Hillary's Pander-Monium on Illegal Alien Driver's Licenses
Finally, a Position! For Now.
By Dan McLaughlin Posted in 2008 | 2008 Presidential Campaign | Eliot Spitzer | Hillary Clinton | Immigration — Comments (20) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
So after straddling, wavering and then waffling and contradicting herself in a nationally televised debate on Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens, and then blaming Tim Russert for daring to ask her the question, Hillary Clinton has finally decided that pandering to left-wing extremists is the safer course, albeit kicking and screaming about having to be even this specific:
"Senator Clinton supports governors like Governor Spitzer who believe they need such a measure to deal with the crisis caused by this administration's failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform,'" her campaign said.
Mrs. Clinton's aides said her statement was intended to signal that she broadly supported Mr. Spitzer's goal of awarding driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Mr. Spitzer initially proposed a blanket program of awarding full-fledged driver's licenses to illegal immigrants; in the face of sharp opposition from the Legislature, he backed off and presented a two-tier program system of awarding licenses to illegal immigrants.
Mrs. Clinton's advisers said that she had not studied either plan, and was not specifically endorsing either of them.
Still, the wording of the statement was murkier than what many of her opponents have said in either supporting or opposing Mr. Spitzer's initiatives. Among those opposing it were Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut; Senator Barack Obama of Illinois supported it.
Read On...
Amazingly, even the NY Times' Adam Nagourney described Sen. Clinton's response as being driven by weakness:
her campaign sought to contain potentially damaging fallout from what her own supporters saw as a tense and listless debate performance.
Republican candidates, of course, can be expected to oppose the plan - Rudy Giuliani was an early critic, and Fred Thompson has blasted it as a recipe for voter fraud. All told, this is an error that was forced on Hillary by Spitzer, since as the junior Senator from Spitzer's state she couldn't really evade the issue (Obama, having led the charge for a similar plan in Illinois as a state legislator, was already planted to her left if she didn't go along - a fact that explains his perplexed half-hand-raise when the issue came up at the debate). That's bad news for Hillary, whose top political strategist has already openly embraced the idea of pandering to illegal immigrants for electoral gain. The politics of immigration are dicey - voters tend to be against illegal immigration but hesitant to back candidates who are seen as too stridently anti-immigrant, so the worst of all possible worlds for a Democrat is to be seen as pushing to advance the position of illegal immigrants, giving Republicans an opening to be opposed without seeming obsessed with nativist concerns.
Hillary is a savvy politician, but her greatest weakness is that she does not respond well to being pinned down to specifics. This setback for her campaign may yet provide a roadmap for future efforts to hold her accountable for actually taking positions.
« Dueling June Obama fundraising claims? — Comments (2) | Tim Russert Rapes Mrs. Bill Clinton. Just Like Rick Lazio. — Comments (33) »
Hillary's Pander-Monium on Illegal Alien Driver's Licenses 20 Comments (0 topical, 20 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
John-Paul Stiglmeier
DOES ANYONE WHO IS NOT A RACIST OR BIGOT STILL BELIEVE THAT THERE IS HONOR AND LOVE FOR ONES COUNTRY IN USING THE OLD PHRASE " AMERICA FOR AMERICANS " ! I DO. I LOVE MY COUNTRY AND I LOVE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP SAME. BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT IF YOU ARE A CITIZEN YOU SHOULD ACT AS A CITIZEN OF AMERICA AND STOP TRYING TO CREATE LITTLE POCKETS OF EUROPE AND ASIA AND AFRICA ,ETC ALL OVER THE PLACE. THE " MELTING POT " THEORY WAS THE BEST THING FOR THE USA. IT SHOULD BE RETURNED AND ENFORCED. IF YOU WISH TO CREATE A BETTER USA HELP US BY BEING A PART OF THE USA. iF YOU WISH TO CREATE A BETTER " OLD COUNTRY " THEN RETURN TO IT AND WORK ON YOUR PROJECT THERE. THIS APPLIES TO CITIZENS AND ILLEGALS. THIS IS MY HOME I WISH YOU WOULD HONOR ITS RULES AND LAWS.
