Clinton: "We don't need to be raising the *false hopes* of our country about what can be delivered."

[Marr]

That comment was from the debates last night. I haven't heard any commentary on it, but that was the thing that really caught my attention. She was talking about healthcare.

I was really blown away by that comment. I've never in my life heard a politician openly suggest that, no matter how much the public wants something, it's just not going to happen. WHY is this "false hope"? Because Wall Street doesn't want it? It's pretty widely accepted that the next Congress is going to have more Democrats in it, and yet here's a presidential candidate falling all over herself to concede defeat before the game has even begun.

What did her reference to "false hope" mean if not, "it's unacceptable to my donors"?

[ixion]

1. which, when translated, means that Hillary will continue the horrendous * policies

all the more reason she should be shown the door.

[L0oniX]

2. Maybe she's been offered a lot more money from the HMO's and big pharma.

Dunno ...just asking.

[Mojorabbit]

3. It she meant it in general

she is correct. With the debt this country owes and the shape of the economy, there won't be a lot of extra to do a whole lot.

[keep_it_real]

6. No she is not correct

We need to tax the rich and the corporations that don't pay their fair share of taxes.

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. Exactly right! They've had six years of tax cuts. Time to pony up!

[HeraldSquare212]

4. It was commented on earlier, and,yes,it's pretty condescending

It was just like that moment when they were debating whether to go into Pakistan with US forces to get al Queda. Clinton said a presidential candidate shouldn't say what they would do, and Obama said it wasn't a decision that should be left only to the Washington elite. Same theory at issue: Clinton thinks she knows what's best for us and she'll let us know what that is when she's ready.

[durtee librul]

8. She also said "after the missles are launched' and THAT

scared the hell out of me!

[Raven]

5. That remark struck me too. The message I took from it was

that we should keep our expectation low, not expect too much, be thankful for any little crumb we get from our elected officials. I'm not sure if she was referring to health care reform specifically but it seems to me that just because she couldn't get it through doesn't mean someone else can't.

[Toots]

7. She is referring to herself and her efforts to bring National Health Care to America

How everyone turned against it after the Harry and Louise ads and how naive she was back then..She thought because Democrats had a substantial Majority in congress and America wanted National health Care it would get passed. She didn't understand the influence of major Corporations and the Democrats willingness to sell out..She knows how it works now and doesn't believe neither Edwards nor Obama truly do..

[gratuitous]

9. Since her experience from 1993

It's possible that Clinton can make a more realistic assessment of just how hard pharmaceutical and insurance companies will fight, joined by a bunch of people who can be persuaded to act against their own interests by big money ad campaigns. I'm all for universal health care on demand, and overpromising is one of the stocks-in-trade of any politician, good or bad. In the give-and-take of a live debate, it's possible that some truth slipped between the cracks of the polished sound bites. But it is indeed a "false hope" to think that universal health care on demand will be accomplished with the celerity implied by other candidates.

[keep_it_real]

10. There's much attention devoted on the blogs to her response

http://timesonline.typepad.com/uselections/2008/01/hillary-punches.html

[global1]

11. After *Co All This Country Has Left Is Hope And HRC Saying We......

don't need to be raising 'false hopes' only indicates that she feels she can't or won't be able to change things if she is the president. That's not what the American People want with a new president. We want a president that can give us 'hope' and at least try to make change. Her 'false hopes' statement tells me she has given up before she even started and we'd be in for more of the same. She says she has given us "35 years of change" and look what a state we are in.

What we need is someone with new ideas - a new vision - and new talent brought to the table.

In my opinion - we should turn over all of Congress.

[The River]

12. She Is A False Hope

Anyone supporting her is supporting a false hope
that anything will change.

[hedgehog]

14. IMO, that was the mantra foisted on Jimmy Carter by Walter Mondale.

When the Democrats started telling people that things were bad and bound to get worse because nothing could be done and we'd all just better tighten our belts and deal with it, that's when Reagan's morning in America looked good. The pessimism was a distortion of the environmental movement. The notion was that to save the planet we'd all have to sit in the dark and eat rice cakes.


On edit - somewhere in there must be the operating slogan for the DLC!

[TwilightGardener]

15. Lower Your Expectations, America! Vote For Hillary!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. We sure wouldn't want to hope for anything now.

[rocktivity]

17. DING DING DING! Marr, you're our grand prize winner!

What did her reference to "false hope" mean if not, "it's unacceptable to my donors"?

It was probably meant to be a dig at Obama's "audacity of hope" message. But of course Hillary realizes that there is no hope for providing decent affordable health care in this country without cutting out the middleman--the health insurance companies and maintenance organizations--which is a fatal diagnosis for the lobbyists and campaign donors in those fields.

:headbang:
rocknation

[NashVegas]

24. Actually ...

I don't know about other cities but in my town - where the health care industry is the largest employer - Hillary's donations come from health care *workers,* while Edwards' & Obama's health care donations come largely from the *insurers.*

Draw your own conclusions. 4th quarter fundraising numbers haven't come out yet.

[rocktivity]

27. If by "health care workers" you mean employees of hospitals and medical services

they have nothing to fear from a non-profit health system. And it should be a system, not an "industry."

:headbang:
rocknation

[shadowknows69]

18. I took that the same way

[madfloridian]

19. Recommended....yes, that was geared to take hope from us.

At a time when we'd rather know there is some.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

20. brought back my revulsion at voting for her in the GE

Seriously, how anti-JFK can you get?
A President should help us shoot high, reach for the things that are difficult to achieve, especially something so important to the people. NOT telling us that it can't be done. :mad:

[Enrique]

21. it means hopes that she and Edwards and Obama all know are false

the idea that simply electing a candidate will make all their promises come true.

