Amy Goodman: Clinton Draws a Line in the Sand over Iraq

[marmar]

from the Seattle P-I, via CommonDreams:


Published on Thursday, February 22, 2007 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Washington)
Clinton Draws a Line in the Sand over Iraq
by Amy Goodman

Hillary Clinton is a once and future warrior. Campaign events in New Hampshire suggest the majority anti-war electorate has problems with her vote for the Iraq war and with her position on Iran.

On Feb. 10, New Hampshire resident Roger Tilton asked Clinton at a town-hall meeting: "I want to know if right here, right now, once and for all and without nuance, you can say that war authorization was a mistake."

Clinton responded: "Well, I have said, and I will repeat it, that knowing what I know now, I never would have voted for it. ... The mistakes were made by this president, who misled this country and this Congress into a war that should not have been waged."

A week later, in Dover, N.H., she dug in:

"If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from. But for me, the most important thing now is trying to end this war."

Her tough talk to anti-war voters is reminiscent of President Bush's taunt to the Iraqi insurgents: "Bring it on." .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0222-22.htm

[liberalnurse]

1. Amy does not mince facts!

She talks boldly when needed!:woohoo:

[Tom Joad]

2. Difference between Edwards and Hillary. Edwards will eventually apologize

for supporting an attack against Iran, after it is clear that the consequences are catastrophic, Hillary will not apologize... either way, pretty much the same outcome.

[freefall]

4. Is Edwards supporting an attack on Iran or did you mean Iraq? n/t

[Tom Joad]

7. He is echoing Bush/Hillary's/ all options are on the table meme.

[ShortnFiery]

3. We're tired of warmongers - "Warrior" is a cover for unbridled arrogance. n/t

[paulk]

5. what "problems" is Ms. Goodman referring to?

The most recent polling shows HRC leading by 20% points in NH....

If the anti-war electorate were the "majority" Goodman references, why is she leading, and by such a large margin?

[welshTerrier2]

6. i'll try to give you a serious answer to your question.

yes, Hillary has a big lead in the polls in NH. but her press coverage after the referenced campaign event was a "dark cloud". I'm sure you can appreciate that savvy campaign types would look at more than just the current polling. a big lead might look great but there's cause for concern when the other team starts sacking your quarterback.

the press coverage from NH exposed a very real vulnerability. even if you don't agree with that statement, you should see that the press coverage created risk for the Clinton campaign. the drumbeat was repeated over and over and over. the message? Hillary is ducking Iraq.

The point is that you can't just sit on a lead; you have to watch the ebb and flow of the public discourse. it's as clear an answer as i can provide.

[paulk]

9. we won't really know if it was a "sack" or not

until more polling comes out. It will be interesting to see if her position on this hurts her or helps her.

I think it's premature to assume that it will be a "problem", as Goodman does.

I think that HRC is very deliberately kicking sand in the face of a certain segment of the anti-war left, and it may very well benefit her, IMHO.

[Laughing Mirror]

8. The questions anti-war voters are asking about her stance on Iran/Iraq

What happened in New Hampshire was that somebody called her on it, regardless of how popular she may seem to be in the state. Since the majority of voters in US are now against the war, the anti-war electorate is the majority.

Why is she leading by such a large margin? Name recognition, for one.

[paulk]

10. why should being "against the war" automatically translate

into being opposed to HRC? This seems to a basic tenet of Ms. Goodman's thinking, and I don't see the logic of it.