Hillary Gets Funky...Sort Of

A recent photo in the Washington Post shows Barack Obama's head speech writer, Jon Favreau, engaging in inappropriate acts with a cardboard version of Hillary Clinton. One of those acts involves groping the fake Senator and the other involves dancing with her. The pictures appeared on the speech writers Facebook for a brief amount of time and were then taken off, but of course someone discovered them prior to their removal and they ended up in the Post. This article has brought attention to the previous frequent claims of sexism that were brought against the Obama campaign during the primaries. Although the event will likely not produce too much of a backlash, as the future Secretary of State has already responded to the incident in a humorous way, it is interesting to note the minimal media coverage of this event as it truly does seem to point to the media being in favor of Obama. Either way the incident makes for a funny sidenote to the not yet in place Obama administration. By the way, the link includes the picture...check it out.

The pick of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State still has many wondering whether Obama made the right decision or not. Current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice predicts Clinton will "do a great job" in succeeding her as Secretary of State. Hillary also seems to have the support of America Ferrera, the star from the tv show "ugly betty", who is helping Hillary pay off the seven and a half million dollar debt that she accumulated during the campaign.
On the other hand, Saturday Night Live has turned its attention on the Clintons. Without Sarah Palin to poke fun of, it seems that SNL has been forced to turn its attention the Clintons. Saturday Night Live criticized Obama's choice by stating that although the U.S. voted for change, what it got was more of the Clintons.
While Hillary is preparing to work as Secretary of State here in the U.S., Bill Clinton recently made a trip to Malaysia to speak for a Malaysian business man Vinod Sekhar. Bill was apparently paid 200,000 dollars to speak before a crowd of three thousand. Although Bill told the crowd they should be proud of Vinod Sekhar, others felt Sekhar was only using Bill to attract new investors. After helping Obama get elected, Bill has now gone back to conducting business as usual.

Reactions to Clinton Vary

While Obama's appointment of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State (and her acceptance) have been widely hailed as a measure promoting unity at home, foreign opinions are as diverse as they are numerous. Israel has applauded her nomination, perhaps feeling that her outspoken support of Israeli defense measures, such as a wall dividing Israel and the West Bank, might counter any perceived Arab favoritism the part of Obama. And when combined with Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, who is Jewish, Clinton's presence becomes even more comforting to the state of Israel. On the other hand, the Palestinian Authority has expressed disappointment that Obama, a figure who is seen as a refreshing figure in US politics, would select the veteran Clinton, whose stances are less dynamic and creative. There are also fears that Clinton's policies might be constructed with an eye toward the pocketbooks of her numerous "pro-Israeli connections". Whatever the positions taken for or against her, Clinton remains a polarizing figure both at home and abroad.

LA Times Article

Yes Armand, Secretary of State Clinton Indeed

The New York Times announced Friday that Hillary Clinton has reversed her many previous statements and decided to accept the position. Clinton had previously stated many, many times that she would much prefer to stay in the Senate, but after talking with President-Elect Obama about "how she would fit into Mr. Obama's administration" she decided to accept the nomination. Fromer President Bill Clinton has previously stated "I think she'll be really great as Secretary of State" The decision by Clinton was a large surprise to many of even the greatest political minds in the country, among them Jonathan Shulman. Yet, Clinton seems to be a wise decision for Obama who is looking to gain as much support for his administration as possible, and with Hillary Clinton on board many people who were unsure about him will now undoubtedly feel much more comfortable.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?

On November 13, president elect Barack Obama met with Hillary Clinton along with Bill Richardson to discuss the possibility of either one of them becoming the new Secretary of State. The position would allow Clinton to exercise influence on Obama's foreign policy and could be a stepping stone to a higher position if she were to return to the senate after Obama's presidency. Whether she will take the position is still questionable as her original position on the matter was that she would remain in the senate. And although Bill Clinton has stated that Hillary would make a "great secretary of state", his foreign deals could also cause issues to arise if Obama picks her to be his secretary of state.

