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Jewish World Review May 24, 2000 /19 Iyar, 5760

David Limbaugh

David Limbaugh
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Not so fast, Hillary


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- I'M TRULY NOT HEARTBROKEN that Rudy Giuliani has dropped out of the Senate race. And believe me, I would be if I thought it meant that Hillary would be the next senator from New York.

In her nominating acceptance speech, Hillary said, "Make no mistake about it: This election is not about me or about any Republican opponent. It's about the people of New York and the mission that we are pledged to." Sorry, Mrs. Clinton, this just doesn't pass the laugh test.

This is all about you. That's all it's ever been about. This is the moment you've been waiting for, ever since you partnered up with your philandering husband. This is your long-awaited reward for enduring all those humiliating years.

While to Hillary this race is only about Hillary, it's about far more than Hillary to the rest of us. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., was candid about what is at stake in this election. "With Hillary's victory, we're going to tell Trent Lott that he's no longer running the United States Senate ... that his dream of a Supreme Court that overturns Roe vs. Wade and an NRA that writes all gun legislation is dead, buried, gone with Hillary Rodham Clinton's victory." Thanks for the warning, Senator.

But not so fast, Mrs. Clinton. Signs suggest that your private jubilation at having vanquished Rudy with your signatured politics of personal destruction may be a bit premature. Rick Lazio has already hit the ground running, and things are looking mighty good. After all, Hillary gained only one point in the polls with Rudy's departure, even though Lazio announced just a few days ago. This concern about Lazio's low name-recognition is completely unwarranted. Remember, he is the one man that stands in the way of Hillary's presidential ambitions. Soon, every politically literate person in the country will know his middle name.

Hillary has enormous negatives. She's a carpetbagger who has spent more time pretending to be a New Yorker than being one. She has amassed a catalogue of scandals in her own right, not merely as the enabling spouse of only the second impeached president in American history. She has no real record of accomplishment apart from her husband. She's a hard-core liberal ideologue whose infrequent dabblings in the policy arena have proven miserable failures, such as her plan to socialize medicine.

Against Rudy, all of Hillary's negatives would have been mostly nullified because of Rudy's image as a compassionless tough guy. And if that wasn't true before it certainly became so once Rudy's alleged affair hit the front pages. It doesn't matter that Rudy's only crime was infidelity. The Clinton war machine is nonpareil at reducing all scandal to rough moral equivalence. One misdemeanor by a Clinton opponent cancels 40 Clinton felonies -- theoretically speaking, of course.

Lazio, on the other hand, appears to be squeaky clean, is quite likeable, and should represent a stark contrast to Hillary in the deportment department. And he's hardly a hard-core conservative, as Hillary is trying to suggest. One Long Island Democrat admitted, "I have a tough time figuring out what we're going to hit him with."

But that doesn't mean they won't try. Though Hillary is calling for a congenial campaign, her surrogates are already in full attack mode. An intercepted cheat-sheet of talking points faxed to pro-Hillary guests scheduled for the Sunday talk shows says it all: "Rick Lazio: Too Extreme for New York. Lazio was Part of Newt Gingrich's Extreme Republican Leadership. Lazio voted to eliminate the Department of Education." (By the way, if I can verify that this is true, I'm going to send Lazio a contribution myself.)

Hillary tells us she wants this election to be about issues and not personalities. But at this point, she continues to run a stealth campaign, refusing to answer any substantive questions from the press. My friend Rich quipped that we've heard a great deal about Hillary's listening tour. "It's time now for her answering tour."

Hillaryphobes everywhere should take heart. Hillary's running scared. How else do you explain her tired old tactic of trying to demonize her opponent by tying him to the retired Newt Gingrich? That smacks of desperation. As one who believes it is in the republic's best interests to end Clintonism, I'm feeling pretty sanguine right now.


