Isn't it ironic that Bill Clinton made "hope" a centerpiece of his campaigns

[leftofthedial]

AND his presidency


and now Senator Hillary Clinton denigrates hope as foolish?

[MADem]

1. Huh?

That was a cheesy hit and run, that!

Can you provide the quote to back that bullshit up?

[HeraldSquare212]

3. Um, "The Man From Hope"?

Ring some bells for you?

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Hope Arkansas, where he was BORN

that is a real town

[HeraldSquare212]

6. LOL, of course...but it was meant both ways nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. There was far more talk about the economy and how to change it

than about hope, as in the verb, not the town.

Now one campaign that had all that written all over it was Reagan's morning in america... (and that was Bullshit buy the way)

[MADem]

17. Why yes, it does. But that's bullshit, this assertion.

Clinton ran on "It's the economy, stupid."

The "I still believe in a place called Hope" theme came much later, during his acceptance of the nomination speech. He didn't "run" on it. He took the nomination with it.

But hey, whatever, you're having such fun with your long knives. I'm sure Obama is PROUD of you--not. You're delightfully transparent as well as inaccurate.

Way to represent Obama's "hope," with pissy carping and childish digs!!

It's way easier to tear someone down than convince people why your favored candidate is the best.

Why aren't you smearing Edwards? Is it just easier to kick someone when they're way down, is that it?

[leftofthedial]

21. Bill Clinton did no such thing.

WONKS adopted Stephanopolous's intra-campaign mantra "It's the economy, stupid" because it was clever. It identified the issue on which the campaign focused, not their message about that issue. That was not the focus of campaign advertising, or for the most part, Clinton's primary message.

I worked in the 1992 and 1996 general campaigns. The message to the masses in 1992 was that despite the dire economic mess that 12 years of republican control had left in its wake, that things could be made better, in other words, that there was hope.

You are WAY too strident here. (And who does that remind me of?) Besides, I'm not an Obama supporter.

[MADem]

24. So did I. And you just contradicted yourself. It WAS the economy, stupid.

And it was CARVILLE who coined the phrase--not Stephanopolous.

The 'hope' theme--as you yourself note--was articulated as a consequence of IT's THE ECONOMY, stupid.

Of course we know that the SIGN was pinned up behind JC's desk in campaign HQ at Little Rock. The reason the SIGN was there is because it was an admonition to STAY ON THE ECONOMIC MESSAGE. It wasn't just "cleverness"--it was the focus. There were a few other points accompanying that mantra, having to do with (ironically) CHANGE, and HEALTH CARE. The economy was actually the second point.

And Clinton, as he always did, got down to plain speaking and direct details--not generalities like "hope"--that shit came at the END of the commercials, not on the stump--he called it job retraining and practical, government assistance to turn bad regional economies around. He flat-out told people who'd been tossed out of work by Romney-style venture capitalists that those mill jobs weren't coming back, and people needed help, from education to job retraining, to get back on their feet.

If that's not "It's the economy" I don't know what is.

[JVS]

27. I thought it was Carville who said the phrase first.

[leftofthedial]

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

[MADem]

10. Well, I happen to agree with her. Pipe dreams that can't be delivered

piss people off. Saying you're gonna do X, and then discovering that the President can't MAKE law on his or her own, pisses "the faithful" off.

DADT is one example. False hope isn't "hope."

But hey, good hit-and-run. Pile on smartly. Come up with a good nasty hit on Edwards, too, while you're at it!

[leftofthedial]

19. why would I do that?

I support neither Senator Clinton nor Senator Obama. I'm not a huge Edwards supporter, but I like him better than either Obama or Clinton.

And you reflect Clinton's persona very well. Let's not dream. Let's not hope. Let's just make the most personally lucrative deal we can with the evil powers that be and settle for not being ground into sausage today.

Whatever happened to the formerly Democratic notion that a great country and a great world are achievable?

I don't want to support a candidate who settles for the status quo and denigrates the notion of hope itself. Why would any of us?

:shrug:

[MADem]

22. Oh, bullshit. Stop talking like you KNOW me, because you don't.

Let's not dream, let's not hope?

Yeah, sure--that's the message. NOT.

You're not even subtle.

Why not spend your time convincing people why your candidate is the best choice, instead of engaging in high school put-down tactics and repeating the meme of the day (status quo--ooooooooh!)?

Because the latter is easier, I suppose?

Tiresomely transparent, and certainly not motivating. You're not helping your secret favorite with those tactics, FWIW.

[uppityperson]

11. FALSE hopes. eom

[leftofthedial]

20. FALSE hope or NO hope?

universal health care (not universally mandated purchases from insurance company campaign donors) is FALSE hope?

ending the occupation of Iraq is FALSE hope?

reversing the niagara falls of wealth concentration at the top is FALSE hope?

all of us except for the one richest man should just kill ourselves now then and be done with our FALSE hopes.

I listen to Senator Clinton talk and it is clear she wants to preserve the status quo. It is clear she represents NO hope for real change.

[uppityperson]

25. Your quote said "false" hope.

None of those examples is false hope to me. I also agree with your final sentence.

[forsberg]

2. Clinton had experience and results to back up his hope

Obama has zilch

[leftofthedial]

9. and Senator Clinton has neither experience nor hope

experience as a wife

experience briefly as a Senator who has mainly served as a yes woman for bush's agenda

overall LESS experience politically than any other Democratic candidate.

AND now we know she also has no "false" hope

[leftofthedial]

23. as, pretty much, does Clinton.

I'd rather have hope and a new set of ideas than worlds of experience defending the status quo.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. No he didn't the centerpiece was the economy. See any number

of documentaries about that election. It was a hard ass factual based campaign.

[leftofthedial]

12. Stephanopolous's intra-campaign slogan "it's the economy stupid" became iconic

but Clinton's actual public marketing hammered consistently on HOPE for the economy

we were in recession, with high unemployment, huge debt and deficits and he succeeded in offering the people hope that things could get better. He argued with facts, yes, but he sold hope.

He even called himself The Man from Hope, with full intent behind the double entendre

[The_Casual_Observer]

16. Projecting this Obama hope for nothing thing is bullshit. Clinton

was talking meat & potatoes.

[MADem]

15. You're right. "It's the economy, stupid!" NT

[WillyT]

13. And... "Don't Stop Thinkin About Tommorow... "

The "Comeback Kid", and "The Man From Hope".

I remember well.


(left to right) Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mrs. Clinton, Mick Fleetwood, President Clinton
Photo: REUTERS/Barbara Kinney


(L-R) Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Mrs. Clinton, President Clinton, Mick Fleetwood and Hilary Rosen, president of The Recording Association of America.
Photo: REUTERS/Barbara Kinney

:shrug:

[leftofthedial]

26. what says "hope" better than

"Don't Stop Thinkin' About Tomorrow"?

[applegrove]

14. I was just thinking that last night. Hope was Bill's issue.

[MADem]

18. No, as others have said, it's the ECONOMY. nt