Republican debate
One irritating problem with this GOP debate roundup. One:
Even as they scrimmaged, the leading candidates took stronger aim at one Democratic candidate: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. In addition to helping them score points with Republican voters, their attacks on Mrs. Clinton may have the side effect of helping her score points with Democrats.
Their attacks on Mrs. Clinton may also have the side effects of turning lemons into turnips, covering polar bears with polka dots, and isolating a viable cold-fusion mechanism. But then again, they may not.
This is much better:
There were some exaggerations and misstatements of facts along the way. Mr. Romney, for instance, spoke of his record in Massachusetts and said, “We solved the problem in health care in our state, not by having government take it over the way Hillary Clinton would.”But Mrs. Clinton’s plan calls for creating new options for buying private or public insurance at affordable rates, requiring everyone to obtain insurance, and providing subsidies and tax credits to small businesses and individuals who could not afford it.
She has said that the plan would not be run by the government.
Comments
Exactly. I really don't understand this logic, because every time "Hillary" was mentioned, it was followed with "destroy America". For the people who perk up only at the sound of proper nouns, sure - this is some free publicity. For anyone who listens to complete sentences, this was a bad thing for Clinton and a good thing for the GOP.
It's obvious that the GOP are focusing on Clinton's flaws in order rally their base. However, maybe the NYtimes is right. I mean, we all remember how the repeated attacks on John Kerry's record rocketed him into the White House.
It was a stunning Kerry victory, if I remember.
I really think that we should go for Occam's razor when it comes to electoral politics. It's always possible to find some counterintuitive result. Perhaps smearing McCain in South Carolina is so distasteful that he'll win. Perhaps the Swift Boat ads will backfire because they'll highlight Bush's inexperience during Nam. Perhaps, as Hillary's advisers repeat, the GOP are trashing her because they know in their heart of hearts that she is the only one who can beat them.
Or maybe the simplest answer is the right one.
John McCain lost in SC because of the smears, and so did Kerry in 2004. I really think that the GOP is attacking Hillary to rile up the party because this stuff is not rocket science: Republican voters don't like Hillary Clinton and will vote against her en masse.
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