JWR contributor David Limbaugh is an attorney practicing in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and a political analyst and commentator. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

WND

Up

05/22/00: Gore's risky, fear-mongering schemes
05/17/00: Can Bush risk pro-choice running mate?
05/15/00: Right to privacy, Clinton-style
05/10/00: Patrick Kennedy and his suit-happy fiddlers
05/08/00: Don't shoot Eddie Eagle
05/03/00: Congress caves to Clinton, again?
05/01/00: The resurrection of outrage
04/28/00: A picture of Bill Clinton's America
04/19/00: President Clinton: Teaching children responsibility
04/17/00: Elian, Marx and parental rights
04/12/00: Elian, freedom deserve a hearing
04/10/00:The fraying of America
04/05/00: Noonan: End Clintonism now
04/03/00: Bush: On going for the gold
03/29/00: Phantasma-Gore-ia
03/27/00: Treaties, triggers, tobacco and tyrants
03/22/00: Media to Bush: Go left, young man
03/20/00: Stop the insanity
03/15/00: OK Al Gore: Let's go negative
03/13/00: Deifying of the center
03/08/00: The media, the establishment and the people
03/01/00: McCain's coalition-busting daggers in GOP's heart
02/28/00: Bush's silver lining in McMichigan
02/24/00: A conservative firewall, after all
02/22/00: Bush or four more of Clinton-Gore?
02/16/00: Substance trumps process
02/14/00: The campaign finance reform mirage
02/09/00: President McCain: End of the GOP as we know it?
02/07/00: From New Hampshire to South Carolina
02/02/00: SDI must fly
01/31/00: Veep gores Bradley
01/26/00: The issues gap
01/24/00: GOP: Exit, stage left
01/20/00: Nationalizing congressional elections
01/18/00: Do voters really prefer straight talk?
01/12/00: Media's McCain efforts may backfire
01/10/00: Conservative racism myth
01/05/00: Just one more year of Clintonian politics
01/03/00: McMedia?
12/27/99: Al Gore: Bullish on government
12/22/99: Bradley's full-court press
12/20/99: Bush: Rendering unto Caesar
12/15/99: Beltway media bias
12/13/99: White House ambulance chasing
12/08/99: Clinton's labor pains
12/06/99:The lust for power
12/01/99: In defense of liberty
11/29/99: Are Republicans obsolete?
11/24/99: Say you're sorry, Mr. President
11/22/99: Architects of victory
11/17/99: Trump's tax on freedom
11/15/99: GOP caves again
11/10/99: Triangulation and 'The Third Way'
11/08/99: Sticks and stones
11/03/99: Keyes vs. media lapdogs
11/01/99: Signs of the times
10/27/99: The false charge of isolationism
10/25/99: A matter of freedom
10/20/99: Clinton's mini-meltdown
10/18/99: Senate GOP shows statesmanship
10/13/99: Senate must reject nuclear treaty
10/11/99: Bush bites feeding hand
10/06/99: Jesse accidentally opens door for Pat
10/04/99: Clinton and his media enablers
09/29/99: Reagan: Big-tent conservatism
09/27/99: The Clinton/Gore taint?
09/22/99: Have gun (tragedy), will travel
09/20/99: Hillary's blunders and bloopers
09/15/99: GOP must remain conservative
09/13/99:Time for Bush to take charge, please
09/10/99: Bush's education plan: Dubya confounds again
09/07/99: Pat, savior or spoiler?
09/02/99: Character doesn't matter?
08/30/99: Should we judge?
08/25/99: Dubyah's drug question: Not a hill to die on
08/23/99: Should Dubyah start buying soap ... for all that mud?
08/16/99: 'W' stands for 'winner'
08/11/99: The truth about tax cuts
08/09/99: Hillary: Threading the needle
08/04/99: What would you do?
08/02/99: No appeasement for China
07/30/99: Hate Crimes Bill: Cynical Symbolism
07/26/99: It’s the 'moderates', stupid
07/21/99: JFK Jr. and Diana: the pain of privilege
07/19/99: Smith, Bush and the GOP
07/14/99: GOP must be a party of ideas
07/12/99: Gore's gender gap
07/08/99: Clinton’s faustian bargain: our justice
07/06/99: The key to Bush's $36 million
06/30/99: Gore: a soda in every fountain
06/28/99: 'Sacred wall' or religious barrier?
06/23/99: GOP must lead in foreign policy
06/21/99: Crumbs of compassion
06/16/99: Compassionate conservatism: face-lift or body transplant?
06/10/99: Victory in Kosovo? Now What?

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