What War? It's not just that Obama wouldn't have beaten her, he wouldn't have run at all

[kpete]

Sunday, May 18, 2008
What War

Big point -- it's fascinating to me that nobody mentioned the war. Clinton supported the war. In retrospect, the war was a terrible idea. Her support for it was a mistake. What's more, it's inconceivable to me that Obama's campaign could have gotten off the ground had Clinton spent 2002 and 2003 as a lonely liberal voice speaking out against the war, then spent 2005 and 2006 being completely vindicated in her judgment. It's not just that Obama wouldn't have beaten her, he wouldn't have run at all -- it would have been preposterous. She would have faced a from-the-right challenge in the primary that would have gotten some attention but never posed any real threat.

But Clinton's error on the war opened up serious doubts about her substantive and political judgment about one of the highest-profile issues of the moment. In many ways it's a testament to how brilliant her campaign was all throughout 2007 and 2008 that they never allowed the war issue to bury her, considering that an overwhelming majority of Democratic primary voters think she made a mistake.

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/dont_talk_about_the_war.php

2002-03 was a very bad time for this country. It was a nation gone mad, and politicians directed that madness towards Iraq. For the most part our elites completely failed us. Dismissing those who in some small ways opposed this war while you, in a position of power, enabled it to happen is a slap in the face to a group of people who have been slapped quite a bit lately.

The dirty fucking hippies were, you might remember, the reason Dems didn't take Congress in 2002 or 2006, were why John Kerry lost the presidency, why Democrats were doomed to be the minority party for generations, etc... We're a wee bit tired of being mocked for the failures of people who really screwed the pooch.

-Atrios 11:15

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_05_18_archive.html#5304918307853730638

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. A failed war that led to a, well deserved, failed campaign. K&R

"You voted for it, senator." G.W. Bush

[Brundle_Fly]

2. Pretty much my reasons

fair argument.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. She has been one of the very last to back peddle. nt

[dkf]

4. I think one of the reasons it was "his time" is because he got the one big decision right.

And that was a big deal.

But the idea that Hillary would have voted against the IWR is ridiculous. She seems to have had no hint whatsoever that it was a bad idea.

In fact, I do think that she likes the idea of showing military power as a threat. Also, I feel she has only apologized because it turned out to be a bad idea politically.

[Window]

5. K/R.

:kick: