by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright November 2, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

en. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) found herself in the middle of a tag-team wrestling match with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) taking their best shots at the Oct. 30 presidential debate in Philadelphia. Both objected to Hillary's dodge on key campaign issues, especially the hot-button of whether illegal aliens should get driver licenses. She showed support for New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's decision to issue licenses but then hedged when asked whether she approved the practice. “Senator Clinton . . . has been for NAFTA, now she's against it. She voted for a way to authorize sending troops to Iraq, and later said this was a war for diplomacy,” said Obama in opening comments, highlighting Hillary's inconsistencies. “That may be politically savvy, but I don think it offers the clear contrast we need,” painting Hillary as a flip-flopper.

      Former President Bill Clinton was notorious for parsing language, using semantic tricks to extricate himself from telling the truth. No matter how much people liked Bill or the economy, they didn't like the plethora of excuses and wasting precious White House time on Monica Lewinsky. When Clinton testified under oath in a deposition for Paula Corbin Jones that “. . . It depends on what the meaning of is, is,” most people had enough. Obama reminds voters that Hillary's artful equivocation is no substitute for straight talk. As front-runner, it doesn't play it safe to evade taking positions on key campaign issues. “You told (a) New Hampshire paper that it [driver licenses for illegal aliens] made a lot of sense. Do you support this [Spitzer's] plan?” asked moderator Tim Russert. “You know, Tim,” responded Hillary. “This is where everybody plays gotcha,” ducking the answer.

      Playing catch-up, Obama and Edwards have shifted gears, no longer giving Hillary a pass on key issues. Since the first Democratic debate April 26 in Oranageburg, S.C., she has been treated with kid-gloves, partly due to the gender issue. While Edwards always lagged behind in the polls, Obama ran neck-and-neck, until Hillary began to pull away with a double-digit lead. With only two month left before the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses, Obama and Edward took off the gloves. “Hillary has consolidated her lead in most polls, but it's still close in some states, so Edwards and Obama need to differentiate themselves from her to gain ground,” said Democratic strategist David Beattie, signaling a change in tactics. Obama and Edwards plan to hold Hillary's feet to the fire in the remaining three debates of 2007. They plan to force Hillary to take clear positions on controversial issues.

      After her poor performance in the Oct. 30 debate, the Clinton campaign accused both Democrats and Republicans of pouring it on. “I am assuming an I hope that Sen. Clinton wants to be treated like everybody else,” Barack told NBC's “Today Show,” responding to criticism that he and Edwards ganged up on Hillary. Two days later, Hillary urged women to support her against “the boys' club of presidential politics,” pulling the gender card. If running against all male candidates means they can't question her on key issues or point out when she's equivocating, then voters won't know what she'll do as president. There's so little differences among Democratic candidates that Hillary has preferred to run against President George W. Bush, frequently finding fault with his policies. She's not used to mixing it up with her fellow Democrats trying to make up ground.

      Should Hillary eventually win the Democratic nomination she may run out of running-mates, since the rivalry with Obama and Edwards has turned nasty. “Who is honest? Who is sincere? Who has integrity?” asked Edwards, reacting to Hillary's refusal to answer questions about drivers' licenses for undocumented immigrants. Then Edwards answered his own question. “Not Hillary.” Two days later, Hillary endorsed Spitzer's plan to issue drivers licenses to illegal aliens, arguing, like Spitzer, that driver licenses better protects public safety. New York's Republican mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg opposes Spitzer's plan because it compromise national security. Whatever the position, voters must weigh the issues and decide what makes sense. Equivocating and dodging questions creates a wishy-washy appearance, not considered presidential.

      If Hillary plans to hold her front-runner status, she's going to have to stop equivocating and commit herself on key campaign issues. With three debates left before Iowa, another feckless performance will give Obama and Edwards the chink needed to make up ground. When the next debate rolls around in Las Vegas Nov. 15, Hillary will have to get off the fence or face more criticism that she's playing it safe to protect her lead. “So it doesn't make sense for her, after having run that way for eight months, the first time that people start challenging her point of view, that suddenly she backs off and says, “Don't pick on me,” said Barack, calling into question her fitness to be president. There's nothing mean-spirited about asking tough questions to the men and woman running for president. If they can't answer the questions or prefer to equivocate then they must suffer the consequences.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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