Clinton Could Face Uneasy Return to Senate

[curious one]

source: The new York Times

link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.phhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/us/politics/26clinton.htmlp

snip

When Hillary Rodham Clinton made a rare stop in the Senate last week, she spoke from a lonely outpost at the end of the Armed Services Committee dais, eight empty chairs emphasizing the gulf between her and real Senate power at the chairman’s spot.

It was illustrative of the inflexible senatorial math that will fix Mrs. Clinton’s place in Congress should the Democratic nominating fight play out on its present course. While she has received millions of votes, stirred thousands of Americans at rallies, made hundreds of appearances and is just scores of delegates short of her goal, defeat would still return her to the Senate as No. 36 out of 49 Democrats.

[peoli]

1. I believed there was a time when she would have received a standing O when she returned, but I

believe that day has come and gone.

[Cha]

2. Imagining hilary back in the senate where the repukes

will welcome her and the Dems who aren't dinos will wonder :wtf: she thought she was doing?

Your link doesn't go to the NYT article. Thanks for this.

[GoesTo11]

16. She'll have one ally in the same boat.

[Cha]

55. Yeah, they can hang out together and

reminisce about their national losses.

[northzax]

61. you mean those same Republicans

that President Obama has pledged to reach out to and work with?

[JI7]

3. i think other Senators will be welcoming and ready to work with her again

if that's what she wants.

[jasmine621]

4. Hillary is so used to folks making her out to be a pariah. She can handle it.

She smiles and works well with most of the slime balls in the Senate. Some of her most venomous detractors have come out and said that she is a great Senator and they respect her. They may not like her, but so what.

[Max_powers94]

5. especially if she causes Obama to lose the GE

[murielm99]

13. If he loses the GE, it will be his own fault.

We spent years watching and listening to neocons and freepers blame the Clintons for everything since the Garden of Eden. We do not need that sort of thing here at DU. Stop using their talking points. It is despicable.

Obama has run a slimy campaign and used divide and conquer techniques. The media has been his friend so far. That will not continue if he is the nominee.

I don't think he can win. That is one of the biggest reasons I don't want him as the nominee. But he split the party and he will own his loss. Stop setting up the Clintons to take the blame for Obama's incompetence.

[Max_powers94]

20. I have to disagree with you nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

21. I think 99% of DU disagrees with you. Your characterization of this race

so far is just beyond ridiculous. You're seeing things through a "Clintonian" lens, that's for sure. I agree with the poster you responded to. These are not Republican talking points. Many in the party have said the same thing. Clinton will share a great deal of the blame should Obama lose the GE, and rightfully so.

She certainly deserves a supporter like you, seems you're willing to lie at the drop of a hat too.

[murielm99]

28. Many in the party feel that Obama will lose.

I live in Illinois, Obama central. That sentiment is very widespread here. It is widespread among people who have worked hard for the Democratic party all their lives.

No one is blaming Clinton. They blame the people who will refuse to vote for a black man. When I have canvassed, people have come right out and said that to me. People in the party here blame the way Obama has disrespected the base of the party: older women, baby boomers and blue collar workers. Union people in this state are divided nearly 50/50 in their support of Clinton and Obama. They know that Obama's so-called new coalition will not be enough. Young voters, swing voters and African Americans do not make up for the groups he has alienated and lost.

Of course most Democrats here are strong Obama supporters. This is his home state. He won the primary. But many people have taken a closer look since February 5. I am talking about people who understand how things work.

You have no right to call me a liar. I did not attack you personally. Your attack is despicable, but I guess I should expect no less from an Obama supporter on DU. Most of you have no manners.

[Tarheel_Dem]

31. I have perfect manners, thank you very much.

Illinois is not the USA, which by the way, Obama will carry with ease. I don't care what some racist assholes "supposedly" said to you about Obama.

