Old enemies of Hillary are out in force, a reflection of conviction that she's "a formidable threat"

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: GOP hawks circling Clinton's campaign
Conservative attacks come early. She says she knows how foes think and how to defeat them.
By Stephen Braun, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- Old enemies of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are out in force. Just weeks after she joined the Democratic Party's flock of presidential contenders, Clinton is being targeted by conservative and Republican-allied activists intent on derailing her campaign before the start of next year's primaries.

They have surfaced with a flurry of planned projects: a Michael Moore-style documentary film, book-length exposes, and websites such as StopHerNow.com and StopHillaryPAC.com.

Conservative admirers of the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth media blitz that helped torpedo Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential candidacy in 2004 are now agitating to "Swift-boat" Clinton.

"People are doing what they're doing because they want to defeat her before she has a chance to win. You can't hold off your silver bullet to the end," said veteran Republican operative David N. Bossie, who is involved in the film project with Dick Morris, a former advisor to Bill Clinton.

The emerging moves against Hillary Clinton reflect the accelerated pace of the 2008 race and conservatives' growing conviction that she poses a formidable threat that requires fast and early footwork....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-hillary18feb18,0,6942519.story?track=mostviewed-homepage

[Tellurian]

1. Well, here it comes..

The full out Republican smear machine inundated with scripts and fanged tools in an attempt to destroy Sen. Clinton's candidacy.
Not going to happen!

[DeepModem Mom]

2. See this post about Hillary fighting back --

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3119309

[illinoisprogressive]

3. Hillary's slinging it at her opponets just as hard

[Tellurian]

4. Her opponents are the Republicans..

Repugs are hoping for infighting within the democratic hopefuls.

It's not going to happen..

[Bucky]

5. Yes, the way she cleverly maneuvered Biden into self destructing was horrible & sneaky

Hang on. I can't finish this post until I figure out where I left that sarcasm tag...

[Tellurian]

6. Forget the sarcasm tag.. Biden is responsible for himself..

He addressed the Obama glitch by himself- and it's over!

[earthlover]

7. Couldn't it also be said that....

"Old enemies of Bush are out in force, a reflection of conviction that he's "a formidable threat"

This is really hilarious. The more opposition a candidate gets, the more formidable the threat!

By all means....let's nominate someone that will get a lot of swift boating. The more the merrier. The more they kill our chances of winning, the more we win?

I read the article, and it was mostly pap.

I really suspect that if and when the Reps want to swift boat Hillary they won't just say they are gonna do that, they will DO it. All this talk makes me suspect they are trying to sucker some unsuspecting Democrats into the folly of actually believing the fantastic fantasy that the Republicans fear Hillary. What a LAUGH!!!!! They are chomping at the bit!

So let's give the Republicans what they want...a Democrat who has to act Republican and is easy for them to attack. A sensible nominee. NOT!

[Tellurian]

8. Repugs always go after the strongest first...

at the same time they frighten the hell out of the rest of the field.
While they're attacking the front runner they figure that will silence
the rest of the field until it's their turn for the Republican attack machine.

[earthlover]

10. So if they are going to go after Hillary first, aren't they already too late?

They are not spelling her name Osama, claiming she went to a radical Moslem school, and haven't even attacked her bloggers for their political or religious bruhahas yet. So if they go after the front runners first, why are they waiting until later for Hillary?

Hillary's biggest problem is that she made a mistake in supporting the Iraq War resolution and that she cannot admit this mistake because, if she did, she would look weak or indecisive or play into the "woman changing her mind" meme. So she has to dance around saying she doesn't like the Iraq War but at the same time saying to authorize it was not a mistake, or something like that. Which also plays into a similar meme. This position contrasts with Obama who was opposed to Iraq at the time and also to Edwards who supported Iraq then but now has recanted and called it a mistake. So, on the number one issue facing Americans Hillary has a rather mute voice.

I don't think the Reps are gonna swift boat Hillary unless she gets the nomination sewed up. Then of course it will start. I think they think Hillary is the easiest target and their best hope of salvaging this election for their side.

She will then be demonized as being a McGovern-style liberal, she will be associated with her husband's problems, she will be painted as a cold calculating politician and she will respond like she has been doing for years by trying to look "tough" and by trying to not look too liberal. So, if she does get elected, she will have triangulated herself not to be too Democratic.

So, 2008 is an opportunity for the Dems. What a disappointment to take this opportunity and nominate a candidate who has to be Republican-Lite for fear of sounding too liberal?

[recoveringdittohed]

9. One of my relatives got junk mail from Dick Morris recently

The mail consisted on an anti-left, anti-democratic party cover letter, a "Stop the Left in 2008" voter survey and of course a plea for donations.

In the next to last paragraph Morris says "If you liked how the Swift Boat Veterans turned the tide against John Kerry, you understand how a top Clinton aide can turn the tables against the Howard Dean liberals and stop one from becoming the next President of the United States."

Dean must be doing something right. He is mentioned negatively twice in the letter and 4 times in the 21 (loaded) question voter survey.