Kristol: Will no one but Allahpundit respect Hillary’s political savvy?
posted at 12:25 pm on April 28, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Bill Kristol wonders why Hillary Clinton gets no credit for extending the primary season. She has won desperation primaries in New Hampshire, Texas, Ohio, and now Pennsylvania, but the narrative remains on Barack Obama and how he lost it, not how she won it. Even Obama tried to give Hillary credit for a good campaign in Pennsylvania, but as Kristol notes, only our own Allahpundit sees the genius in Hillary’s debate throwdown:
I do think I can speak for most of my fellow right-wingers when I say this: We once looked forward with unambivalent glee to the fall of the house of Clinton. Many of us still do. But we also see the liberal media failing to give Hillary Clinton the respect she deserves. So, since we conservatives believe in giving credit where credit is due, it falls to us to praise Hillary.
The fact is Hillary Clinton has turned out to be an impressive candidate. She has consistently defeated Barack Obama when her back was to the wall — first in New Hampshire, then in several big primaries on Super Tuesday, on March 4 in Ohio and Texas, and then last week in Pennsylvania, where she was outspent by almost 3 to 1, yet won handily. …
But Hillary may well be the better candidate. After all, for all the talk of Obama’s extraordinary ability to draw voters to the polls, Clinton has defeated him in the big states, including California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Obama won his home state of Illinois, but she won Florida, where both were on the ballot but didn’t campaign.
Furthermore, if you add up the votes in all the primaries and caucuses — excluding Michigan (where only Hillary was on the ballot), and imputing the likely actual totals in the four caucus states, where only percentages were reported — Clinton now trails in overall votes by only about 300,000, or about 1 percent of the total. By the end of the nominating contest, she may well be ahead on this benchmark — one not entirely to be scorned in a democracy.
Perhaps. However, the entire nominating process for the Democrats scorns democracy. The party establishment accounts for 20% of the delegates at the convention, created as superdelegates for the express purpose of overturning a close democratic decision on a nominee in case the result turns out disastrous. Why should the popular vote mean anything at the end of this process to a party who rigged the process to ignore it at their discretion?
And Hillary’s wins could be chalked up to political genius on her part, but in reality, she has run a mediocre campaign at best. She spent most of last year acting like an heir presumptive only waiting for the official coronation. In a season that screamed “change”, she ran on the nostalgia platform. When she faltered, she made strange allegations of ambition against Obama, using his kindergarten essays as evidence — and ignoring the naked Clintonian ambition to return to the White House the last seven years.
The reason Hillary remains in the race is Barack Obama’s stumbles the last two months. The press has finally started to ask tough questions of Obama, the kind Hillary has faced for the last two years, and he has responded poorly to them. Hillary has enough savvy to take advantage of these stumbles, but without them she would have been out of the race by now. The opening she has still remains narrow and completely in the hands of Obama, who could close this out with a win in Indiana — a win that looks less and less likely every time Obama or Jeremiah Wright appear on national television.
Obama at least has come to understand this, which is why he has turned down Hillary’s debate challenge. It makes him look small and fearful, but at least it allows him to play defense. Hillary has pushed him into that corner, which does give her credit for understanding how Obama’s retreat plays with the media and the electorate. However, that opening wouldn’t exist if Obama had better political skills than he does at this stage of his career.
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I absolutely adore Hillary compared to the guy who worshipped under and sought mentoring from this fellow:
Wright Makes News! At this morning’s press conference, Wright puts some meat on the bones of Obama’s calls for “real change.”
funky chicken on April 28, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Ah, yes. The good kind of loathing.
locomotivebreath1901 on April 28, 2008 at 12:30 PM
AP *hearts* Hillary.
lorien1973 on April 28, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Lips that touch whisky shall never touch mine.
Vodka’s my drink.
Kini on April 28, 2008 at 12:31 PM
from CNN’s political blog
William Amos on April 28, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Bill Kristol has always detemined his position on politics by wetting his finger and sticking it up in the wind. In that respect he’s a lot like Billy Jeff …. take a poll then state your position.