Your limited contact with a few people in Illinois doesn't impress me at all. I canvassed in N.C., where Hillary is despised with a purple passion, and people flat out told me they would never cast a vote for a Clinton, ANY Clinton. So we can all pull anecdotes out of our ass, which is where I suspect yours came from.

Why won't you just concede that Clinton has run a horrible campaign, which has nothing to do with Sen. Obama, and this is why she has lost. And as for despicable, your attacks on Sen. Obama were a pack of lies, and straight from Bill Clinton, another reputed liar.

Unlike some here, I don't give a s**t who you vote for. I'm just sorry you've chosen to blame Sen. Obama for Hillary's shortcomings. I'm assuming you'll be in DC on the 31st, have fun.

[murielm99]

56. Sorry, but I have more than just limited contact with

a few people in Illinois.

And you are a message board poster who can say anything you want. You know nothing about me.

I do not blame Obama for anything but running a slimy campaign based on the race card, divide and conquer techniques, the use of surrogates who are allowed to say anything, and whisper campaigns. I do believe he will lose. And I believe he has no one to blame but himself.

[Tarheel_Dem]

58. Your lies & distortions aside, Hillary has already lost. Get over it.

There's a reason 6 out of 10 people think she's a liar, it's because it's true. And those who continue to support her don't give a shit about integrity as long as the candidate's name is Clinton.
Bill Clinton, the king of slime. How you can utter those words when you support Bill's wife, is beyond me.

Like I said, have fun in DC with the rest of Hillary's pot banging, broken hip brigade.:hi:

[RainDog]

37. an alternate reality

who has divided democrats? who has said Obama "doesn't care about you" to the poor in KY? (Bill Clinton). who has falsely claimed she represents all women (Hillary... gallup shows women favor Obama 49% to 43% as of this month... regardless of age.)

how has Obama divided the party when racists have admitted the only reason they wouldn't vote for him is because he's a black man? how is that Obama's fault? he was born bi-racial in a society with large racist populations that are pandered to by the right wing... that's Obama's fault?

He leads among ALL GROUPS of democrats according to the latest Gallup Polls.

Who has divided the democrats when a candidate who cannot realistically win based upon the rules set forth at the beginning of this campaign refuses to at least suspend her campaign and work to unite the party behind the winner?

how is it Obama's fault that Hillary refuses to admit the has lost? how is it Obama's fault that more and more ppl have come to detest the Clintons after their dirty campaigning since March? how is it Obama's fault that Hillary wants to change the rules to suit her now that she has lost?

how is it Obama's fault when Feinstein, Dean, Carter, Pelosi and more have hinted LOUDLY that Hillary needs to accept the truth that she has not been chosen as the nominee?

how is it Obama's fault when Ferraro talks about splitting the party and voting for McCain?

come on. get real. the problem is that Hillary and a few of her most ardent supporters refuse to accept that she has lost.

one bit of good news, however. if the Hillary faction continues to undermine Obama's presidential campaign, Bob Barr will siphon off libertarian votes from the republicans and this will blunt any harm Hillary is trying to do. We'll see where the independent vote falls.

I defended the Clintons in the 90s and on into this century. Until now. Now, they have proved they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt so many of us gave to them after witnessing what they have been trying to do to the democratic party since March.

[IsItJustMe]

51. I would expect a Hillary supporter to say shit like this. Don't let any truth get in the way.

[PM7nj]

25. Obama has run a slimy campaign?

Oh really???

[murielm99]

26. Yes he has. n/t

[PM7nj]

27. If you say so. nt

[kwenu]

44. I'd like some examples of that if you have any.

If you're upset because your candidate didn't win that's one thing but to scapegoat the other candidate because you're upset is something else entirely.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

45. How do you square that with their self-proclaimed "kitchen sink" strategy?

Don't believe me. Believe the Clinton campaign.

