Bill Clinton Challenges Netroots' Obama Embrace

In a conference call with major donors Thursday, former President Bill Clinton challenged the netroots for backing Barack Obama as an anti-war candidate, according to The Hill newspaper.

While avoiding any direct criticism of Obama's statements, Clinton said it was "ludicrous" to treat "Hillary and Obama's positions on the war as polar opposites." Then he tried to fact-check the netroots:

"This dichotomy that's been set up to allow [Obama] to become the raging hero of the anti-war crowd on the Internet is just factually inaccurate."

The Hill reports that Clinton continued, "It's just not fair to say that people who voted for the resolution wanted war," and he argued that Hillary's defense of her war vote is similar to Chuck Hagel, who remains popular in the antiwar community. It is true that Chuck Hagel also claimed the Iraq resolution did "not quite" say the US should attack Iraq, and inspections might have still prevented war. That blurry defense has been tried by everyone from Hagel to Hillary to Kerry. But it is not the argument that won Hagel support from the antiwar crowd, and it probably won't work for Hillary. (Blogger Matt Browner-Hamlin once derided the whole approach as Hagel doing his "best John Kerry impersonation.")

Americans don't want parsing history lessons, they want strong and principled leadership to end the war. That is why people support Hagel. And it's why people love Jack Murtha, who never spent time spinning his war vote. Once he determined the US could not achieve a military victory in Iraq's civil war, Murtha plowed all of his rhetorical and political energy into ending Bush's "flawed policy wrapped in illusion."

So Bill Clinton's historical focus is unlikely to sway the netroots. "President Clinton has every right to question the depiction of his wife in all forms of media but, when it comes to what's hurting her about the Iraq war, he's really missing the point. John Edwards voted for the same resolution and it doesn't appear to be a drag on his campaign and that's due largely to what Edwards has said about the war since," explained blogger Bob Geiger in an e-mail interview with The Nation. Geiger believes that Hillary's "play-it-safe strategy" and "her failure to be a strong, aggressive voice against the Bush administration is what's dragging down her candidacy, not a vote she made in 2002."

Over at Booman Tribune, an international blog for the "progressive community," a new entry rebutting the former President acknowledged that "Hillary didn't want war," but offered little empathy: "The Big Dog can cry me a river. His wife gave the keys to the neo-cons and she knew better. Just like Kerry, she thought her future presidential viability depended on getting on the right side of a war."

Clinton was smart to notice the "antiwar crowd on the Internet," but their priority is foreign policy, not history.

-- UPDATE: The top diary at MyDD is a rebuttal to President Clinton's remarks, I can't believe I am going to criticize Bill Clinton, drawing three times as many comments as any other diary entry on the site.

Comments (30)

1. one

   Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 11:27am

2. the number of winners in any presidential election

   Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 11:28am

3. Nearly 300,000,000.

   Posted by drhammer at 03/23/2007 @ 12:06pm

4. The number of losers in the last two.

   Posted by drhammer at 03/23/2007 @ 12:06pm

5. 300,000,000?

   excluding the hamster 30 percent (but including the cute little furry ones that inspired the habitrail matrix), I'm thinking all other life on earth lost in the last two elections.

   Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 12:26pm

6. Ah...Bill.....are you running or is it your wife thats running. I am getting confused?

   Posted by OneVote at 03/23/2007 @ 12:27pm

7. I've never seen a group of people so jazzed about the end of the world

   Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 12:28pm

8. Hey, if Bill says so...and WILL says so....good enuf for me!

   BLOG | Posted 02/24/2007 @ 10:03am Stalking Hillary: Her Tough Side Nicholas von Hoffman

   she's a thinking women not prone to mindless repitition. She is a liberal after all.

   Posted by WILL C. 02/24/2007 @ 11:17am

   If Hillary does something that is outside of the Liberal Agenda, I'll be more than happy to take her to task. However, that she has yet to do that is probably lost on someone like yourself who has taken his poor littleness to it's ultimate dummy depths

   Posted by WILL C. 02/25/2007 @ 2:44pm |

   hehe

   Posted by Mask at 03/23/2007 @ 12:36pm

9. you poor little chimp. you still can't find it can you?

   Bwah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

   Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 12:47pm

10. HIL TO BILL...

    Help m-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e....

    Posted by w_m_bear at 03/23/2007 @ 12:53pm

11. Posted by WILL C. 03/23/2007 @ 12:47pm

    What are you talking about, WILL?

    Bill says Hillary has always a "liberal" on Iraq....YOU say Hillary has always been a "liberal" on Iraq.

    It must be true!

    Posted by Mask at 03/23/2007 @ 12:54pm

12. Bill Clinton is irrelevant. This isn't 1992 and he's not the candidate of youth. Of course he derides the internet, netroots and bloggers because as an aging boomer he doesn't understand them. Hell, an aide probably places his phone calls for him. That aside, he remains the best Republican president we've ever had!

