Is Hillary getting a free pass on Iraq?
Posted: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 1:43 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats, Security
From NBC's Mark Murray
The 2004 presidential campaign taught us many lessons, and one of them was this: Being seen as a flip-flopper can be politically devastating. John Kerry's now-famous "I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it" furthered the GOP narrative that Kerry was a weak, indecisive politician willing to say anything to get elected. And so far this election cycle, we've seen the press and pundits attach the flip-flopper label to Mitt Romney (on abortion, guns, and immigration), Giuliani (on partial-birth abortion and the public funding of abortion), and even Mr. Straight Talk John McCain (on taxes and Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell).
But Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton -- who was for the Iraq war before she was against it -- has been getting mostly a free pass as she's morphed into an antiwar candidate. Just check out today's Des Moines Register's coverage of her speech yesterday on Iraq. There's a picture of Hillary standing behind a lectern that says "The Plan to End the War." Then there's her quote: "Our message to the president is clear. It is time to begin ending this war -- not next year, not next month, but today." Yet the article doesn't mention that just a year ago, she said that setting a "date certain" for withdrawal was a mistake, which produced boos from the liberal audience that heard the speech. It also barely mentioned (in just one sentence) her 2002 vote to authorize the war.
And it's just not this Des Moines Register piece. When Clinton was asked at CNN's debate last month about her new antiwar views, she simply changed the subject. On her last-minute vote against the compromise war-funding bill, Clinton answered: "The differences among us are minor. The differences between us and the Republicans are major. And I don't want anybody in America to be confused." And when asked why she voted for every previous war-spending bill until that one, she responded: "Unfortunately, we don't have a president who is willing to change course. And I think it was time to say enough is enough… Everybody on this stage, we are all united... We all believe that we need to try to end this war."
"The coverage of Hillary on Iraq is a travesty of American journalism," a aide to a rival campaign tells First Read. "It is horrendous."
Of course, most of the Democratic presidential candidates have shifted their views on Iraq in the past few years as it has become more unpopular. Biden, Dodd, and Edwards also voted for the 2002 Iraq war authorization, and all are antiwar now (some more than others). Even Obama, who opposed the war when he was an Illinois state senator, voted for all appropriations for it until the very last supplemental -- just like Clinton did -- since he joined the US Senate.
But none of these other Democrats 1) is leading by double digits in the national polls, 2) is a famous former First Lady with a famous husband, and 3) is largely getting such a free pass on the nation's biggest issue -- Iraq.
Her campaign, in fact, deserves plenty of kudos in making Clinton sound like Dennis Kucinich when it comes to Iraq. As of now, they have turned a major weakness into a strength -- which comes at the same time as Clinton has increased her lead in the polls. And if she goes on to win the Democratic nomination, it will be one of the big reasons for her success.
*** Update *** A Clinton campaign spokesman tells First Read that Clinton simply "got out ... and explained to people that the president has fumbled this thing so badly, we had to put an end to it. I think the Americans would agree with her."
