Hillary Watch

DON'T CROSS HILLARY. At a recent campaign stop in Iowa, Hillary got into a little spat with a potential voter. Randall Rolph asked Hillary why he should support her candidacy when she voted to label Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, which to him seemed like evidence that Hillary hadn't learned any lessons from having voted to authorize military force in Iraq. Hillary responded by saying, "Let me tell you that the premise of the question is wrong, and I'll be happy to explain that to you." Then she accused Rolph of getting his question from an unreliable outside source: "What you read to me ... somebody obviously sent to you." When Mr. Rolph claimed that "this is my own research," Hillary quickly cut him off, saying, "Well then, let me finish." After trying to explain that her vote does not give President Bush a free pass to attack Iran, Mr. Rolph still clung to his notion that it did. To which Hillary responded "I'm sorry, sir, it does not." The crowd applauded for Hillary. but Mr. Rolph was not impressed, telling reporters afterward, "She tried to ... accuse me of using someone else's words and being stupid. And that offended me. I felt the need to defend myself in view of that kind of comment."

BERGER-LER ALERT. The Washington Examiner's Bill Sanimon reported last week that disgraced former National security Advisor Sandy Berger is advising Hillary and her campaign. Berger, it should be remembered, stole highly classified terrorism documents from the National Archives, hid them under a trailer outside the Archives, destroyed them, lied to investigators and was subsequently tired from Massachusetts Demcoratic Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004. Needless to say, this doesn't reflect well on Hillary's decision-making process. Law professor Jonathan Adler said that "it shows poor judgment and a lack of regard for Berger's serious misdeeds" and that it is "simply incomprehensible to me that a serious contender for the presidency would rely upon him as a key foreign policy advisor." After at first having no comment about Berger, Hillary now says, "He has no official role in my campaign. He's been a friend for more than 30 years. But he doesn't have any official role."

BABY BONDS. Hillary recently proposed a plan to give every American newborn $5,000 for education purposes. Former New York City Mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani called it a Socialist program that will cost $20 billion annually and compared it to George McGovern's 1972 Democratic campaign promise of $1,000 to every American. Hillary told the Congressional Black Caucus conference that her plan is a good way to give African-Americans more savings, saying that a "baby bond could be a good way to get them started on a lifetime of saving and growing wealth." However, she has since backtracked a bit on her proposal, telling reporters that "it's just an idea I threw out" and that "I'm looking for a conversation."

BILL ON HILL Former President Bill Clinton told the UK Guardian that if Hillary wins the White House, he will be given the job of repairing our country's supposedly damaged international reputation. Specifically, she would have him "go out and immediately restore America's standing, go out and tell people America was open for business and cooperation again," after eight years of having the Bush Administration "enrage the world." Bubba also told the paper that Hillary's image as a cold and ambitious politician is unfair. "Contrary to the image that has been cultivated about my wife," Bill said, "she's always been a rather reluctant electoral person." He also claims that when they first met, he suggested they split up so that both could enter politics, but Hillary would have none of that because politics is "just not my thing ... I don't know if people would ever want to vote for me. I'm just too outspoken."

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Oct 15, 2007
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