Hillary Clinton Promises Return to the Senate

Following President-elect Barack Obama's victory on Tuesday night, the Clinton camp issued a press release praising the Obama campaign and Democratic gains in both the House and Senate. Amid rampant speculation as to what Clinton's role in the new administration might be, Hillary and Bill attended the reopening of the USS Intrepid, where she reiterated her intent to remain in the senate. She also commented on Obama's choice of Rahm Emmanuel for Chief of Staff. Electing not to mention previous contention between them, Clinton praised Emmanuel's vision and strategic skill. As Obama prepares to transition into his presidency, Clinton is poised to return to the Senate, where she looks to accumulate greater influence and power, perhaps positioning herself for Majority Leader after Harry Reid.

Clintons Vote For Obama, Very Optimistic That Real Change Will Come Really Soon

Bill and Hillary Clinton both cast votes for victorious democratic nominee Barack Obama. The Clintons both played a vital role in campaigning for Obama, especially Bill who helped Obama to pick up the previously red state of Florida. Both Clintons were assets to the democratic party and they both greatly helped the democrats cause. The future for Hillary will most likely not include another Presidential run, but many other top positions have been thrown around. There has been mention of her joining Obama's cabinet, but she will most likely decline that due to her senate position. There have also been rumors that she could be the next senate majority leader following Harry Reid's retirement. Although Hillary wasn't victorious last night, her future looks as bright as ever.

Former President Bill Clinton made three stops yesterday in New Hampshire to get voters to help Obama reach the White House. Bill also attacked the Republicans for the failed policies in the past eight years of Bush's presidency. Bill finished off by stating that Obama will become President unless the "country develops collective amnesia in the next 48 hours and forgets what this election is about.
Although campaigning has been beneficial to Obama, Bill Clinton's aid to the potential President goes far beyond what can be seen in the press. According to sources from an aide to Obama, the two speak to each other "regularly". A source close to Bill Clinton specifies that they speak about two or three times a week. During these conversations, Bill and Barack do not speak of the election. Instead, Bill gives Obama advice about being president and they converse about the world. This advice from Bill is valuable and will be very advantageous to Obama if he wins this election.

Clintons Make Final Push

This past week, Hillary and Bill Clinton have put the petal to the metal, motoring through important battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and Delaware.  In PA, Hillary emphasized the importance of economic change, criticizing the failed Republican policies of the last eight years.  Hillary also responded "Jobs, Baby, Jobs" to the famous Republican cry of "Drill, Baby, Drill".  In addition to stumping for the the Obama-Biden presidential ticket, the Clinton duo has stepped support for Democratic congressional candidates, including Rick Noriega (TX) and Allyson Schwartz (PA).  And as we near Election Day, it becomes clear that Hillary Clinton's decision to throw her support behind Obama will go down as a critical move, regardless of the outcome on Nov. 4th.

Bill to Campaign with Obama

The Clinton Foundation recently announced that former president Bill Clinton is going to be campaigning with Barack Obama in Florida on Wednesday.  Although Senator Clinton has campaigned with Obama in Florida, it will be the first time that Bill will be campaigning with Obama.  This only further shows the Democrat's devotion to the party's unity.

Hillary Clinton will also continue campaigning for Obama this week as she is scheduled to campaign in three communities in New Hampshire this tuesday.

Clinton Stays on the Campaign Trail, Visits Swing States

Hillary Clinton continues to actively campaign for Democratic candidate Barack Obama. She has been in Colorado for the past few days and she will be in Pennsylvania to rally seniors for Obama. Hillary has proven extremely valuable to the Obama campaign by drawing large crowds in crucial swing states. Her campaigning for Obama has proven that she is a serious politician and that she realizes that Obama is the right thing for the country.

Hillary Clinton has been moving all over the country to continue to campaign Obama.  Clinton started in Florida where she campaigned with Obama and asking her supporters to"work as hard for Barack as you worked for me".  Clinton continued on to Nebraska today for the same reason and when questioned whether Palin would was prepared to be President, Clinton, following the lead of the Democratic Party, refused to make personal attacks against her and only stated that Obama and Biden had a "greater ability to assess difficult complex problems".  This of course was referring to their response to the economic crisis. 

Clinton finished today by visiting Minnesota to support democratic senator Al Franken.  This move further shows her commitment to the advancement of the democratic part as well as her hopes of creating a great enough margin in the senate to override filibusters.  

