Your first ever appearance on Fox News Sunday, and it is with Senator Graham, a Republican. The moderator is Chris Wallace, another Republican, and you were practically conciliatory. Why didn’t you just write them a fan letter, and save yourself the trouble of going to the studio? You had an opportunity (rare by your own design and decision) to bash Bush in front of his own core audience. I don’t think you should have been rude or shrill (which, honestly, I half expected), but I couldn’t believe that you would just lie down and die. Did you not see the camera behind Graham? With you in the background nodding and batting your eyelids demurely at his every utterance? Why could you not at least point out our loss of civil liberties and Bush’s wild spending? Hell, you even expressed support for the war, saying that you had voted for it and that more troops are needed. What the fuck? Did they drug you or something? You were gushing over how eloquent Graham is while Fox News logos floated everywhere — on the curtain behind you, on the stupid weather cube, on the crawler, and even on the gigantic 2-quart Fox News coffee mug that you put on the table RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOURSELF. Why didn’t you make at least SOME attempt to campaign for Kerry? Are you pissed about his impending nomination? If so, you should have thrown your hat in the ring way back when. Hell, why don’t you just go on Dayside and tell everyone how great Limbaugh is and how you think you could work with him for a better America, blah blah blah blah blah? I mean, criminey.
You “liberals” are all the same. 
Somehow, I suspect HRC knew **EXACTLY ** what she was doing, and by looking at her own political ambitions you might be able to figure out what she’s counting on.
How would that help her get the votes of conservative Americans come 2008?
What she’s counting on? You mean, like, “Oh, if I make nice to the Republicans, maybe they’ll vote for me.” [singsong voice] I don’t think so. [/singsong voice]
After 4 more years of Bush they might vote for you if you ran.
A week’s a long time in politics.
Pun, c’mon. You can’t be serious. She isn’t going to get any conservative votes. Did any conservative Dopers see her? Were any of you impressed?
But what about alienating the Kerry people? If you were he, wouldn’t you expect her to carry the party torch? I don’t think you quite understand that this was her first ever appearance on Fox News. Her absence has been conspicuous.
Kerry seems to be doing a good job of alienating the Kerry people himself.
In 2008 voters won’t be saying ‘remember when she was on fox in 04 man she let us down’
I read you OP and have read this board for 3 years and look at American news when I can on cable and read the online New York times and Washington post most days so yes I do understand that it was her first time on foxnews and understand why it was news.
It’s not news to me however that Hilary didn’t go after Bush. The way your country is split right now it wouldn’t make a difference. Pro Bush would hate her even more. AntiWar/Pro Kerry/Clinton will like her still.
Lots of yahoos still won’t hear any criticisms of Bush or this war. They are deaf to the facts. They only like clinging to the idea that they’re leader and country can do no wrong.
It may have been that she realized that she was surrounded by Republicans, and was in an ambush situation, and that she wasn’t about to give them any ammunition.
Or not. I didn’t see it.
But I know that if I was on a show with Bill O’Reilly or Neil Cavuto I wouldn’t say a word – I know how those assholes love to spin things. I’d rather remain silent and let them dig their own holes.
Looks at join date.
:eek: fuck me I’ve been reading this site 4 years
The last thing Hillary Clinton wants is for Kerry to be elected in November. She wants a clear shot against a non-incumbent Republican in 2008. Anything she did on Fox would just be trotted out 4 years from now as ammunition against her. Getting shrill and attacking the Republicans on their own turf was the last thing she wanted to do.
Will her actions win her the votes of conservatives? Hell, no. So what? It isn’t the conservative vote she needs…it’s the swing vote. She wants to come off as measured and reasonable to the 20% of the voters who could go either way. It was a very political appearance.
Bingo, we have a winner!
[shakes head sadly]
Does anybody—at least, any politician—actually want what’s best for the country and the world? Or do they just want what’s best for their party, their “side,” and their own political career? Does everything have to be about scoring points? People complain about negative campaigning, yet the OP criticizes a politician for not being negative?
(Disclaimer: I did not see the TV appearance in question and so cannot comment on it directly.)
Damn. I think you may be right. If so, then she is extremely crafty, and not at all the hayseed from Arkansas that her hapless husband seems to be.
Well it’s nice that you’ve already decided that for her. I don’t think she’s going to get any yellow-dog republican votes. I do think it was a calculated political move to appear reasonable, rational and pro-america on a television show she knew would be watched by a good many conservative/republican folks, and probably more’n a handful of liberal/democrat and independent folks. I don’t think she was on there to score points for Kerry. I think she was on there to show herself as someone who isn’t a shrill Bush-bashing harpie, which is probably how she’d have been remembered by the more partisan conservatives if she’d said anything at all negative about our current administration. Otherwise, what silenus said, especially about the swing vote.
That hayseed managed to get elected to consecutive terms, though admittedly running against Bob Dole isn’t something I’d put on a list of Great Big Challenges.
No. She wants to be president. Given that, her actions make a lot of sense. She is nothing if not a strategic thinker. And I’m not saying this in a negative way. She’s playing politics exactly right.
Thus Mtgman’s first law.
I find myself quite at odds with the reality of democracy in the US quite frequently. The ideal of democracy, with an informed and active voter base, I find very appealing. The reality of sound-byte campaigns and voting on nothing more than name recognition or party affiliation is hard to swallow. I tend to lose faith in democracy being a usable system. A benevolant dictatorship or oligarchy seems better some days, except there seems to be a shortage of benevolant dictators/elites to form an oligarchy.
Enjoy,
Steven
After some of these posts, I replayed the show from DVR, and I believe you’re right. Attempting to “think like a conservative”, I found myself surprised. She was gracious, good humored, and friendly. I notice now that her agreements with Graham were on Foreign Services committee matters where they work together. She was so charming, in fact, that at one point, Graham began joining in with the mutual admiration. He made a point of the fact that he had helped prosecute her husband and that, even so, she had been nothing but kind and professional toward him. By the end of the thing, Wallce himself was gushing all over her, saying what a pleasure it had been to have her on and begging her not to be a stranger. You know what? The woman might be a political genius.
As was her husband.