I’ll never forget watching Kristol on election day ‘04, when he proclaimed we were in for a big surprise later at night and Kerry would win running away. He was duped by the fraudulent exit polling on that day and decided he would look like a genius by calling Kerry the winner. Instead, he looked like the tool he is.
Just another conservative wimp IMHO.
fogw on April 28, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Hillary’s problem is, and will remain, that most American’s just don’t like or trust that conniving witch.
MB4 on April 28, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Well, I don’t blame them. If I were in charge of the Democrat party, I wouldn’t want to leave important issues to a popular vote, either.
morganfrost on April 28, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Most people were fooled by that polling data. Kristol’s a smart guy who was calling for Rumsfeld’s firing more than a year before it happened and called for the surge and the switch to COIN strategy more than a year before it happened. Disagree with him if you want, but he’s no dummy.
The Apologist on April 28, 2008 at 12:45 PM
They won’t lef you on the pages of the Times unless you kick a conservative republican occasionally.
Look at Brooks: he’s now a variety of something called a “big government libertarian”, whatever the hell that means, ie - nothing.
Megan McArdle over at the Atlantic is spending most of her time these days parsing libertarian excuses for a socialist like Obama.
And Kristol has been pimping for McCain so long, I think he must be living at McCain’s guest house.
TexasJew on April 28, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Congratulations Allah. (We still need photographic proof, ala NIE report, or something, as to your true identity)
Limerick on April 28, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Got that right. She’s no more electable than Obama. Can’t even win her own primaries let alone a general. I think McCain’s gonna wipe the floor with either one of these morons - bad year for Republicans or not, nobody’s votin’ for HillRod.
The Apologist on April 28, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Clinton can’t get enough kudos because her wins are asterisked. She is seen as having an assist from the opposing team of the general. A beautiful drive to the basket for a 2 point layup is less beautiful when the replay shows the defense stepping out of their zones and allowing it to happen.
captivated_dem on April 28, 2008 at 12:49 PM
She sucks, Obama blows.
That political barometer makes them equally destructive.
A McCain vote in November is a-prevention-of-these-two vote.
More positive I cannot be.
profitsbeard on April 28, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Kristol was a McCain guy in 2000 vs. W. Bush. He’s foreign policy heavy in his priorities. Barnes is the domestic side at Weekly Standard.
The Apologist on April 28, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Drop the house on the incompetent hag!!
GeneSmith on April 28, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Lie: The USA is a Democracy. (mob rule)
Truth: The USA is a Republic. (rule of law)
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Since when does the popular vote mean anything to the Dems. Since when does what the majority wants mean anything to a liberal…it is what they want, and only what they want that matters to them.
So if “they”, the leadership wants Obama, it will be Obama…welcome to the liberal party Hillary.
right2bright on April 28, 2008 at 1:01 PM
No, no, no. If the conservatives vote for Obama or Hillary, the world and the U.S. will hold still for 4 years, and then give rise to the next Reagan. Please don’t ruin this ideal scenario for anyone profitsbeard.
Entelechy on April 28, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Since 2000?
Entelechy on April 28, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Rev. Wright is Obama’s “inspiration” to incite a revolution.
Rev. Wright is racist.
Rev. Wright preaches the “Social[ist] Gospel”.
That applies to Barack Obama.
It applies to Hillary Clinton.
But who said it?
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels 160 years ago…
1848 Manifesto of the Communist Party
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 1:09 PM
Onry today are we?
Why pick up the dog business today when you can pick it up tomorrow?
Limerick on April 28, 2008 at 1:09 PM
Since 2000, at least temporarily.
Esthier on April 28, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Beat me to it.
Esthier on April 28, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Funny you should say that. The others on the Fox panel that day (Hume, Barnes, Kondracke) were stunned by Kristol’s prediction. They had access to the same polling data, data that contradicted every single poll leading up to the election, but they had the good sense to wait out the storm rather than jump on board with what appeared to be unsubstantiated, if not unfathomable polling data.
