Decision ‘08

MoDo’s Strange Definition of Leadership

We’re used to strange happenings from MoDoLand, we veterans of the New York Times OpEd pages. Black is white, up is down, east is west, as long as the chance exists to bash the President. Apparently, you can add Hillary to the long list of subjects of Dowd’s disdain, along with Rummy, W., Bikey George, Chimpy, Chummy, Chumpy, and all the rest.

Hillary’s crime, predictably, is that she disagrees with MoDo. See, Maureen would like HRC to adopt the typically irresponsible progressive poses that result in nothing but please the base. Hillary, who no doubt would like nothing better than to be our first female President, is way too smart to take the bait, no matter the motive.

One would think Dowd would celebrate this strong, smart, politically astute woman. One would be quite mistaken. Here’s Dowd’s verdict on Hillary:

She has defended her vote to authorize the president to wage war, even though it was apparent then that the administration was snookering the country. And she has argued for more troops in Iraq, knowing it sounds muscular but there’s no support for it from the public - or Rummy.

She figures the liberals will stay with her while she scuttles to the center, even if they get angry when she’s not out front on stopping the war or preserving abortion rights. No one knows how she’ll vote on John Roberts, so this could be her own Sister Souljah moment (No, Maureen, her Sister Souljah moment is when she condemns the idiocy of the Kossacks and progressives and affirms that we’re in Iraq to win) - will she break with the hard-line left on Judge Roberts?

What Hillary has going for her is exhaustion. Exhaustion kicks in with any party in power for eight years, let alone one that tricked the country into war. And at some point, voters may be too exhausted to resist Hillary’s relentless ambition any longer.

But by hanging back and trimming her positions, by keeping her powder dry until a more politically advantageous time, she may miss the moment when Americans are looking for someone to emerge from her cowering party to articulate their anger about Iraq or their fear about a Supreme Court that will scale back women’s rights and civil rights here, as Islamic courts do the same in Iraq.

Hillary may get caught flat-footed. Or she may be right in betting that there’s no need to do anything rash now, like leading.

Oh, please…since when is following the herd leadership?

7 Responses to “MoDo’s Strange Definition of Leadership”

1 fatman Says:
August 31st, 2005 at 2:44 pm
Myself, I think it’s a conspiracy. MoDo’s trash-talking Hildebeast in order to make her seem more centerist and palatable to the right. Of course it’s HRC’s idea; MoDo’s too far gone to think of something like this herself.
2 Dennis Says:
August 31st, 2005 at 3:48 pm
The more I read stuff like this, the more I think the Democrats are actually going to give up their best chance to win in 2008 - Hillary - because while she’s out there trying to fight the perception that she’s a wacked-out leftist, the Kossack wing is angry that she’s not wacked-out leftist enough. How many times can you shoot yourself in the foot? How many feet do they have?
3 utron Says:
August 31st, 2005 at 4:51 pm
I agree with fatman that MoDo’s a trend follower, not a trendsetter. But to me this looks more like a Democratic version of Gresham’s Law, where any idea that originates on the extreme fringe of the party inevitably bleeds into the mainstream. If Democrats are more susceptible to this than Republicans, it may be because they see themselves as more hip and youthful. (See Dean’s remarks about Republicans being white guys in business suits.)

Dennis is right–the Dems are really shooting themselves in the foot, because I can’t see this Hillary-trashing trend working to the benefit of Warner and Bayh. The Dems are more likely to go with someone like Clark or Feingold, and drive moderates into backing someone like Giuliani or Rice in states with open primaries.
4 Clint Says:
August 31st, 2005 at 5:40 pm
I’m sorry, but if Hillary Clinton decides to vote for Roberts’s confirmation, that’s great. But it’s nothing at all like the “Sister Souljah” moment. It’d just be another example of voting with the moderates.

A good, cheap “Sister Souljah” moment for her? Let her attack Senator Hagel for his recent statements on the War. She can explicitly echo Senator McCain (”I agree with my colleague from Arizona…”). She’d be attacking a Republican senator, not someone from her own party. And yet, she can forcefully make the point that she really supports this war in the big picture.
5 Mark Says:
August 31st, 2005 at 6:13 pm
Clint, that would be a smart move, all right…
6 fatman Says:
August 31st, 2005 at 8:38 pm
Actually, I was just being my usual snarky, sarcastic self up there.^^ (Sorry.) Hillary might be devious enough to do it, but her ego is so big that she’d never tolerate being trash-talked like that, even in a good cause. I WAS serious when I said MoDo couldn’t ever come up with something like this on her own.
7 Mark Says:
August 31st, 2005 at 8:42 pm
You said it…