Hillary and Bill Continue Support

Recently it's been more of the same for the Clinton duo. Both Hillary and Bill have give numerous speeches supporting the Democratic ticket of Obama and Biden. In doing so, they have both emphasized that a fundamental change in leadership is necessary to turn the economy around. On Monday the 20th, Hillary plans to stump for Obama in Palm Beach Florida, the site of the most controversial electoral battle in United States history in 2000. This stop is especially important because Florida is still universally seen as a battleground state, remaining the subject of fierce party contention. Minnesota, another battleground state, is scheduled to be visited by Hillary, as well as Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, on Tuesday.

As evidenced by the Clintons' persistence in campaigning for the Obama/Biden ticket at events scheduled or not, the Democratic party in general is not taking its foot off the gas even though Obama is clearly polling ahead of McCain. With the ever worsening economic climate, Obama needs someone with the political track-record of either Bill of Hillary Clinton to lend him credibility, and that is just what they are doing. This weekend, their contributions were bolstered by Colin Powell's official endorsement of Barack Obama. This endorsement is key because, it brings an air of legitimacy in the area of foreign policy and military matters, issues that are for the most part, Republican dominated.

Post Debate Interview with Hillary

In an interview with Hillary Clinton after the debate, she, as expected, praised Obama for the "command that he has" and the "commitment that he displays.  But when it came to talking about McCain, Hillary laid it down pretty hard.  In response McCain's comment that "I am not President Bush", Hillary stated that "it's a little hard to buy that.  Obviously not the same person, but he has voted with President Bush about 90 percent of the time".  As for the economy, Hillary blamed the republican's policies for significantly contributing to the problem.  

The interview also touched on Hillary Clinton's plans for the future.  When asked whether or not Hillary would be willing to leave the senate to join Obama's cabinet if he was elected,  Clinton reaffirmed her commitment to being in the senate as she believes that the senate needs all the democrats that they can get.

Clinton Talks About Running for President Again, Also

Hillary Clinton stated that her chances of running for president again are, "close to zero". Clinton has also stated that she is not planning on being a supreme court justice. Clinton is actively campaigning for Senator Obama and is confident that the Democratic Party will have a largely successful election in all aspects, stating "I think the mood in the country...points  to a big victory for the Democrats." Clinton also denied any interest in being the democratic senate leader. Her actions during the election show that Clinton is a truly dedicated democrat and cares more about party advancement than individual advancement.

Clintons team up in Pennsylvania

Both Bill and Hillary Clinton have continued to throw their support behind Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden.  The Clintons appeared together for the first time to support Obama. The Clintons joined with vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden to speak at a rally in Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton, Obama's former opponent, has been constantly endorsing Obama appearing at approximately 50 campaign events.  She also showed her strong opposition to allowing another republican into the White House stating "I haven't spent 35 years in the trenches fighting for universal health car, for children, for families, for women, for middle-class people to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our nation and the hopes of our people".  Although Bill initially promoted Hillary to the job of vice president, he believed that "Barack Obama could not have made a better choice" in choosing Joe Biden.  

After a brief speech in Pennsylvania, Bill Clinton headed out to Virginia to continue campaigning for the democratic candidate. Speaking to over 4,000 at Virginia Commonwealth University, Clinton praised Obama's plans for the economy and health care.  Bill's speach also marked the begginning of the presidential campaigning in Virginia as McCain and Palin plan to visit Virginia this monday.  

Over the last two weeks, Hillary Clinton has dramatically stepped up her support for Democratic candidate Barack Obama.  Spending time in locations from Michigan to New Hampshire, Clinton has focused on debunking the perception that those who believe in the need for greater gender equality should vote for the McCain-Palin ticket.  While lauding the accomplishment of having a woman VP candidate, Hillary prompted the audience at a firefighters memorial to think about who would be a better choice to protect their families, evoking memories of her February "3 am red phone" ad, in which she effectively impugned Obama's experience and know-how with the regard to foreign affairs.

However, Hillary has seemingly put these intra-party squabbles behind her to focus on seating a Democrat in the Whitehouse.  In fact, the USA Today reported that she has raised over 8 million dollars for Obama since July.  And while this figure may seem like pocket change coming on the heels of the 700 billion bailout, it affirms Hillary's commitment to pass the baton of her constituency on to the Democratic ticket.

