You should know some things about Terry McAuliffe. Ask him about

[TayTay]

Global Crossing and how Mr. McAuliffe stood trial for influence peddling in turning a $100,000 investment into an $18,000,000 dollar payday.

Lippo Group and the weird Indonesian Financing stuff he did.

The Coffee and overnights in the Lincoln Bedroom that he helped arrange for Pres Bill Clinton.

How he was forced to rescind his offer to give the Clintons a mortgage, personally, on their NY Chappaqua, New York home because it looked so obviously wrong.

How John Kerry wanted to dump him in July 04 from his job as head of the DNC.

There is a real reason why the liberal web and the grassroots disliked Terry intensely. There is a real reason why McAuliffe wants to consolidate power in the top of the party and freeze out anyone who believes in power sharing or the 50 state strategy.

[sandnsea]

1. Oh absolutely Tay

This guy is bad news, no question. He's Bill & Hil's personal choice too, kind of gives one pause.

(Ask him if his hair is two different colors on purpose too, since we're asking him questions.)

[whometense]

6. You know,

every time I think I couldn't like HRC less, some new piece of information gets added to the picture, and she looks even worse.

I sincerely hope someone is able to put a screeching halt to her presidential ambitions.

[karynnj]

7. I agree - and these things are not even

the personal things. The last thing we need is a candidate who has real provable baggage and she GETS all of Bill's. I remember that Gore was hit with both the making fund calls from his office and the Buddist Temple contributions - and he was pretty clean. The Clintons aren't.

[BlueIris]

15. Oh, fear not, they *will* screech to a halt. nt

[Democrafty]

2. Like I've been saying,

Terry McAuliffe is TRASHY. And not in the good way :)

[wisteria]

3. No class, slime ball. Not above selling anyone out for a joke or a laugh.

These are the type of friends and donors the Clinton's befriend and this is one huge reason I oppose another Clinton presidency. The things that will be revealed about the Clintons' going ons in the years to come will make us want to shower with lye soap till our skin is raw. They are lowly people with a lot of power they shouldn't have.

[cadmium]

4. What's his relatioship with Republican pundits?

Laura Ingrahm comes to mind. I think they work out together.

I wonder if he is friends with Mary Matalin.

I'm not kidding about Ingrahm. I heard them talking about this on her show.

[wisteria]

5. Do you have any infor on Kerry wanting to dump him from the DNC in 04?n/t

[Island Blue]

8. Here's and excellent article.

It's from 1997, but it gives some good background info.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/coinop_congress/97mojo_400/moss.html

IMO this book and the timing of its release say one thing loud and clear. The Clintonistas are scared shitless of John Kerry. Period. End of story.

[MBS]

9. Thanks for this--it's excellent

. .and chilling (even if not surprising). This needs to get spread around

[karynnj]

10. We have to be a little careful

of pushing this too hard. At minimum, there were charges mentioned that were not resolved then - if they were dismissed or he was aquitted, it would be good to indicate that up front.

It is an important isue that Hillary is likely working with him. At minimum, he risked having the Democrats labelled as "corrupt" in the 90s. What other than Iraq were people the most unhappy with? Corruption.

I suspect a third thing people might be sick of by then - smear politics. Both the Clintons and McCain risk being seen as not having clean hands on this.

[TayTay]

12. Completely true

Just know who is with Hillary and why. That's what you look at.

[karynnj]

31. I agree - and am glad you posted it here

for exactly that way. Your posts on some of these financing issues in the past had a very direct impact on me realizing how blind I chose to be in the 1990s when "our team" had the Presidency.

[MBS]

16. good point

I did post link at Democratic Daily; hopefully that won't do too much damage. But I won't put it in any other public places.

[TayTay]

11. They are not scared of anyone per se

They will merely do whatever it takes. Just like the Repubs.

I doubt they are scared of anyone. They probably figure they have the money and the will and the people and figure that the rest will fall in place in time.

Nothing is determined yet. They still have to run the candidates. And every candidate and every human being has pluses and minuses, things they do very, very well and things they really don't do well at all. One of the things that people who get power do very well is figure out how to take out the opposition. George Bush had no qualms at all about smearing John McCain and letting his surrogates in SC in 2000 spread rumors that McCain had a black child and that McCain had been brainwashed in his days in captivity in Vietnam. That is, of course reprehensible.

