Clintons Return to Form

 

And so it begins. For those of you too young to remember — and can we pause, just for a moment, to catch our collective breath when we remember that a 30-year-old voter in America today was born in 1986, was only ten when Bill Clinton was re-elected? I mean, good Lord! — so, again, for those many of you too young to remember the Clinton Era, let me point your attention to the following scoop, from today’s Politico:

Hillary and Bill Clinton are so dissatisfied with their campaign’s messaging and digital operations they are considering staffing and strategy changes after what’s expected to be a loss in Tuesday’s primary here, according to a half-dozen people with direct knowledge of the situation.

The Clintons — stung by her narrow victory in Iowa — had been planning to reassess staffing at the campaign’s Brooklyn headquarters after the first four primaries, but the Clintons have become increasingly caustic in their criticism of aides and demanded the reassessment sooner, a source told POLITICO.

This, young people, is Klassic Klinton™.  Staff eruptions, leaks, vendettas, and firings.  This is panic of the political kind, and if you think a President Hillary Clinton administration is going to be any different from the Freak-Out Central that her campaign is right now, you’re in for an exhausting ride.

This kind of breathless “people close to the Clintons say” and “insiders report that both Clintons are livid” and “widespread staff shakeups are imminent” is the kind of highly emotional, utterly personal, totally un-chill attitude the Clintons bring to everything:

As the new year began, Clinton operatives were eager to take credit for the lack of internal drama; many credited Mook and the loyalty he inspires among his staffers with creating a leak-proof and seemingly functional team — there had been no stories chronicling the internal turmoil, split factions, public spats and overhauls that defined Clinton’s dysfunctional 2008 campaign team.

But from the beginning, there have been deeper issues simmering within the cheerfully-decorated Brooklyn headquarters — and much of that had to do with a disconnect between the candidate and her campaign. Over the summer while her campaign was bogged down in the email controversy, Clinton was deeply frustrated with her own staff, and vice versa. The candidate blamed her team for not getting her out of the mess quickly, and her team blamed Clinton for being stubbornly unwilling to take the advice of campaign chairman John Podesta and others to apologize, turn over her server, and move on. The entire experience made her a deeply vulnerable frontrunner out of the gate, and underscored a lack of trust between Clinton and her operatives, many of whom were former Obama staffers that she didn’t consider part of her inner circle of trust.

It’s fun, maybe, for the young people who haven’t see the Clintons be as Clinton-y as they can be.  But for those of us who remember, it’s a movie we really don’t want to see again.

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  1. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    Yeah, I heard they’re bringing Dick Morris back.

    • #1
  2. Aaron Miller Inactive
    Aaron Miller
    @AaronMiller

    You don’t need trust when you know where the bodies are buried.

    [….] The entire experience made her a deeply vulnerable frontrunner out of the gate, and underscored a lack of trust between Clinton and her operatives, many of whom were former Obama staffers that she didn’t consider part of her inner circle of trust.

    • #2
  3. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Rob Long: It’s fun, maybe, for the young people who haven’t see the Clintons be as Clinton-y as they can be. But for those of us who remember, it’s a movie we really don’t want to see again.

    I would not have ever guessed that these two would show their face again in politics after they left office the first time. You’d think they’d have been grateful not to be in prison and scurry away to hide so no one would have second thoughts about letting them go.

    At one point, as I recall, someone had a really strong case against Bill Clinton for something, and the only reason he wasn’t hauled off in leg irons was because the president can’t be accused or charged with a crime, or something like that.

    Bill was disbarred. He was impeached by the House, and nearly impeached in the Senate.

    And then there’s Whitewater on Hillary.

    Our very own Bonnie and Clyde in the White House.

    • #3
  4. mildlyo Member
    mildlyo
    @mildlyo

    Mark:Yeah, I heard they’re bringing Dick Morris back.

    I heard Dick Morris referred to the other day as “a rare defector from the Clinton inner circle”. I remember him as “the guy Bill tossed under a bus after he was caught with a LNV*”.

    * Lady of Negotiable Virtue

    • #4
  5. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Mark:Yeah, I heard they’re bringing Dick Morris back.

    That would be hilarious. Please make it happen.

    • #5
  6. Douglas Inactive
    Douglas
    @Douglas

    Mark:Yeah, I heard they’re bringing Dick Morris back.

    Morris? Hell, I’m waiting for James Carville and his almost-exploding head veins.

