOP operatives, banging on the doors of the Florida recount, bullying the people inside to stop the count. You can't bully your way to favorable coverage, and Hillary's going to find this out, in short order.

Most of us still remember at the beginning of this primary season, how a completely innocent remark, by John Kerry about the troops was somehow spun by the GOP & media as "Kerry Hates the Troops", and when Hillary could have shown leadership, she jumped on the bandwagon and helped to sink a possible run by Kerry.

The pictures of Clinton and Poppy Bush, and the chumminess of the Clintons with people like Mellon Scaife, and Rupert Murdoch, and now praising Karl Rove should give every true Democrat chills & cause for pause.

Recommended.

[Perry Logan]

12. If you believe this, you must have a staggeringly low opinion of your fellow Democrats.

[Tarheel_Dem]

13. only "some" democrats....nt

[1776Forever]

14. Mayhill (writer of "bitter" comment) is also Junehill - wrote pro HRC comments in '07 & other ......

interesting things:

http://junehill.blogspot.com/

Friday, July 13, 2007
Hillary Clinton, Wellesley Girl

Flopped out in the Rio Grande Valley, nursing a cold, I've been reading Carl Bernstein's new biography of Hillary Clinton, trying to get a better sense of a woman I might well vote for come November 2008.

And at the end of the page:

Obamatized!

* "'And when our idealism spills into that kind of naivete and an unwillingness to acknowledge history and the weight of other cultures, then we get ourselves into trouble.'" (interview with Larissa MacFarquhar, The New Yorker 5/7/07)
* "But over the long haul, I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people, and join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern, pluralistic democracy." (Barack Obama, keynote address at the Call for Renewal Building a Covenant conference, June 28, 2006, entire text on the Sojourners magazine website)
* Threading the Niebuhrian Needle: "'So I asked, What do you take away from him ?' 'I take away,' Mr. Obama answered in a rush of words, 'the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away... the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naive idealism to bitter realism.'" (Thanks to David Brooks, NYT 4/26)

Whatever
Mullah Moments: our world through his eyes. Obamatized: I have to thank my husband for this one. When the day comes that I am no longer enamoured of Mr. O, I will put this list out to pasture.

.................

I found out about this from a Daily Kos blog -

Who the 'eff' is Mayhill Fowler????? (Leaked Obama's 'bitter' clip)
by beebj
Sat Apr 12, 2008

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/12/15638/8512/891/494398

...............

Some on that site are saying her husband gave 25K contribution to HRC. I think someone in the media should do some more digging into this one. The fund raiser was apparently in a private home and was not supposed to be taped. This is posted on the Obama blog board:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/hopeandchange/gGBWzl

How I spent my Sunday with Obama and the Mayhill Fowler Agenda
By Sandy - Apr 12th, 2008 at 5:50 am EDT

Imagine my surprise to see an article in the Huffington Post by Mayhill Fowler describing his answer as "a problematic judgment call in trying to explain working class culture to a much wealthier audience." and his answer being like "explaining the yawning cultural gap that separates a Turkeyfoot from a Marin County." I guess Ms. Fowler thought that, unlike herself, the other attendees had never gone outside the large house in Pacific Heights where the event was held. I grew up working class in Texas. I thought it ironic that Ms Fowler, was attempting to paint Obama as a condescending elitist, while at the same time she was stereotyping everybody at the event with her omniscient insight.

In any case, her agenda was clear. Despite Ms. Fowler talking about the people at the fundraiser being middle class in an earlier post, the "rich man poor man" theme fit better with the "Obama as a judgmental elite, talking to judgmental elites" spin. This also seemed to fit with some of her earlier articles where she had described Obama as cocky, arrogant, and even "flirty". What a coincidence that she now writes an article putting another twist on Obama's personality. All she had to do was a sneak a recorder in an small event for Obama supporters and do a little bit of crafty writing and out of context editing. Now Fox News and Lou Dobbs are having a field day.

(snip)

It was great seeing Obama in a relaxed setting, talking both in detail and inspiring prose, in what was essentially a large living room.

Too bad there were roaches under the sofa.

............

Who paid for Ms. Fowler to follow Obama and was there influence from the HRC camp? Mayhillian Rovian maybe????



:hide:

[merh]

22. that deserves a thread of it's own

mayhill/junehill

gawd the games the games these folks play.

[guruoo]

16. New photo...

[anonymous171]

18. The way she is playing this "bitter" thing is incredibly Rovian.

It's disgusting. :puke:

[GoldieAZ49]

19. Rove was effective: 8 years of Bush should convince you that he was

imitating a loser, like say, McGovern isn't a winning strategy

[Scurrilous]

23. Kick

:kick:

[KittyWampus]

24. the Clintons have always been and will always be all about short term political gain.s

They are mostly reactionary against opponents, whether GOP or Dem.

And that short term gain is ALWAYS about them and them alone.

[Alter Ego]

25. Taking one sentence of an opponent's speech

distorting it horribly, getting the media echo chamber to start repeating the distortion, then using it as a cudgel to bash your opponent over the head?

No...that doesn't sound Rovian at all. :sarcasm:

[merh]

26. just a reminder

Karl Rove wants a Republican in the White House. Karl Rove tells GQ he likes Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama. "She's actually tried to work with Republicans over the years. has not since he got there. He's been coolly detached and sitting on the side," he says in the new issue. So logically speaking, Karl Rove is telling Democrats to vote Obama. Or is he? Damn you, Karl Rove! You're still toying with our emotions! (Do that rap thing again, c'mon!)

Rove also calls Obama "arrogant," and says of his own tenure, "Look, I did a lot of things wrong, but I'm not apologetic about what this administration has done." Hey, neither are they! Also, there's this exchange:

GQ: I get the sense you respect Hillary more than you respect Obama.

Rove: Off the record?

GQ: Please don't go off the record.

Rove: Off the record...

GQ: Damn! Now say that on the record.

Rove: No. Nope. Nope. Nope.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/04/karl-rove-gq-barack-obama-hillary-clinton.php

[Swamp Rat]

28. Bitter legacy

:D