The Hill: $600K aimed at Clinton
By Alexander Bolton
September 28, 2007
Sensing that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) will win the Democratic presidential nomination, Republican Party operatives are stepping up their political attacks on the former first lady but are wary of going too far with their criticisms because she is a woman. As with the other Democratic White House hopefuls, GOP strategists are concerned that extremely aggressive rhetoric against Clinton could backfire. However, they point out that they are devoting significant resources to defeat her.
Richard Collins, a wealthy Texas businessman and a leading organizer of Stop Her Now, a political committee devoted to opposing Clinton’s White House bid, told The Hill his group will spend $500,000 to $600,000 between now and February targeting her candidacy. “We expect we’ll be much more intense in our efforts between now and Feb. 28,” said Collins.
Collins emphasized that his group’s strategy and tactics are more important than how much it plans to spend. Stop Her Now will use humor in its attacks against Clinton to make them more appealing to swing voters. Its website features anti-Clinton cartoons and jokes of the week. It also has posted a spoof of “The Tonight Show” in which an unflattering parody of Clinton plays the role of Johnny Carson.
Republican operative David Bossie, president of Citizens United, is producing a critical film documentary about Clinton that conservative financial backers hope will be as effective as the attacks of another group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, against former Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.).
Republicans must find novel ways to pan Clinton because she is a female and because many of the criticisms of her are already well-known, having been hashed out during the partisan battles of her husband’s administration....
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