But I guess he was smarter than the rest.
fogw on April 28, 2008 at 1:15 PM
We don’t have to suffer through the next 4 years.
We can get it right the first time.
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 1:16 PM
But really, how big would the GOP orgasm be if whoever came out of the Democrat Primaries had less popular votes than the loser. I mean, my nipples are hard just thinking about it.
Dash on April 28, 2008 at 1:16 PM
If the Dems selected their candidate they way they move their agenda, there would be months of loudmouths posturing, a few canceled votes, and then some fringe group would file a lawsuit and the judge would impose a nominess on the party.
pedestrian on April 28, 2008 at 1:17 PM
I don’t do ’sympathy OR respect for the devil’.
I do raise a glass every so often to HillyBilly for helping to destroy Obama, their party and her own chances to crown Herself the Queen of The Brave New World.
Christine on April 28, 2008 at 1:19 PM
If I was Hillary, I’d be putting together a “Do we really want Rev Wright to be the next Billy Graham?” ad.
TexasDan on April 28, 2008 at 1:19 PM
For those who haven’t previously read it, here’s my take on Hillary’s 2008 Presidential game plan.
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 1:20 PM
’cause maggots are good. Wait, they don’t give rise to butterflies? They only create flies? You go help some here, Lim.
I’ve concluded that the populace deserves what it wishes for. The Rev. Wright is right. A new order is in order. Good luck to all of us.
Entelechy on April 28, 2008 at 1:20 PM
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 1:16 PM
This is Earth, not Fantasyland.
Entelechy on April 28, 2008 at 1:21 PM
Gotta disagree. The opening Hillary Clinton has comes from the idea that the superdelegates will have the nerve to overturn the popular vote and hand the nomination to yet another Clinton. Were Hillary campaigning against Al Gore this might have been a possiblity but to deny a “black” man the nomination he won by popular vote seems highly improbable. In the political racial hierarchy, blacks will trump white females every time.
Put another way, Obama’s stumbles have not helped his cause but the superdelegates are far too sensitive about their position to overturn the voice of the party. They can soothe the ruffled feathers of feminists but they cannot afford to alienate the black vote- already angry by the way the “rats” have taken their votes for granted in the past few decades. Throwing out the first black contender for high political office would be political suicide.
highhopes on April 28, 2008 at 1:21 PM
And Red Pill, please don’t insult Mr. Reagan, or anyone who’s ever loved/respected him, and his legacy, by comparing Huckabee to such a giant. It’s like comapring elefants to ants.
Entelechy on April 28, 2008 at 1:24 PM
Yes, I know that where there is this much $hit around there has just got to be a pony around someplace.
- RR
MB4 on April 28, 2008 at 1:29 PM
If I were Hillary I’d be very quiet about matters of faith. Liberals (including the ring of GOP thugs who engineered McCain’s coup) hate any discussion of God. They McCain himself refuses to say anything but he believes in God. Good enough for a private citizen but not nearly good enough to convince evangelicals that he will protect unborn life, will provide the same tolerance for Christian faith that is shown to Islam, Judaism, and secular humanism, and otherwise want to stick God in a church outside of all public view.
It’s clear to me that McCain agrees with Obama that faith in God is what bitter people cling to. McCain, Obama, and Clinton want us all to have only one faith- socialist secular humanism with government as the only deity.
highhopes on April 28, 2008 at 1:29 PM
Let there be no doubt. Eat your heart out the Moulitsases of the b-world!
Entelechy on April 28, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Indeed. Ronald Reagan, the eternal optimist…This pony will come riding in, with a prince/princess on top of it, in 2012. Believe!
Entelechy on April 28, 2008 at 1:33 PM
If your scenario comes to pass, Miss E, then I’m going to have to haul out that blue&white and declare my half acre as Israeli.
Our George Washington better find himself a war horse and get the hell off that mule.
Limerick on April 28, 2008 at 1:39 PM
Congrats AP, you,ve hit the big time now. Big raise coming?
abinitioadinfinitum on April 28, 2008 at 1:39 PM
Bravo, Allahpundit, Bravo!
