On Sunday, in an article about the worthlessness of early polling, I wrote, "[Teagan] Goddard points us to Concord Monitor, which reports that [Russ] Feingold killed before a crowd in New Hampshire. 'Going by audience claps, whistles and screams, Feingold won yesterday's match-up,' they tell us, 'Applause punctuated his half-hour speech about 20 times; thunderous claps met his mention of his attempt to censure President Bush.'
"Every eye is on [Hillary] Clinton, because everyone knows who she is. But she could find herself in the same position as Ted Kennedy was when he lost the nomination to Jimmy Carter, a democrat no one had ever heard of."
I saw an article from Associated Press which mentions future trouble Clinton may encounter if she runs for president in '08.
At a speech before a liberal gathering dubbed "Take Back America," the New York senator took grief from those in the audience critical of her vote for the Iraq war and her opposition to an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
"I do not think it is a smart strategy, either, for the president to continue with his open-ended commitment, which I think does not put enough pressure on the new Iraqi government," said Clinton, before turning to the anti-war liberals' core beef with her.
"Nor do I think it is smart strategy to set a date certain. I do not agree that that is in the best interests," said Clinton, prompting loud booing from some at the gathering.
Clinton has been seen as the early favorite among potential Democratic candidates for president in 2008, but she is increasingly at odds with anti-war liberals over her past vote and current position on Iraq.
Catching boos (deserved, I think) from liberals. Now, maybe the Iraq war will be over by '08 - I kind of doubt it. We might start saying it's not a war, that we're just defending our giant embassy, but we'll be fighting and dying there, nonetheless. If we aren't still fighting - war or no - I'm willing to bet that her votes in support of the war and her unwillingness to set a date for withdrawal won't be an issue.
But, like I say, I don't think that'll be the case. Unless she does a turnaround here, she's going to have an antiwar Democrat problem in the primaries and that's really gonna smart. Whether or not dems win back the House or Senate, the biggest winners in this year's midterms will likely be antiwar candidates.
Most people don't know it, but in the last election, which strengthened the GOP's hold on congress, not a single antiwar democrat lost their seat. This is the trend. And if Hillary and other prowar Democrats don't acknowledge it, they're going to find themselves out of luck at the polls in '08.
--Wisco
