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The Big Payback
By Jeff Fecke | April 26, 2008
Eleanor Clift has a warning for everyone. If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, says Clift, Clinton will be out to settle some scores:
I’m beginning to think Hillary Clinton might pull this off and wrestle the nomination away from Barack Obama. If she does, a lot of folks—including a huge chunk of the media—will join Bill Richardson (a.k.a. Judas) in the Deep Freeze. If the Clintons get back into the White House, it will be retribution time, like the Corleone family consolidating power in “The Godfather,” where the watchword is, “It’s business, not personal.”
[...]
There’s never been any love lost between the Clintons and official Washington. The Georgetown dinner parties they rarely attended during the Bill years might as well be in Outer Mongolia for all President Hillary will care. Notables who abandoned her for Obama will get the Big Chill. “He’s dead to us,” a Clinton aide was quoted saying of John Kerry, who along with Ted Kennedy was turned off by the perception of race baiting that led up to the South Carolina primary. A major donor, conflicted between the two candidates and apologetic over his backing of Obama, found Hillary less than sympathetic. “Too bad for you, because I’m going to win,” she snapped.
You know, Eleanor Clift is absolutely right. If she’s elected, I’m sure Clinton will punish enemies, reward supporters, and generally settle business. I know this for a fact. You see, Hillary Clinton is a politician. And rewarding friends and punishing enemies has been an integral part of politics since the dawn of humanity.
I mean, really: Does Clift think that Mark Penn would have a key role in an Obama administration? Do we expect John McCain to appoint Mitt Romney as his chief of staff? Of course not. This is part of politics. When John Kerry chose to back Obama, he did so knowing it would hurt his ability to get a job under Clinton, just as Ed Rendell will probably not get a job under Obama.
Unless, of course, Clinton and/or Obama and/or McCain can get some benefit by turning to an enemy. Kennedy picked Johnson for veep, Reagan did the same with Bush. Clinton could very well appoint Bill Richardson to secretary of state — if Clinton thought it would help her advance her agenda.
That’s not evil, or Machiavellian. It’s just politics. Criticize Clinton for her choice of frames, or for her campaign’s ever-shifting rationales for victory. But don’t criticize her for being a politician. That’s like being upset with a goalie for trying to make a save.
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Topics: Hillary Rodham Clinton | 3 Comments »
April 26th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Your main point is spot on, Jeff. All pols (and nearly all people in general) reward their friends/allies and disfavor their enemies/opponents.
However, it seems to me that Clift is suggesting that in Sen. Clinton’s case, that natural outcome will be pushed to unusual extremes. That is, Clift suggests that HRC will be more vindictive than normal.
Note that I don’t think Clift is correct in that analysis; I think Clinton would be about on par with any other politician in that aspect. But if I’m correct, it alters Clift’s column from being a statement of the obvious to being a position that can be debated.
April 26th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
[...] Editor wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI’m beginning to think Hillary Clinton might pull this off and wrestle the nomination away from Barack Obama. If she does, a lot of folks—including a huge chunk of the media—will join Bill Richardson (aka Judas) in the Deep Freeze. … [...]
April 27th, 2008 at 9:07 am
I’m not a HRC supporter but I believe she’ll win the nomination, but lose the election. She’ll stay within striking distance to Obama and will win it at the convention where she and Bill will pull in 25 year of political experiance and markers to make it so. Back room deals in smoke filled rooms, just like it used to be. If obama and HRC are even close, nobodies going to want to be on their s**t list and it’ll be there last chance to avoid that long list. And the clintons are politically vindictive.