(That was overdue on my part. I should have started out with that compliment…you’ve earned it.)
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Rumor has it he’s a New Yorker
He’s a reckless lawyer
I hear he carries several whips
He’s a sultan of Wall Street
with women at his fingertips
They say he’s nearly seven feet tall
And yet quite graceful……all in all
I’m told he waddles when he walks
And often twitches when he talks
Is he a dolt? No, he’s very deep!
Oh, Hotair’s losing sleep!
Who is Allahpundit?
Is he a hero or a monk, a fighting Patton or a drunk
Who is Allahpundit?
I’m sure he’s flatulent and crass
Here, here, the man’s a horse’s ass
No, no, he’s neighborly and kind
But quite erotically inclined
Whatever guise he may employ,
He’s Hotair’s pride and joy
This plucky nonpareil
This lucky, bloody swell
Who is Allahpundit?
Percy on April 28, 2008 at 1:48 PM
I agree. McCain considers people like you and me “Agents of Intolerance”. The truth is we tolerate them but they don’t tolerate us.
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 1:50 PM
ya think? LOL
good post. >:}
Chakra Hammer on April 28, 2008 at 1:53 PM
Huck is no Reagan.
Esthier on April 28, 2008 at 1:59 PM
OT:
Three cheers for the Supremes! Indiana ID law upheld.
Limerick on April 28, 2008 at 2:02 PM
She’s proven that she can hold her liquor better… oh wait, I think that weight has something to do with that….
CynicalOptimist on April 28, 2008 at 2:06 PM
I don’t know how many people hold that scenario; I’ve never subscribed to it. I think we’re screwed no matter what. I just don’t believe in rewarding someone with McCain’s record with a promotion. I don’t care who wins. None of them of deserve it; they all hold really bad positions that’s going to crater the economy in one form or another. McCain probably will win; due solely to the absolute pathetic incompetance of the opposition candidates. What burns me up are the McCain bootlick squads running around declaring that McCain is going to ride into Washington like some kind of White Knight Crusader and clean things up. McCain is a bigger Washington insider than either of the other two. He’s no crusader. His type of politicking is part of what’s wrong in Washington. He has more faith in the views of opposition party Senators, than he does in the views of his own constituency. His record is being glossed over; his populism is a freaking sham. He’s the ultimate sell out wheeler dealer.
I accept this is the end of the GOP I knew and that I am unrepresented. I have no illusions about 2012 or beyond, except that these feckless lying a**clowns that we’re electing are going to f**k this country up and try to blame anyone but themselves. Snark away if you like. Your cr*p candidate is going to win..but at least have the common decency to be honest about what McCain is; he is not a conservative and he will not govern as one.
austinnelly on April 28, 2008 at 2:14 PM
You are right on the money. McCain does not deserve the Republican nomination.
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 2:20 PM
All I can say is, if the country elects McCain, he’d better surprise the party with some payback for us holding our noses and sending him to the White House.
I’ll never forget waking up on the morning after the Florida primary, only to hear McCain had won it and Fred had dropped out. Mitt was all but done and McCain was now the favorite for the nomination. My stomach went sour. How could this be? What has this man done to further conservative principles, besides giving the Iraq war effort some hope? Apparently, I am just not as informed as the Republican masses.
leftnomore on April 28, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Austin and RedPill, are we just grumpy old men who like to read our own bitterness on Hot Air? I honestly hope it will not be as bad as we assume. We have nothing to go by of course, but maybe we will find a silver lining to this depressing cloud by 2012.
At least by then Earth Mother Gaia will be happy and may grant humans another few years of pointless living.
leftnomore on April 28, 2008 at 2:31 PM
Any review of Hillary’s campaign has to start at the beginning, not just look at the few desperation wins she has pulled out the last few weeks. From the beginning her campaign was a disaster and it still is.
