BFF: Best Friends Forever? Hillary and Barack start down the road of world affairs

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Correspondent

Painting by Jack Brummet


Click the BFFs to enlarge

Global warming definitely exists, at least in the relationship between the two former arch-rivals Ex-Senator Obama and Senator Clinton. They are now unquestionably the most powerful man and woman in the Democratic Party (and soon, arguably, the world).

After all the bitterness on the campaign trail, Hillary's masterful speech at the Dem's convention this summer sealed it. In fact, Obama's top aides jumped out of their seats backstage and gave her a standing ovation as she walked by.

Obama soon called to thank her. Fast forward to when--->>

Late last week future President Obama reassured Clinton she would have direct access to him and that she could select her own staff as secretary of state. And the deal was done.

Some people even think ('though most people doubt) that Obama and Clinton could become close friends. There is a lot of mutual respect and they are both extremely intelligent. As it turns out, Obama is much more a centrist that the rabid Obamanistas could have ever believed, which seems to be a page from the Bill Clinton playbook. Dean Acheson was no friend of President Harry Truman and Henry Kissinger, while in agreement with Dick Nixon intellectually, clearly was no personal friend. Rusk, McNamara, et al. were not JFK pals, and were, in fact, more conservative. It will be fascinating to watch the relationship unfold between Clinton and Obama. . .whether it becomes a train wreck, or whether they become close, or even BFFs, as they work the world.
---o0o---

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, or just another trial balloon?

Is this a mindf***er, or what? According to Charles Hurt in the New York Post today, President-elect Barack Obama is considering naming Senator Clinton as secretary of state.

Democratic officials confirmed that Clinton - who has often been mentioned as a possibility - is under consideration. Obama and Clinton met yesterday in Chicago, according to an unnamed Dem source.

Knowing Obama's intolerance for leaks, you have to assume this particular leak is an approved trial balloon. Remember how I wrote earlier this week about Obama being perfectly capable of letting bygones be bygones? This would be absolutely stunning proof.



"Any speculation about Cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-elect Obama's transition team to address," said Clinton adviser Philippe Reines.

Other Democrats floated as secretary of state possibilities are New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Sen. John Kerry, or ex-Senator Tom Daschle.

No one knows whether Hillary would be interested. After all, that particular glass ceiling has been shattered twice before. No one seems to know how serious this is. . .is it another flattering olive branch, like his earlier dangling of the VP slot?
---o0o---

Revisionist history: Bill Clinton says Hillary didn't want the Veep job

On The View, Bill Clinton says Hillary Clinton did not want to be Barack Obama's VP. Bill also discusses John McCain's support for diplomatic relations with Vietnam during his second term as president. Clinton claims he supports Obama, but goes onto effusively praise "Crazy" John McCain...


---o0o---

The Clinton Enemies List

According to the International Herald Tribune:

". . .that does not mean all is forgiven by others in the Clinton universe."

"For proof, look no further than Doug Band, chief gatekeeper to former President Bill Clinton. Band keeps close track of the past allies and beneficiaries of the Clintons who supported Obama's campaign, three Clinton associates and campaign officials said. Indeed, he is widely known as a member of the Clinton inner circle whose memory is particularly acute on the matter of who has been there for the couple — and who has not."

" 'The Clintons get hundreds of requests for favors every week,' said Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. 'Clearly, the people you're going to do stuff for in the future are the people who have been there for you.' "

---o0o---

"18 Million cracks in the ceiling": Hillary Clinton calls it quits

by Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor, All This Is That
Washington, D.C. Saturday 6/7/08

OK. We supported her. And then we didn't support her. She and her husband have perhaps too often aggressively pursued their dream, and along the way made some dumb comments about race, Obama's religion, Bobby Kennedy and other tasteless faux pas. . But today, when she finally conceded defeat, it was Hillary Clinton who made the big classy speech, as she bowed out.



"As we gather here today," she told her fans and staff at the National Building Museum yesterday, "the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House."

"Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it," the Senator said, "and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time."
---o0o---

Does Hillary End it tomorrow?

Interesting, after earlier in the week when Obama seemed to leak that we would absolutely not offer the VP-ship to Senator Clinton (but was considering a cabinet post). . .now she is willing to talk about it! Let's see what tomorrow brings.

For all the talk of the overpowering Obama juggernaut, it took him until the last vote in the last state to finally clinch enough delegates to actually win. OK. Now we begin the dismantling of John McCain.
---o0o---

An intoxicated Hillary Clinton disrobes on campaign plane

by Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor,
Washington, D.C.



Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton spent her time in South Dakota today having one two three four five for the road. Clinton took time from her schedule to enjoy a few bumpers of whiskey with a group of journalists. Reporters mentioned off the record that marijuana was openly smoked on the plane, and that the Senator partially disrobed while dancing with a young reporter. Reporters attributed the strange behavior to "a recognition by all aboard that they were approaching the end of the line. There's nothing left to lose."