When in fact it will take years of work to get health care reform, for ANY candidate. Which they all know.

[Marr]

22. That is not what she said or implied.

Everyone knows there's a legislative fight to be had. Clinton implied that she would go to the fight demanding (or perhaps I should say politely asking, since she says you don't demand change) less than the others.

[Enrique]

26. it means working, not just demanding

and she has more experience doing the work.

[Sparkly]

23. It was about a HUGE change in "the way Washington works"

That's just not going to happen.

It wasn't about healthcare at all -- the proposals are all very similar, and hers and Edwards' go farther than Obama's.

[Fire Walk With Me]

25. If 20 million people marched upon Washington D.C., we'd see change in a heartbeat.

[The Backlash Cometh]

28. It means the transformation of Hillary Clinton is complete.

Anyone who believes the status quo cannot and should not be changed, will do whatever they can to make sure it doesn't.

But the key to any change, is to tell the people the truth. Once you tell them the truth, they can reach a united decision. And once united, they will move with one resolve and nothing can stop them.

That's why Bush failed. He never told the truth. He just tried to manipulate people and that always backfires. Once someone realizes they've been lied to, they lose trust. And once that trust is gone, nothing but the highest level of integrity, truth and transparency can reinstate it.

[dailykoff]

29. Yeah that's a winner alright.

:crazy:

[OzarkDem]

30. Congressional Dems have backed off health care reform, big time

Not sure why, but ever since they won the majority in Congress, one of the first things they did was begin lowering expectations for universal health care reform.

Even members who had been talking single payer and universal for years suddenly clammed up. Even more than getting out of Iraq or talk of impeachment, they suddenly no longer wanted to talk about it. It was almost as though they no longer wanted to discuss it - the topic on the Hill is nearly taboo among Dems.

Its as if they had a meeting and someone told them only "incremental" health care reform is allowed, don't discuss anything else or we'll lose our majority in Congress. Of course, what they're not accepting is that the voters want it and would support them even if they lost their donations from big pharma and insurance.

For some reason, they irrationally fear this topic and ostracize any Dem who talks about it.

Hillary's remark is a reflection of what she's hearing on the job every day. Obama's plan reflects the same philosophy, though he hasn't made a remark like Hillary's you can be he feels the same way.

Edwards is an outsider and willing to venture a more ambitious plan that reflects what voters want.

[puebloknot]

31. There's only hope, Hillary. It's kind of like the way you tout your faith...

...so conveniently. It's going for a walk even though you don't own an umbrella, and know it might rain.

Faint-hearted "maid" never won fair voters!

[leftofthedial]

32. pretty much because whoever actually owns Senator Clinton wants the status quo

not change

[leeroysphitz]

33. Clinton needs to hang her head in shame.

What was she thinking? What a blunder. Those are the kind of words that can mark a politician for a long time. Years.

[TahitiNut]

34. ABSOLUTELY. As I've said several times (only to be drowned out by the superficialists) ...

WHAT she said was far, far more DAMNING than HOW she said it.

Those who whine about her being criticized about HOW she said it may, in many cases, be (intentionally?) distracting folks from WHAT she said and why it's damning for her.

See http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TahitiNut/448

[Dr Fate]

35. Anything the base wants is a "false hope" to the DLC/Bluedogs/Lieberman wing.

See Impeachment, the war, etc,etc. Almost anything you have wanted to happen over the past 8 years.

Same for a lot of moderates too though-those people voted DEM in 2006 but now give our congress very low approval ratings.

[OzarkDem]

36. If we can invade Iraq, we can do anything

Going to war against another country under false pretenses and spending trillions of our tax dollars sort of lowers the bar on expectations.

If our government can justify that, there's no reason why we can't expect real health care reform, too.

[Dr Fate]

37. I like it. It's the new "man on the moon" argument!

If we can spend billions invading a desert across the world, we can certainly spend billions making sure all the future troops we are going to need grow up healthy.

[OzarkDem]

43. Exactly

and I think most voters feel the same way. Ever since 2004, they've been very frustrated with wasting money in Iraq vs. meeting needs here at home.

That was actually a "hidden" issue found in focus groups and surveys back then. I'm sure its even more applicable now.

[WinkyDink]

38. Kind of like a President's promising to land a man on the moon. Oh, wait.

[Kucinich4America]

39. That's DLC doublespeak

By "false hope", Hillary means that anything that would take the power away from the corporations who are funding their corrupt theft of Democracy, cannot be allowed to happen.

As far as more Democrats in the next Congress, probably so. But if they are more DLC "democrats" and will not vote correctly, than those DINO's will bring nothing but a MINO (Majority In Name Only)

[lumberjack_jeff]

40. I think it's great that Hillary spoke with passion last night.

People say what they're thinking when they do. It confirms that I was right to not be a strong supporter of hers.

"35 years of the kind of change that doesn't raise the country's false hopes". Yup, that's a great campaign slogan.

[Arugula Latte]

41. I know I'm inspired! Sign me up, Hill!

:rofl:

[Emit]

42. There were a few good threads on this last night following the debate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2606881

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2610804

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2608472

[Jacobin]

44. She's right. Only countries like Canada, Great Britain and France

can have universal health care.

Because she is in favor of funding our 600 billion dollar war machine and we can't afford both.

Accordingly, I do not support Senator Clinton