Clinton Campaign Starts 5-Point Attack on Obama

By PATRICK HEALY and JULIE BOSMAN
Published: February 26, 2008

After struggling for months to dent Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy, the campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is now unleashing what one Clinton aide called a “kitchen sink” fusillade against Mr. Obama, pursuing five lines of attack since Saturday in hopes of stopping his political momentum.
...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/us/politics/26clinton.html

:shrug:

[roguevalley]

47. where? I come from a really red state and Obama swept it. you

really need to get out more. pockets of rednecks around the country do not reflect the massive support this man has generated through his superior efforts. Hillary is toast.

[roguevalley]

46. he will crush McCain and you can eat your words. 99% of the dems

in this contest will vote for him. the 1% deadenders can kiss my ass.

[murielm99]

57. I hope that if he is the nominee, he does crush McCain.

I would hate to see what would happen to us if McCain were to become President. But I don't think Obama can win the general.

I am far from a dead ender. And about half of the people who voted in the primaries voted for Clinton.

I would not touch your putrid ass with a ten foot pole.

[mudesi]

53. Hey Clinton supporter

Give some examples of the slime or don't bother to post your idiotic assertions.

[gateley]

6. Here's a link to the NYT article (link in OP doesn't work)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/us/politics/26clinton.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

[Cha]

7. Thanks, gately..

"But the seniority arithmetic is only the beginning. There is also the personal challenge of returning to a club where more Democratic members, some quite pointedly, favored Senator Barack Obama and spurned her. For Mrs. Clinton, who has spent years cultivating friendships and raising money for colleagues, that had to hurt. Though the Senate is a place where rival lawmakers daily work side-by-side, this family feud was more public and pronounced than usual.

“You haven’t seen this before,” said Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska who sought the presidency in 1992 only to return to the Senate after the nomination slipped away. “In politics, what goes around, comes around.

“I would guess it will be easier for Joe Biden to get Hillary Clinton to support his bill than it will be for Chris Dodd,” Mr. Kerrey said, referring to the Delaware senator who stayed neutral after leaving the White House race and the Connecticut senator who did not."

Turns out they favored Obama with very good reason..didn't want a psycho on the ticket.

[gateley]

10. My pleasure. nt

[dkf]

8. Obama might have to give her a cabinet position to protect

all his supporters from her wrath.

[Cha]

11. I hope she doesn't think she can extort anything out of him after

the shit she's pulled.

[dkf]

15. Did you read the article? To think that someone like Chris Dodd could be screwed

because he supported Obama makes me kind of ill.

DKG says part of the reason to keep Hillary close is to keep your enemies pissing from the inside out of the tent instead of pissing from the outside in.

She's too vindictive to leave her out there.

[Cha]

54. I have faith hilary could screw up just as bad on the inside..

Look at her "health plan" inside bil's white house.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

29. Yeh, she can be Queen of the Kitchen Sink

thats the cabinet for her.

[SoCalDem]

52. The only cabinet position she deserves is

[me b zola]

9. Get back home Loretta

[AZBlue]

12. Could? No, will.

It's a definite.

[northzax]

17. yes, because we had so many extra votes

that she's not needed. Such a strategy. Glad we have ten year olds representing us (and I can complain, I don't have a senator)

[AZBlue]

49. She'll be replaced by a Democrat.

Even a 10 year old could see that.

[northzax]

59. replaced?

but she has four more years in office. the only way she's leaving the Senate before 2012 is if she moves to either the White House or the Naval Observatory.

[anigbrowl]

14. She can hang out with Joe Lieberman.

[aaaaaa5a]

18. When she returns to Congress...

she is going to find that FOX news, Rush, Hannity, operation chaos and all those confederate flag waiving, working class whites that kept her drowning campaign afloat, will have long since forgotten about her.

She thinks they are her new found friends, and sadly she is mistaken.


She will be a woman without a place to call home. A Senator without a Country.


I guess she can have lunch with Lieberman.