The Senator was flying back from Rapid City in South Dakota, one of the last states to hold a primary, when she decided to let her hair down. According to the Evening Standard, "Her relaxed mood may give rise to speculation she is preparing to concede to her Democratic rival Barack Obama."


Following the Rushmore visit, Hillary broke out several bottles of Maker's Mark from
the plane's commissary and began pouring drinks for the press, and several for herself.

Earlier in the campaign, Mrs Clinton almost always avoided informal contact with reporters. Today, however, she took a couple of hours from her increasingly spare schedule to visit Mount Rushmore, bringing along numerous reporters who began partying on the bus ride back to her campaign jet.


"I am completely f***ed up," The Senator said after her fourth or fifth drink,before
grabbing the male reporter behind her and dancing to the strains of Fleetwood Mac.
Clinton reportedly removed her top during the song "Go your own way."
---o0o---

Hillary Clinton: The Tanya Harding of Politics

click Hill to enlarge

It's like Tanya Harding's kneecapping has come to politics. Only the senator from New York has more lethal fantasies than that nutty skater. - Michael Goodwin, NY Daily News

See earlier All This Is That articles on Clinton's RFK statement here (Clinton crosses the final line) and here (Hey...RFK got shot in June didn't he?

---o0o---

Clinton crosses the final line?: "[RFK] was assassinated in June in California."

A statement by Hillary Clinton to an editorial board sent the press (rightfully) into a feeding frenzy on Friday. The South Dakota newspaper the Argus Leader asked The Senator why she didn’t believe the party was fracturing due to the protracted contest. Clinton said “my husband didn’t wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June.”



“We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California,” she continued. If you've been a reader of All This Is That for any time at all, you probably know that she is treading on sacred ground here. She has fiddled with, and shamelessly exploited, our worst fears by invoking the name of a great Democratic hero who was struck down as he was on the very precipice of greatness. Correction: he had finally achieved greatness, we were just slow to catch up to it. To me, at least, the death of RFK was far more tragic than even the assassination of his brother because it was not just a President, but hope itself that was extinguished that bleak June day in 1968. Not just because it paved the way to the Nixon Presidency, but because the end of the Vietnam War, the granting of true Civil Rights, and the escalation of the war on poverty ended that night. How dare Senator Clinton even obliquely bring this up in reference to Senator Obama! Her feeble and disingenuous "apology" cuts no ice with anyone. As far as I am concerned, she doesn't deserve to be elected the dogcatcher of Camden, New Jersey. She shouldn't be allowed to even attend the Democratic Convention in Denver.



After the New York Post story made the rounds of the press corps on blogs, text messages, and the Drudge Report, reporters here at Clinton’s town hall meeting abandoned any pretense of listening to the event, searching out the first Clinton flak-catcher they could find for a response.





Campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee gave reporters what they were looking for. “She was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer,” he said. This is a steaming cauldron of ca-ca, and Hillary Clinton has once again crossed the line. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this isn't the final deal-breaker on the burgeoning "Draft Hill for Veep" movement. It probably should be...


---o0o---

Obama has a Holy S**t! Moment in Oregon

click to enlarge the Obama rally


Even Senator Barack Obama has to be stunned by the turnout for his speech in Portland, Oregon. 65,000-75,000 people showed up to hear his stump speech. Meanwhile, his opponent, Senator Clinton is speaking in churches, meeting halls, and schools to crowds numbering in the dozens to several hundred. Read an NYC Daily News article here on the flabbergasting crowd that gathered in Portland to hear our man...
---o0o---

That Not So Fresh Feeling

Click the opponents to enlarge

Here we are, looking forward to another round of Democratic primaries--in Kentucky, and in Oregon. And it will be another split: Oregon for Obama, and Kentucky for Portland.

It's no wonder we have that "not so fresh feeling." It's frustrating on both ends: that Obama can't close the deal in the last two weeks, and that Hillary, the energizer bunny, keeps on keeping on despite running on empty, the odds, and the excoriations and pleas of Dems and the pundits.
---o0o---

The Scorched Earth Duo: Billary Clinton

"If we can't be President, no Democrat can be President."

---o0o---

Toast! Hillary's Last Dance

The End Of The Line For Senator Clinton?

click hillary to enlarge

If she won only North Carolina or Indiana, Hillary Clinton would probably drop out of the race, or at least so I thought. When I saw sun-burned Bill and the ever-poised (except if you ask about Monica) Chelsea walk on stage at the speech, I was sure she would bow out. But from her first three words, it seemed like she would not. She made a valiant speech, spinning her momentum and thanking all the voters, friends, and hacks that had just helped Obama come within 200 delegates of nailing down the nomination.