It's very unpleasant to read. And may convince some folks around here to shut your account off.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
Brian, I'm sure the left's message is more like: "Communism has ONLY killed around 120 million people, let's give it another chance!" Let's face it, Mrs. Clinton is pure politics, all pose and NO substance. It's come out in interview after interview after interview about how abrasive and abusive she has always been in the past to those under her and anyone she can get away with doing it to. I'm convinced she's mentally ill! Dick Morris and George Stephanopolous have both publicly stated this, and it's been corroborated plenty of times as well! She says one thing one day (or minute), something else the next, and expects to be able to spin her way out of it. People aren't that dumb, not the majority. The real Hillary is coming out of the woodwork, and folks are seeing it!"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." Sir Winston Churchill
There is a "Reply to This" button located below each post to use if you're answering a specific comment. It makes reading the replies a little easier.
I think you were replying to my signature text, the
As to you're mentally ill comment, I don't think so. She's a political animal and has been trained to give answers that sound like they have meaning, but really have none. Her husband was a master of this type of speaking. The abusiveness to her subordinates is just her way of expressing her displeasure when ever anyone does anything that disturbs her public persona.
Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
First, the vast majority of Americans and even a plurality of Democrats substantively oppose extending the privilege of a driver's license to illegal aliens. As a matter of style, the senator's blatant flip flop in the course of several minutes was devastating.
Republcians need to take away something from this episode, and it is this simple reality: voters deplore the Open Borders policy of the current and previous administrations. Lies and distortions will not move public opinion. Further, Clinton's husband was president before the New Media really took off to the extent it has. Clinton's blatant fumble cannot be denied no matter how much the MSM wants to avoid it. It will be YouTube fave for years to come.
Any GOP candidate who can honestly show a commitment to secure the borders and not pander to special interest groups, while not being "anti-immigrant" as Open Borders apologists falsely label most of their opponents, can take Hillary apart on this issue.
very fascinating to me. Here is how I see it. It can either not do anything to the dynamics or it can be the momentum changer.
Since it was on MSNBC, no one actually watched the debate. On the other hand we are in the youtube age so no one has to see anything live for it to matter. Second, her answer on driver's licenses is probably not going to move the base that much. I doubt that most of the Democratic voters care that much whether driver's licenses are given to illegals. Even if it is opposed, I don't think it is a driving issue in the race. What is an issue is the perception that she has no principles and she always equivocates. Now, everyone already knew that. Thus, on the one hand, we learned nothing new on Monday. On the other hand, if a moment reinforces a belief, it usually spells doom for a candidacy. For instance, Dukakis was seen as weak. Then, he got into a tank, looked ridiculous, and that perception was reinforced. Kerry was seen as a flip flopper and then he said he voted for it before he voted against it, and that was reinforced. Those two things ultimately more than anything else, doomed each candidacy.
This moment can have the same effect if it makes it into the public consciousness. Now, this brings me back to You Tube. I did a search for Hillary Clinton driver's licenses for illegals to see how many people saw the clip. That search came up with no results. Thus, unless I did something wrong, no one actually put up that clip yet. (Hint Hint, internet savvy Redstaters)
I did a search for the debate and those were up, however there were tens of thousands of views and those are of the debate in its entirety. If I am doing the Youtube search right, so far, I would say this will not change the dynamic.
Always tell the truth, George; it's the easiest thing to remember.
last night, and even got some mention today. That might be what we could call the "You Tube Factor," wherein the MSM realizes it can by bypassed--which means even if your search was proper, the media was compelled to report the incident. I'm not comuter savvy at all so I can't verify or deny that it is on You Tube, but that doesn't matter as much since the MSM has been all over it.
in this day and age, I see Youtube as a more powerful force than the MSM. I won't discount the MSM being all over it, however in order for it to creep into the public consciousness then it needs to be downloaded over a million times on you tube. That, to me, is a much better indicator of whether or not the public cares.
Always tell the truth, George; it's the easiest thing to remember.
I hope you're right, because if you are, Hillary is hosed. The unfinished trailer for the unfinished documentary Hillary! Uncensored - Banned by the Media is the #1 video on Google's Top 100 Videos In The World for the third straight day.
Drink Good Coffee. You can sleep when you're dead.
if you are watching the news and story comes on, you may or may not be affected. You chose to watch the news, but it wasn't necessarily your choice to hear about how awful Hillary is.