[Skidmore]

32. Hillary will end up being a Fox news political commentator when all is said and done.

[lurky]

19. I'm guessing there will be a strong primary challenge

when her term is up.

[cliffordu]

22. I'll give money to any dem that runs against her. And Liebermann.

[Heather MC]

23. Does it matter? she was only in the Senate to get to the White House

Now that, that's gone, she may not want to be in the senate anymore. Unless of course she trying to mess up Obama for Nov, so she can try again in 2012

[BlueStater]

24. If I were an Obama supporter, I wouldn't be using that talking point

He couldn't even finish a damn term, for pete's sake.

[Heather MC]

30. Check you American History, he is not the first to do that

It's late for me but I am Pretty sure Teddy Roosevelt only had like 19 months in the senate before he ran for the POTUS and WON!

And let's be real when Hillary took the Senate in New York, everyone knew it was so she could take the White House in 08.

So yes, if you want to call it a "talking point" as if I am on some sort of news show.
it is a valid one.

The Clinton's have been Collecting money and making promises to sell off parts of this country to foreign interest since they Left the White House. In an effort to pick up where they left off with NAFTA. That's the only reason she is still in this losing race, they took a lot of money for "speaking engagements" from major Corporations who were hoping to receive some big time political favors. I wonder how much the Columbian Corporation will be paying Billary to speak once they "Officially" Lose in June.
There, how's that for a "talking point"?

[AllentownJake]

38. 19 months

as govenor of NY. Teddy was never in the Senate. He was put on the GOP ticket as VP because the GOP wanted to silence him. Before there were primaries in every state the party bosses would love to make trouble makers the VP because it has no real power. Unforunatley something happened to President McKinley and Teddy became President much to the horror of the GOP.

Teddy actually won a majority of the primaries that were held against Taft in 1912 however the GOP gave him the nomination anyway and that is why he ran on a third party in 1912 dividing the GOP in an election they should have won and leading to a single term Govenor of NJ who had been a college Proffessor to become President named Woodrow Wilson.

[Heather MC]

39. Thanks for clearing that up

I was responding to someone at 4am, and since I am not running for POTUS, I don't have to be alert and ready for anything!

My point was it's not a requirement to complete a term in any type of Office, before running for POTUS. But Hillary Only took the Senate seat as a path to get back to the White House.

Perhaps the Orginal Plan was, Bill for 2 terms, Gore for 2 terms, then Hillary for 2 terms.
Of course the best laid plans of mice and men, or in this case woman

[AllentownJake]

40. I don't think Gore

was ever part of the plans or Kerry. However I digress.

Lincoln had one term in Congress and a lost Senate run in 1858. FDR had on term as Govenor of NY. Teddy had 19 months as Govenor of NY, Wilson had one term as NJ govenor. Prior Government Experience is not necessarily a tell tale sign of how someone will be as President.

The most "exprienced" person to run for President in the modern era and win was Nixon and we all know how that turned out.

[Heather MC]

41. I think if your "experience" is a 35 year excercise in "what not to do"

It's not the experience we need in the White House.

[roguevalley]

48. no, he didn't finish a term because he was elected president.

[TexasObserver]

33. Hillary has been insignificant in the senate, and will remain so.

[ccharles000]

34. She is wonderful.

[KittyWampus]

35. Hillary is just "scores of delegates short of her goal"? How dishonest. She's HUNDREDS

[Marrah_G]

36. She will be just fine.

[Swamp Rat]

42. RFKjr would make a great replacement

:)

[northzax]

60. ye, let's have more faith based science

in government. good plan.

[Snarkoleptic]

43. Ya can't pee in the pool and expect a warm reception at the snack bar.

[tabasco]

50. During this campaign, she has exposed herself as an idiotic liar

and unethical cretin.

Her filthy campaign and stupid lies will mean she has lost respect and trust among her colleagues.

She will be defeated in her next Senate campaign.

Blind ambition is a self-destructive trait.