Hillary says that McCain is just "more of the same"

Hillary Clinton, who recently spoke on behalf of Joe Biden at a Human Rights Campaign, gave a speech that she said was prepared by Senator Biden. The speech made many comparisons between the current President and the man Clinton hopes will not be the future one. Clinton said tha McCain was, "Not a maverick. He's a mimic." Clinton's comparisons attacked McCain on many issues where he holds a more orthodox point of view. Clinton also said that the nation now had a choice to decide between more "small minded governance" or "securing equality and dignity for all Americans". Although called backwards looking, Clinton did not hesitate to compare McCain and his policies to those of the Bush administration. Clinton has become a very vital part of the Obama campaign since her loss in the race for the Democratic nomination. She has worked hard to rally her supporters for Obama and has raised over eight million dollars for his campaign. Clinton said that "We have a lot to repair in America, and I believe that Democratic leadership is essential to fixing the damage that we are going to inherit." Clinton is going to continue to attend rallies for Obama throughout the country in the remaining month before the election.

Bill says Obama "has better answers"

On Wednesday October 1, Bill Clinton arrived in the swing state of Florida to speak at the University of Central Florida on behalf of presidential candidate Barack Obama.  Although Clinton began by discussing the current financial issues in which the country is entrenched, he continued on to support Obama's presidential campaign.  Clinton told thousands in the crowd that they should support Obama because he has "Better answers for the economy, for energy, for health care, for education."  Clinton continued to praise Obama for his willingness to speak with himself and other economical advisers for ideas concerning the financial crisis.  He even praised Obama's running mate Joe Biden for his understanding of economics and securities.

While Bill Clinton has become more involved with the presidential race, Hilary Clinton seems to be avoiding it.  Instead, Hilary has devoted some of her time to supporting fellow democrat Rick Noriega.  Hilary Clinton appeared today at a fundraiser in  in order to endorse the possible Senate Democrat from Texas.  Whether Hilary Clinton will become more involved with the presidential race is yet to be seen but as of now seems doubtful.

On Sunday September 28, former president Bill Clinton appeared on the liberal Daily Show, hosted by Jon Stewart and aired by Comedy Central.  As much of the conversation centered on the recent economic upheavals, Clinton had many opportunities to take pot-shots at the current administration as well as the McCain campaign.  However, in contrast to the tonal turn that the presidential campaign has taken recently, Clinton chose to concentrate instead on policies that he believes need to be implemented to help the struggling economy.  Clinton advocated more stringent regulations in the lending market as a condition of the 700 billion dollar economic bailout, which ultimately failed to pass today.  Later, when prompted by Stewart to speak about what his own candidacy would be like, Clinton demurred, instead electing to throw his support behind Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.  His endorsement marked the latest push by the Clinton camp to put the messy primary race in the past and concentrate on putting a Democrat in the Whitehouse.  Whether it will be enough remains to be seen.

Hillary Clinton

Possible Actual Occurrence of SNL Satire Cancelled 

Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin nearly had the epic meeting/battle that was foreshadowed by SNL's skit on saturday night. Clinton was scheduled to speak at a rally in New York protesting the Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Clinton was, to say the least, shocked when she discovered that Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin would also be attending the event. Clinton aides immediately cancelled the Senator's scheduled appearance citing the fact that the rally was "...never billed to us as a partisan political event."  It seems as though those of us eagerly awaiting the possibly "explosive" meeting between these two will have to wait a little while longer.

Sources:Yahoo! News

April 7

From the multitude of news items about who said what when and about whom, there is the ever present assumption that every word out of a candidate's mouth should be gospel truth. It almost seems preferable to have stretched a story in order to make a point about an issue such as health care as Hillary Clinton has done with one of her stump speech stories. There is apparently some difference in the telling of the story by Hillary Clinton and the hospital where the hospital denies that it denied service to a young pregnant women who subsequently died.
On the attacking McCain front it is interesting to note a a CNN story For Pa. voters, economy is Job 1 in the context of an ad by the Clinton campaign which illustrates how the other candidates are not competent enough to answer a ringing phone about the economy crisis.
Then there is the ever constant scandal of some sort. For this week's serving there is the resignation of one a trusted Clinton adviser. There was some discussion how the adviser , Mark Penn, being paid to promote the trade agenda of the Colombian government. The problem started when it became clear that the two agendas, Clinton or Colombia, were diametrically opposed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7333899.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/06/clinton.hospital/index.html#cnnSTCText
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/03/campaign.commercials.check/index.html#cnnSTCText