Bill Clinton advised John Kerry to denounce gays and civil rights for GLBT Americans in the 2004 race. He thought that was a price that could be paid for power. Kerry, to his credit, did not. (And it would not have done any good.) I think Mrs. Clinton thinks that there are things for which you 'bear any burden, pay any price.' The Presidency may be one of them. So far, it is worth friendship, decency and principle, because if you are President they will all respect you for that and forget how you got it.

She is vulnerable. All human beings are vulnerable. Maybe it's on her ambition, maybe it's on her flip-flopping on the issues, which she is massively guilty of, maybe it's on the very coldness that tells her that it's all right to sacrifice everything you believe in to obtain power. (What do you do with that power when you have it if you no longer have principle guiding you? Maybe she should ask George Bush. Maybe he could tell her that making the heads of big corporations like Halliburton and ExxonMobil keeps the demons away at night. Maybe she can just substitute the heads of different corporations and that thought will keep her warm and able to sleep.)

She is vulnerable. She once did have principles. She once did need others to bail her out. I don't think that right now she considers anyone a threat, much less John Kerry. I think she believes that she doesn't need anyone else, she has it all planned out. She will ascend to power and everyone will forget how she did it and come to her on bended knee for whatever they want. I bet she thinks that.

She is vulnerable. How come when she gave recent speeches on foreign affairs, no one in the press said much about it, except that she was boring? How come she isn't known for any kind of legislation except for joining with Joe Lieberman to restrict video games and announcing that she would vote FOR a flag burning amendment to the Constitution. (Ask younger people under the age of 25 what they think of this. My son despises the woman and told me that he thinks she is a sell-out. He told me he doesn't know of any kids who like her or would bother to vote for her. Hmmmm, I wonder why. Is this not a more idealistic generation? Hmmm, maybe they can tell when something isn't there.) My son thinks of her husband as that guy who got a bj in the White House and makes fun of him. (It's the first thing that comes to mind for him. Clinton, yeah, he had sex in the Oval Office with an intern. What a joke.)

She is vulnerable. Everyone is vulnerable. Everyone. There are no sure things. No votes have been cast yet. Not a single debate has occurred. No one has had to defend their actions yet, had to say why they did or did not turn on this war and why. No one has yet had to explain themselves. It's very early yet. Give it time.

[whometense]

13. Bingo

I don't think that right now she considers anyone a threat, much less John Kerry. I think she believes that she doesn't need anyone else, she has it all planned out. She will ascend to power and everyone will forget how she did it and come to her on bended knee for whatever they want. I bet she thinks that.


I don't think she's about fear - she's about planning for any possible eventuality.

The thing is, as you just pointed out, there is little in this world as unpredictable as presidential politics. THe only thing you can really count on is that things will not likely fall into place like carefully placed dominoes. She's likely afraid of no one - and of everyone.

The stuff that's happening now is all about pre-emption - and the only sure thing is that there will be surprises.

[ProSense]

19. "she's about planning for any possible eventuality"

Yeah, sort of like Tonya Harding. It's pathetic when one's best strategy is to try to smear and destroy others using surrogates.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3045278#3045358

[MBS]

17. perceptive comments . ..

whometense's, too. Thanks to both of you.

[sandnsea]

30. All true

I think whatever the Clinton people do is targeted strategy, it's not personal "it's politics". Take your strongest opponent out early is a valid strategy.

Of course she does have vulnerabilities. Her biggest asset, Bill, is her biggest detriment. I think America is tired of politicians who can talk their way out of anything. It's not "clever" anymore, it's the mark of a spoiled child. Personally, I still think her staying with Bill opens up all kinds of character questions, even though it's not politically correct to ask them.

