Jewish World Review May 24, 2000 /19 Iyar, 5760
David Limbaugh
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.
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?
© 2000, CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
|