Saturday, August 4, 2007
Hillary Shifts War Position Quietly
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who voted for the Iraq War and then argued it would be a mistake to set a "date certain” for withdrawing American troops from Iraq, is now declaring that she wants to end the War "today,” reports the N.Y. Times.
What’s more, concludes the report, the change in her stance has occurred gradually -- without provoking resounding charges of flip-flopping.
A New York Times/CBS News July 2000 poll found that among Democrats who said the invasion of Iraq had been a mistake, 56 percent said they had a favorable view of Mrs. Clinton’s performance.
A year later, that figure had shot up to 69 percent.
Furthermore, her standing during that period among all Democrats has improved, while antiwar protests at her appearances have dwindled.
"Thanks to her votes on defunding the war and supporting a timetable for withdrawal, she has defused the war issue as a problem for her, and her 2002 vote for the war, to quite an extent,” says Medea Benjamin, a leader of the antiwar group Code Pink.
Not so generous with his analysis is Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the liberal Daily Kos Web site.
Moullitas told the Times that Clinton had "done a great job of blurring on the war,” alluding to her statements that she would leave a sizable military force in Iraq even after reducing the American military role there.
According to the Times report, an adviser to one of Clinton’s opponents, who remained anonymous, described the candidate’s change as "more of a slide than a flip-flop.”
But, according to Jonathan Prince, a deputy campaign manager for John Edwards, a slipping and sliding Hillary will not escape unscathed:
"The people for whom the war is a No. 1 issue, she is always going to have a problem,” Prince said. "The folks who are deciding their vote based on the war and are antiwar are quite aware that she has tacked back and forth on this.”
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who voted for the Iraq War and then argued it would be a mistake to set a "date certain” for withdrawing American troops from Iraq, is now declaring that she wants to end the War "today,” reports the N.Y. Times.
What’s more, concludes the report, the change in her stance has occurred gradually -- without provoking resounding charges of flip-flopping.
A New York Times/CBS News July 2000 poll found that among Democrats who said the invasion of Iraq had been a mistake, 56 percent said they had a favorable view of Mrs. Clinton’s performance.
A year later, that figure had shot up to 69 percent.
Furthermore, her standing during that period among all Democrats has improved, while antiwar protests at her appearances have dwindled.
"Thanks to her votes on defunding the war and supporting a timetable for withdrawal, she has defused the war issue as a problem for her, and her 2002 vote for the war, to quite an extent,” says Medea Benjamin, a leader of the antiwar group Code Pink.
Not so generous with his analysis is Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the liberal Daily Kos Web site.
Moullitas told the Times that Clinton had "done a great job of blurring on the war,” alluding to her statements that she would leave a sizable military force in Iraq even after reducing the American military role there.
According to the Times report, an adviser to one of Clinton’s opponents, who remained anonymous, described the candidate’s change as "more of a slide than a flip-flop.”
But, according to Jonathan Prince, a deputy campaign manager for John Edwards, a slipping and sliding Hillary will not escape unscathed:
"The people for whom the war is a No. 1 issue, she is always going to have a problem,” Prince said. "The folks who are deciding their vote based on the war and are antiwar are quite aware that she has tacked back and forth on this.”