Various people--including MSNBC--were reporting last night that Hillary has cancelled her appearance on various television programs tomorrow. She has a huge fundraiser tomorrow night in Washington, D.C. She made a blatant plug for donations to Hillaryclinton.com

Pundits on at least two cable news outlets and dozens of blogs and websites speculated that Hillary was just hanging in another day or two to close out her debts. Her campaign's largest debt by far is, of course, the Five Million Dollars she loaned to the campaign.

It's a tantalizing idea....we let her cash out to drop out.

I'll bet it's happened, but I don't remember a politician holding a major fundraiser and dropping out within the week. It seems kind of greasy doesn't it?
---o0o---

Senator Barack Obama: These people are a bunch of gun nuts, tariff freaks, racists, and cross wavers, or, an Obama Nation Abomination

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign began taking on water yesterday after he thumbed his nose at the middle class of Pennsylvania.

Obama's rival, Hillary Clinton, and Republican presidential nominee John McCain both pounced on the comments Obama made last weekend at a fundraiser in San Francisco.

"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations," he said.

Video of the speech, which was closed to the press, surfaced as Obama was campaigning in Indiana on the working-class issues like job losses and rising mortgage foreclosures.

"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations," he said.



His opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton responded at a rally in Pennsylvania: "Pennsylvania doesn't need a president who looks down on them," she told the crowd. "They need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families."

The McCain campaign, of course, also lambasted Obama: "It shows an elitism and condescension toward hard-working Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking," said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to the Arizona senator. "It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans."
---o0o---

Chelsea Clinton: She'll be a better President than Bill Clinton

Speaking at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania yesterday, Chelsea Clinton was asked by a man in the audience whether her mother would be a better president than her father.

Chelsea Clinton said "yes."




"His question is, ‘Do I think my mother will be a better president than my father?"

“Well, again, I don’t take anything for granted, but hopefully with Pennsylvania’s help, she will be our next president, and yes, I do think she’ll be a better president.”

Unbelievable. Now they're even willing to throw Bill Clinton under the bus.
---o0o---

Throw in the towel, Senator

It isn't her fanciful imagination about sniper fire, or any of the other piddling mistakes and misstatements she and her henchmen have made. It isn't her gender; in fact I'd prefer a female President. But it is her supporters, it is the large number of backhanded racial slurs that have emanated from her camp (although usually not directly), and whipping her potential supporters, but most of all the right wing, into an Anti-Obama frenzy. I think Obama is indeed pretty special. Do I think he walks on water like most of the Obamanites? Not so much. But he is the real deal.

In recent polls, John McCain taking on either Obama or Clinton gives them a serious ass-whuppin'. I am even sick of seeing Bill Clinton, a person I have *mostly* always admired. And even Chelsea was disgusting last night.

Give it up Hillary. The people may not have spoken with the deafening roar we'd hoped, but they have spoken. Do you want to be VP? Great. Otherwise, as they say, lead, follow, or get out of the way (preferably the latter). Sure you could hope for a great procedural dogfight at the convention, and maybe you could win the nomination. In the end, that will only leave us with a McCan presidency.

It's me and Barack from here on in. It's time. "Hurry up please, it's time."


---o0o---

Hillary Clinton not only came under sniper fire, she returned it

An excellent video of the then First Lady...she not only encountered sniper fire in Bosnia, she returned it. Thanks to Jeff Clinton for finding this YouTube video...


---o0o---

Barack Obama's version of gutter politics/Senior adviser invoked Monica Lewinsky's blue dress

Only hours after Governor Richardson ripped into the Clinton campaign and James Carville, for practising gutter politics, one of Obama's advisors took it into the gutter just about as deep as you can go. Gordon Fischer a former director of the Iowa Democrats and an adviser on Indiana, wrote in his blog:

"When Joe McCarthy questioned others' patriotism, McCarthy actually believed, at least aparently (sic), the questions were genuine, and he did so in order to build up, not tear down, his own party, the GOP. Bill Clinton cannot possibly seriously believe Obama is not a patriot, and cannot possibly be said to be helping -- instead he is hurting -- his own party. B. Clinton should never be forgiven. Period. This is a stain on his legacy, much worse, much deeper, than the one on Monica's blue dress."

Uh, is this what Senator Obama meant when he promised to focus on policy differences instead of personal attacks? Those remarks have since been removed from the blog, and Obama's camp has gone to some trouble to distance themselves from both the remarks and the author of those remarks. . .acknowledging by implication that the Clinton camp has no control over James Carville either. Or did they just reverse positions and decide to fight fire with fire?

---o0o---

The Tally as it stands today: 105 delegates separate Hillary and Barack

---o0o---