It was a disaster because every one of its assumptions were wrong. She assumed that 2008 was going to be a Democratic year and all she had to do was show up to win. She assumed that Democrats loved her because they loved her husband. She assumed that people were stupid enough to really believe being First Lady constitutes “experience.” She assumed that raising a lot of money in 2006 would scare off any serious challenger. And especially, she thought she would not have to answer to the Democratic base for her egregious and politically calculated vote for the Iraq war resolution. She completely misread the 2006 election and how fired up the Democratic base was against the war in Iraq.
rockmom on April 28, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Allah and Hotair in the NYT. It’s that some sort of Milestone or something?
- The Cat
MirCat on April 28, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Crap, AP. I thought you were joking. Why not include that in your quote? It’s not like you to be modest.
WE’RE NOT WORTHY!
And I love the way you recognize her political genius: “And Hillary’s wins could be chalked up to political genius on her part, but in reality, she has run a mediocre campaign at best.”
misterpeasea on April 28, 2008 at 2:48 PM
exactly, they only agree with it when they think it is on there side.
right2bright on April 28, 2008 at 2:49 PM
Of course any party that thinks we stole the election in 2000 (still an wildly unreasonable claim) would think it is fair to actually steal a primary in 2008.
Democrats taking the power from the people and putting it in the hands of the minority establishment? Who would have thought?
Grafted on April 28, 2008 at 2:53 PM
MCCAIN ‘08: A FLAMING BAG OF DOG POOP ON YOUR DOORSTEP, BUT THE OTHERS ARE LIKE A POOP SANDWICH.
MCCAIN ‘08: WORSE THAN A POOP SANDWICH.
MCCAIN ‘08: SABOTAGING THE NEXT REAGAN.
misterpeasea on April 28, 2008 at 2:53 PM
Excellent! Very Kipling n’est-ce pas?
Beto Ochoa on April 28, 2008 at 2:55 PM
…with the help of Democrats who switched party affiliation and voted for McCain. Heck, they had no incentive to vote in the Democrat primary, so why not perform their own “Operation Chaos” on us?
Red Pill on April 28, 2008 at 2:56 PM
AP in the New York Times.
Temperature in Hell: 0 degrees.
WasatchMan on April 28, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Ode to Conservative Bloggers
I have an ‘effin’ F-A-L
It’s chambered 3 oh 8
I keep it clean and shiny
And trained upon the gate
With which repellent attributes
To keep my foes at bay
That they may not abuse my dog
Or try to turn it gay
Yet you with pen and rapier wit
dissect your manxome foes
Then flame their ass and chase them off
To Eschatons foul hole
I will not mourn them nor lament
To me they are as dead
But it’s OK, they’re just away
On Duncans open thread
Beto Ochoa on April 28, 2008 at 3:04 PM
Bill Kristol may hope for the day when Allahpundit gives him such a compliment.
Kralizec on April 28, 2008 at 5:26 PM
Congrats to Allahpundit!
His pun used the very ridicule he seared Fred’s lean campaign; though Fred actively sought televised coverage and successfully manipulated debate of ideas to his own advantage, while in contrast Obama hides in the shadows. BHO regrets one thing only, that he talks too much. Obama has answered 8 questions and showed up 21 times, though “debate” hardly fits Obama’s participative performance. Why ask for more? Wouldn’t that be like asking for more than 10 Commandments?/sarc
maverick muse on April 28, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Entelechy (Aristotelian perfection?)-
McCain was among my last choices for the R candidate, and he does not inspire much hope on the homefront issues.
But he is a tough old gator.
And, in a world as dangerous as the one we inhabit, better a tough old gator -who you can half trust- than a pampered poodle and a harridan pitbull who you cannot.
Barring something utterly unforeseen, it’s two lame dogs or one semi-ambulatory reptile.
Lovely choices.
But I know who would directly chomp on Achmadinejad’s butt if it came down to it.
And which two would merely yap and run around in useless circles.
profitsbeard on April 28, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Goldberg makes note of McCain in historical context.
maverick muse on April 28, 2008 at 9:30 PM
Kudo’s AllahPundit,the colours of U.S.S Hot Air
are flying high and proud,and you brought great
honour to this political ship,so excellent.
canopfor on April 29, 2008 at 12:51 AM