My under 25's like John Kerry, but they relate more to someone younger, like Edwards or Obama. I don't know if they're more idealistic or more cynical or just not as easily fooled by marketing, despite how much ridiculous crap they may buy (I just think buying ringtones is insane). The ones I know tend to be a little more focused and clear about being useful in some way, there's a spark of determination and commitment there, it's always been very promising to me. I don't hear any of them talking about Hillary. I have to say, disappointment in John Kerry is what I hear most from the young people I know, like the first time they realize a parent is human. Just sadness and confusion about how he could have lost. I think they're ready to be done with the constant 'angst' of the boomer generation and get serious about really fixing problems.

I've rambled. Gotta go, my youngest (20) is dating a girl with a 3 year old and it's his birthday. Twilight Zone, completely, seeing your baby with a baby. Yikes.

[karynnj]

32. Wow!

This is incredible.

It also says that, unlike John Kerry, if she loses the race - which is a very real possiblity for anyone - she will not be able to say that the two things she still has is the love of friends and family and her integrity. She may have the first, but the second is likely already MIA.

[ProSense]

18. Excellent article.

Sounds just like a person deep in the the Clinton camp.

[MH1]

23. Talking to someone in DC Thursday

who would know better than most of us, mentioned that Terry's big accomplishment was building a really nice, big new building for the DNC.

[JI7]

14. what did he spend his time as DNC Chair doing ?

i read somewhere posted that he put up something with his name in glass. such a big fucking ego he is.

[ProSense]

20. Elias:

Knife Season

[whometense]

24. Great catch -

Who the hell is he to lecture anyone about winning? Without Bill Clinton Terry McAuliffe is the political equivalent of a panhandler.
Yet for all that, the Globe sez McAuliffe is about to embark on a twenty five city book tour, a sort of "hate Kerry" fest for democrats and a nice gratis warm up act for Senator Clinton's presidential run in '08.

I shall speak bluntly...if Terry McAuliffe shows up in Massachusetts to pimp this book I say we fill the room and speak aggressively to the matter.
- posted by Elias @

I'd be happy to show up at that event.

[karynnj]

28. Great comment and I think his suggestion should NOT be limited to MA

He suggests:
"I shall speak bluntly...if Terry McAuliffe shows up in Massachusetts to pimp this book I say we fill the room and speak aggressively to the matter."

I think this is a fabulous idea and think we need intelligent, concise, devastating questions.

(addressing:
- how dysfunctional the Ohio (and other parties were.
- how little support the PARTY gave Kerry on SBVT - they were not without ammunition
- how disloyal many Clinton people were passing info and dissing Kerry before thye election - I don't recall the liberals doing this to Clinton, even though for femenists it openned them to the charge that they were complete hypocrits on sexual harrassment.)

[sandnsea]

29. Aw, bless his heart

A little counter-assault, how cute! We should get the anti-war people involved too. Grassroots Greetings.

[Mass]

21. Another dirty trick of the Clinton team (or a supporter)

Click here:
www.edwards08.com

[Island Blue]

22. Oh, that's slick and slimy.

I checked out kerry08 and wonder if we can expect something similar there soon. So far there is nothing there, but apparently the domain name has been purchased.

kerry08.com
Welcome to kerry08.com This is a free parking page provided by namecheap as a convenience to their users. The domain owner is currently creating a great site for this domain. Check again later.

[whometense]

25. Slick and slimy for sure.

But do tactics like this do anything but piss people off in the long run? Just wondering out loud...If I was redirected like that I sure wouldn't be in the mood to sign up. More likely, I'd be muttering, WTF? as I closed the page.

[karynnj]

27. It does give them a hit though for people who watch it

By the way, I did look at Hillary's site. It was from the Senate race. The odd thing is that under national security she says NOTHING about Iraq policy. Lots of support the troops stuff and on overall foreign policy vague words of holding to treaties, diplomacy etc. On the middle east it is embarassingly pro-Israel - and I'm Jewish!

She also throws in being a co-sponsor of Frist's AIDS bill (which I beleive was authored by a far more likable Senator - unless Frist did more than one.)

(She really should fear Kerry)

[karynnj]

26. That is weird. I hope it is mainly seen as annoying.

If I typed in Edwards08, it would be because I wanted to find his site and guessed. Given that some variation of Bush's name led to a satirical site, I assume he has no recourse?

Do many of the Edwards people know this?

(I tried Kerry08,com - and it says that a new owner has bought this - it might be worth watching.