    Posted by billheasf at 03/23/2007 @ 12:57pm

13. It must be true!

    Posted by MASK 03/23/2007 @ 12:54pm

    you poor little chimp. Then it must be true that you stil can't find it.

    Bwah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

    Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 12:58pm

14. please keep showcasing your impotence. It's fun

    Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 12:59pm

15. Posted by WILL C. 03/23/2007 @ 12:59pm

    Sorry, WILL....didn't know AGREEING WITH YOU was "showcasing impotence"!

    Posted by Mask at 03/23/2007 @ 1:15pm

16. Sorry, WILL....didn't know AGREEING WITH YOU was "showcasing impotence"!

    Posted by MASK 03/23/2007 @ 1:15pm

    you poor little chimp. You don't say "HeHe" when you're agreeing with me.

    Bwah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

    but then that's probably lost on you since you took your poor littleness to it's ultimate dummy depths

    Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 1:24pm

17. you poor little chimp. You don't say "HeHe" when you're agreeing with me.

    Posted by WILL C. 03/23/2007 @ 1:24pm

    Sure I do, WILL......after all we're BOTH laughing at those stupid, uh, whatever they ares, who think that Hillary isn't a liberal and has never done anything outside of the "Liberal Agenda", even when she voted for war with Iraq.

    Posted by Mask at 03/23/2007 @ 2:10pm

18. Sure I do, WILL......after all we're BOTH laughing at those stupid, uh, whatever they ares, who think that Hillary isn't a liberal and has never done anything outside of the "Liberal Agenda", even when she voted for war with Iraq.

    Posted by MASK

    "liberal"? She's a DLC Dem, to the right of Nixon.

    Posted by mtspence05 at 03/23/2007 @ 4:53pm

19. Sure I do, WILL......after all we're BOTH laughing at those stupid, uh, whatever they ares, who think that Hillary isn't a liberal and has never done anything outside of the "Liberal Agenda", even when she voted for war with Iraq.

    Posted by MASK 03/23/2007 @ 2:10pm

    you poor little chimp. I only laugh at chimps, hamsters and any other fauna that conservatism morphs into.

    here, allow me to demonstrate...

    Bwah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

    Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 6:54pm

20. It is high time, the media start focusing on a candidate's leadership qualities, sincerety, integrity and his or her stand on the issues, as criteria for electing our next president. In my opinion, there is nobody like Obama who has all the aforementioned qualities and he is the 'REAL DEAL'. About his "lack of experience" complaint by critics, I wish to remind everyone that, one hundred and fourty six years ago, another son from Illinois, after only TWO years in the STATE legislature, went on to become the greatest President this country has ever produced. Obama is "the Lincoln of our times" and this country and the world desperately need some one like him to lead us into a brighter future. A true testament to his maturity, wisdom and grasp of issues is amazingly revealed in a TV intrerview he gave to a Chicago station in Nov '02, almost FOUR months BEFORE the Iraq war started (and aired by C-Span, during the presidential anouncement coverage ) in which he expresses NOT ONLY opposition to the war but also his concern about the POTENTIAL problems associated with the aftermath and re-construction - - - - all of which has played out EXACTLY to the last word in the past four years; it makes him sound and look like a prophet! (Obama is to politics, like Tiger Woods is to golf; the same enthusiasm,passion and ablility to fire up everyone's imagination to expect greatness!) Like many, I hope and pray that he will be swept into the White House on a huge populist wave, the like of which this country has not seen since Bobby Kennedy's short and ill-fated run fourty years ago!! I would suggest that everyone including Bill Clinton watch that TV interview Obama gave in Nov '02; THAT should convince anyone about his maturity, wisdom and grasp of issues and THAT IS WHAT MAKES OBAMA IMPRESSIVE !!

    Posted by bsbuster at 03/23/2007 @ 8:19pm

21. Posted by WILL C. 03/23/2007 @ 6:54pm

    Gee, WILL...what does it take to AGREE with you and Hillary and her Liberal Agenda?!?!?!?

    Posted by Mask at 03/23/2007 @ 9:09pm

22. Gee, WILL...what does it take to AGREE with you and Hillary and her Liberal Agenda?!?!?!?

    Posted by MASK 03/23/2007 @ 9:09pm

    Well. First you have to be honest.

    Posted by Will C. at 03/23/2007 @ 11:52pm

23. oh, one more thing, the liberal agenda isn't hers. It's ours. It belongs to all our ancestors, all of us and all of posterity

    Posted by Will C. at 03/24/2007 @ 12:08am

24. Posted by WILL C. 03/24/2007 @ 12:08am

    Define it...specifically.