    • #6
  7. Mr. Dart Inactive
    Mr. Dart
    @MrDart

    In Iowa Bill campaigned in an American flag sweater.  In New Hampshire he’s campaigning in a flannel lumberjack shirt.  I honestly can not wait to see how they’re going to dress him to campaign here in South Carolina.  The majority of the voters in the Feb. 27th South Carolina Democratic Party Presidential Preference Primary are African-Americans.  It’s the state where Obama ascended to the nomination in 2008… and Bill fumed, cursed, and boiled over.

    Ponder the possibilities.

    • #7
  8. Duane Oyen Member
    Duane Oyen
    @DuaneOyen

    Of course, every problem is caused by staff.  Nothing whatever has to do with… the candidate.

    • #8
  9. billy Inactive
    billy
    @billy

    I remember after George H. W. Bush’s defeat in ’92, a conservative optimist saying we should cheer up. The Reagan-Bush era wasn’t over, rather we were at the halfway point of the Bush-Clinton years.

    Alas…

    • #9
  10. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Douglas:

    Mark:Yeah, I heard they’re bringing Dick Morris back.

    Morris? Hell, I’m waiting for James Carville and his almost-exploding head veins.

    When efforts were made to reach Mike McCurry for comment, he changed his name and fled the country.

    • #10
  11. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    No surprises here. Blame everyone else instead of taking responsibility: that includes aides, staffers, Republicans, Bernie and anyone else within reach. Yep, that sounds about right.

    • #11
  12. Brian McMenomy Inactive
    Brian McMenomy
    @BrianMcMenomy

    Bill’s temper eruptions in the White House were legendary; Hillary strikes me as more of a cold as ice surface with more ice underneath.

    • #12
  13. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Actually she also has a reputation to scream at people; it’s legendary. That doesn’t mean she can’t freeze people out, too. She’s just not a very nice person.

    • #13
  14. jzdro Member
    jzdro
    @jzdro

    Rob Long: caustic in their criticism of aides

    Yes, Rising Generation, he is not making up any of this.  The above phrase is, how to say . . . baseline, like a basal metabolic rate parameter for this couple.  And it is just the foundation of their edifice.

    • #14
  15. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    Hillary Clinton is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.

    • #15
  16. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    You’d think public leeches would dress a little better.

    • #16
  17. The Scarecrow Thatcher
    The Scarecrow
    @TheScarecrow

    Mark:Hillary Clinton is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.

    How interesting that now that the Chinese have read all her correspondence, that movie has a chance of coming true.

    • #17
  18. billy Inactive
    billy
    @billy

    Mark:Hillary Clinton is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.

    Yeah, I agree with you 1000%.

    Just putting that on record.

    Just in case.

    • #18
  19. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    MarciN: …and nearly impeached in the Senate.

    I believe you mean “convicted”…and the word “nearly” could not be more out of place than it is in this context.

    Sellout: The Inside Story of President Clinton’s Impeachment by David P. Schippers is a good refresher of the history well worth your time to read. The sick feeling in the pit of your stomach will just be an added bonus. “The world’s greatest deliberative body”, my arse.

    • #19
  20. Mountie Coolidge
    Mountie
    @Mountie

    Barbara Olsen, God rest her soul, would be having a field day right now. And if you are too young to know who she is then you probably need to read her books.

    • #20
  21. Scott R Member
    Scott R
    @ScottR

    If we don’t win the presidency this year we’ll never win it. I mean come on. She’s an old shrill humorless scold who’s been on our tv’s for 25 yrs.

    Hillary fatigue is real.

    • #21
  22. donald todd Inactive
    donald todd
    @donaldtodd

    If I remember correctly, Morris got along with Bill but not with Hillary!.  One would think that Hillary! won’t want Morris to identify the already identified problems with Hillary!’s campaign since Podesta already identified those problems.

    Hillary! suffers from a lack of trust in her staffers.  Hillary!’s staffers suffer from a lack of trust in Hillary!  No man with daughters trusts Bill.  However people who can be bought and sold trust Hillary! and Bill to be buyable and sellable.

    Hillary! coined “bimbo eruptions” and “stalker” (who turned out to be her husband).  I wonder what word or phrase Hillary! will coin for her staffers?  “Turncoats!”  “Traitors!”  “Republicans!”  Well, stay tuned.

    • #22
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