On the other hand, if you go to Amazon and download this trailer that is entirely by choice. The one thing we don't know is the political affiliation of the people downloading these things. For all we know, it is all Reps that are downloading this video. If that is the case, it won't change much. Youtube is a phenomenon that creates watercooler conversation. Youtube is what made the football coach at Ok State U famous for instance. Thus, if we have over one million people downloading that video, then the next logical step is that video becomes conversation at work, and voila.
Always tell the truth, George; it's the easiest thing to remember.
quite yet because those over 40 who tend to vote aren't quite there yet, but your point is taken in so far as the market demands the former represents.
http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Hillary_Clinton_goes_wild_ready_for_the_Dea...
She is ready to snap. I think we owe it to her to help her out.
Another thought I have is that in her conceit, she assumes that the world OWES her the nomination, let alone the Presidency. It was mentioned on Rush's show today that she has been in such a bubble or cocoon for so many years that she can't respond to any question or situation where she doesn't have complete control over all sides. Others have said she's always had a nasty, venomous personality as well, and she won't be able to contain it forever. Just look at her fellow moonbat Rosie O'Donnel, once the self-coronated "Queen of Nice", and she's had her nastiness out of the broom closet for a few years now! "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." Sir Winston Churchill
Now I don't put the r&f democrats in the same category as the democrat leadership - especially on the national level. I know of many democrats who are enraged by the illegal alien/border security issues & not very happy that the national dems are pandering directly to the illegal alien community. These are "Reagan Democrats" who are ripe for someone who can give them a reason to vote for the right republican presidential candidate. I'm a Fredhead, however Guliani or Romney could take this on wiht success also.
First off, even though I'm a Democrat, everyone on Redstate knows that I'm no Hillary apologist. Although I'm not a Hillary hater and I don't think that she's "mentally ill" (that's a wee bit much don't you think), I've stated numerous times that I think that she's a panderer, and that she's too calculating--which is one reason why I'm supporting Huckabee. That being said, I really thought that the MSNBC debate was unfair. I mean six guys were bombarding her for two hours straight--no one else on that stage received near the continuous scrutiny that she did. And yes, the moderators were way harder on her than all of the other candidates put together. For instance, when Barak Obama was hammering Hillary on her Kyl-Lieberman vote, not one of the moderators inquired why in the world he didn't even bother to show up to vote on the resolution. Better yet, when John Edwards was hammering Hillary on her taking money from lobbyists, the moderators didn't bother to ask him why he takes money from trial lawyers and hedge funds. Furthermore, on Real Clear Politics, it stated that out of the thirty-three questions asked during the debate, twenty-two were either directly attacking Hillary, or inviting the other candidates to attack her. Yes, she sounded silly when trying to have it both ways on the illegal immigration driver's licence issue, but it doesn't change the fact that by the time the debate was over, I actually felt sorry for her. And as God is my witness, this is not a partisan issue for me. For instance, if during the Republican debates, six guys disingenuously attacked one guy for the whole two hours, I'd feel exactly the same way--even if it was Giuliani, who I don't like. I just bristle when I see unfairness.
By the way, I don't know what's the matter with me, but every time I hear John Edwards speak I want to throw pies in his face. Do y'all feel the same way, or is it just me? I don't know what it is about him, but he really gives me the willies. I mean, to me, he literally reeks of insincerity--way more so than Hillary does. After watching the debate the other night, I actually had a nightmare that he'd been elected president, and for some reason, it really scared me. Anyway, this is just my two cents about the MSNBC debate that probably no one, but us political junkies, watched anyway. Y'all have a good night. :-)
hillary's a calculating panderer. That's common among politicians in general, but the Democrats have made an artform of it. And it's not just you about throwing pies at Edwards....
Thank you for choosing Huck. Not a bad choice, but I think Fred! is even better. Have you seen his response to Michael Moore?
Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
The only reason the Clinton camp is feigning outrage is so that it won't look like she tip-toed through the daisies to get to the nomination. She knows those gotcha moments didn't do a thing to hurt her with her supporters.
They're just creating the illusion of fire to make her seem like she walked through it.
absentee
This is very funny and Thompson comes across well. Thanks for posting it. :-)
An inability to make a decision is the hallmark of executive leadership. Now you tell one.
Drink Good Coffee. You can sleep when you're dead.