Tweet
Newsletter:
HILLARY'S STRATEGY IN ATTACKING OBAMA
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published on FoxNews.com on February 22, 2007.
Why is Hillary?s enforcer, Howard Wolfson, shooting Barack Obama in the kneecaps over David Geffen?s criticism of his candidate? If Wolfson had his way, Geffen would ?sleep with the fishes.?
Hillary and her boys realize that all that Obama has to sell is his purity. He?s like Evian water. He has no particular taste, he's just the un-cola ? the opposite of the vicious, destructive, partisan politics that pervades our country and turns off the voters.
Purity is a high standard, particularly for a politician, especially for one who is running against a Clinton. And purity is the easiest thing to sully. Just a drop of ink i n a bottle of Evian makes it ?dirty? and undrinkable.
So what Wolfson and Hillary are trying to do is to pollute Obama with the remarks of his supporter, to show that he is just like the rest of ?em ? a politician after all. The Wolfson attack is a calculated strategy. It's designed to bring the Obama candidacy back to earth.
But there was a problem in implementing their master plan: Obama wouldn?t play. He's run only a positive campaign and has wisely refrained from saying anything that smacks of a negative against Hillary. He doesn?t need to. The ranks of those who are willing to point out her obvious shortcomings are so legion that Obama doesn?t need to add to the chorus.
So Hillary instructed Wolfson to single out Geffen?s statement in the absence of any material negatives generated by Obama himself. In doing so, Wolfson has set a ve ry high standard: Not only may Obama not criticize Hillary and not only may no member of his staff attack her, but nobody who wants to vote for Obama or give money to his campaign ? particularly not a former Hillary supporter ? can even express a negative opinion of the Senator in public. This raises Wolfson?s attack on Geffen to First Amendment proportions.
But, ultimately, the attack will work. Not the first time Wolfson bites an Obama supporter who criticizes Hillary. Nor the second, nor the third, nor the fifth or tenth. But, eventually, after the charge is repeated dozens of times against anyone who criticizes the Senator and is backing Obama, the American public will realize the truth: That no U.S. senator, even Barack Obama, is a virgin and that it is not enough to be inoffensive and pure if you want to be president. You need some affirmative positions on issues as well.
Then Obama will face the real test of his candidacy: to get off the feature pages and onto the news pages. He will need to take strong positions, issue programs, and wade into substantive controversies if he wants us to vote for him. A biography and a philosophy aren?t enough.
In the meantime, while surrogate Wolfson is running around busting kneecaps, Hillary, smilingly, waves to the crowds and opines against the ?politics of personal destruction.? She?s an expert on it. She was among the first to hire private detectives to dig up dirt on women who had been linked to Bill, on Linda Tripp, on other Clinton accusers, and on virtually anyone else who stood in the way of her ambitions for her husband.
Hillary and Wolfson are a match made in heaven. After decades of being Bill Clinton?s designated attack dog, Hillary needed one of her own. And she picked a natural in Howard Wolfson. She?s the good cop to his bad cop. His Darth Vadar, unsmiling countenance sends chills down the spines of the American public. But his glare complements Hillary?s grin and makes it unnecessary for the former First Lady to bare her own fangs, except to smile.
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published on FoxNews.com on February 22, 2007.
Why is Hillary?s enforcer, Howard Wolfson, shooting Barack Obama in the kneecaps over David Geffen?s criticism of his candidate? If Wolfson had his way, Geffen would ?sleep with the fishes.?
Hillary and her boys realize that all that Obama has to sell is his purity. He?s like Evian water. He has no particular taste, he's just the un-cola ? the opposite of the vicious, destructive, partisan politics that pervades our country and turns off the voters.
Purity is a high standard, particularly for a politician, especially for one who is running against a Clinton. And purity is the easiest thing to sully. Just a drop of ink i n a bottle of Evian makes it ?dirty? and undrinkable.
So what Wolfson and Hillary are trying to do is to pollute Obama with the remarks of his supporter, to show that he is just like the rest of ?em ? a politician after all. The Wolfson attack is a calculated strategy. It's designed to bring the Obama candidacy back to earth.
But there was a problem in implementing their master plan: Obama wouldn?t play. He's run only a positive campaign and has wisely refrained from saying anything that smacks of a negative against Hillary. He doesn?t need to. The ranks of those who are willing to point out her obvious shortcomings are so legion that Obama doesn?t need to add to the chorus.
So Hillary instructed Wolfson to single out Geffen?s statement in the absence of any material negatives generated by Obama himself. In doing so, Wolfson has set a ve ry high standard: Not only may Obama not criticize Hillary and not only may no member of his staff attack her, but nobody who wants to vote for Obama or give money to his campaign ? particularly not a former Hillary supporter ? can even express a negative opinion of the Senator in public. This raises Wolfson?s attack on Geffen to First Amendment proportions.
But, ultimately, the attack will work. Not the first time Wolfson bites an Obama supporter who criticizes Hillary. Nor the second, nor the third, nor the fifth or tenth. But, eventually, after the charge is repeated dozens of times against anyone who criticizes the Senator and is backing Obama, the American public will realize the truth: That no U.S. senator, even Barack Obama, is a virgin and that it is not enough to be inoffensive and pure if you want to be president. You need some affirmative positions on issues as well.
Then Obama will face the real test of his candidacy: to get off the feature pages and onto the news pages. He will need to take strong positions, issue programs, and wade into substantive controversies if he wants us to vote for him. A biography and a philosophy aren?t enough.
In the meantime, while surrogate Wolfson is running around busting kneecaps, Hillary, smilingly, waves to the crowds and opines against the ?politics of personal destruction.? She?s an expert on it. She was among the first to hire private detectives to dig up dirt on women who had been linked to Bill, on Linda Tripp, on other Clinton accusers, and on virtually anyone else who stood in the way of her ambitions for her husband.
Hillary and Wolfson are a match made in heaven. After decades of being Bill Clinton?s designated attack dog, Hillary needed one of her own. And she picked a natural in Howard Wolfson. She?s the good cop to his bad cop. His Darth Vadar, unsmiling countenance sends chills down the spines of the American public. But his glare complements Hillary?s grin and makes it unnecessary for the former First Lady to bare her own fangs, except to smile.