    And how keeping an "unknown" amount of US troops in Iraq for years (Hillary's plan) is part of it exactly?

    Posted by Mask at 03/24/2007 @ 08:09am

25. I believe "Billheasf" comes closer to the mark when he calls Bill Clinton "the best Republican President we ever had" (though surely Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower were better) than "Frankgrits," who believes that when Bill Clinton speaks, the Democratic base listens.

    Bill Clinton was a triangulating, do-nothing or at least do-as-little-as possible moderate, and I am grateful primarily that he sat on the brake while Newt Gingrich was sitting on the accelerator driving the so-called Republican Revolution of the morally bankrupt late 1990s. (We still haven't recovered from or repealed the hideous Telecommunications Act of 1996.)

    I used to believe Hillary was more principled than Bill, but I have changed my mind since she became a Senator. She apparently has exactly the same strategy as her husband, but less charm.

    I sympathize with the Clintons and believe that for all their faults, they are both much more competent leaders than the mad-dog Republicans who have run this country into the ground since the year 2000. However, I don't believe Hillary's projected win in 2008 is anywhere near certain.

    Indeed, what little I know of Barack Obama makes me prefer him to Hillary.

    Posted by JakobFabian at 03/24/2007 @ 10:19am

26. Posted by MASK 03/24/2007 @ 08:09am

    Define it...specifically.

    ok, if you really need me to

    It... pronoun

    1 : that one -- used as subject or direct object or indirect object of a verb or object of a preposition usually in reference to a lifeless thing , a plant , a person or animal whose sex is unknown or disregarded , a group of individuals or things, or an abstract entity -- compare HE, ITS, SHE, THEY

    2 -- used as subject of an impersonal verb that expresses a condition or action without reference to an agent

    3 a -- used as anticipatory subject or object of a verb -- often used to shift emphasis to a part of a statement other than the subject b -- used with many verbs as a direct object with little or no meaning

    4 -- used to refer to an explicit or implicit state of affairs or circumstances

    5 : a crucial or climactic point

    And how keeping an "unknown" amount of US troops in Iraq for years (Hillary's plan) is part of it exactly?

    You should really now what it is (specifically) before you start asking question using it. If you read the above definition and were able to proces it through your brain cell, the reason why should be apparent.

    But if it's not, feel free to ask additional questions

    Posted by Will C. at 03/24/2007 @ 10:33am

27. Bill came down! It's amazing that Former President Bill Clinton feel the race as a matter of family. It's not just fair. Let me be clear, Bill have the right to claim family interest and values! That's not the point. The fact is as a former Democrat leader I think that IT WILL BE JUST FAIR to help democrats to win this race for the interest of the nation. IT' WILL BE JUST FAIR to recognize that Irak invasion was a big mistake. IT'S NOT JUST FAIR to claim private family interest and attack another democrat fellow only because he could win. Nobody believe on Heroes but evrybody can distinguish between judgement and mis judgement. Everybody make mistakes but on war issues misjudgement can be dangerous as Irak situation shows. If Obama is not a hero neither is he a devil only because he saw right on Irak. Bill must not underestimate the fact that Obama wouldn't lead us to Iraki chaos. I'd like to see Bill as a Democrat leader not only the husband of one candidate. Dear Bill, the democrat Family is the question not your private family. So, remember what fairness is!!!!!

    Posted by Alybaba at 03/24/2007 @ 5:34pm

28. Wow, there's some real assholes who post on here! I'm a huge Nation fan, along with Mother Jones and The New Republic, it's the best source of real journalism out there. I've never posted on here before but I felt compelled after reading this string of comments. I expect to see this kind of crap on RedState or some other right-wing rag but not here (speaking of right-wing crap, has anyone noticed how many of those bastards post on here?) Anyway, that Will guy really needs to cool it with all the condesending "chimp" talk. Lets do this great Mag some justice and have some debats with real substance!

    Posted by valleycrat at 03/25/2007 @ 01:21am

29. Anyway, that Will guy really needs to cool it with all the condesending "chimp" talk. Lets do this great Mag some justice and have some debats with real substance!

    Posted by VALLEYCRAT 03/25/2007 @ 01:21am

    He can't, VALLEY. He doesn't stand for anything except "Democrats are always right and almost always liberal...even Hillary, when she calls for 'unknown' amount of troops still in Iraq for years to come". He's a hyper-partisan. He knows he hates "cons", "neo-cons", and Republicans...but that's about it.

    Ask him sometime. He says Hillary is ALWAYS a liberal and has NEVER broken from the "Liberal Agenda". (Oddly, sounding EXACTLY like Hard Right guys like RIO, etc. who have never seen her come into conflict with a LOT of the Left, even here at "The Nation".)

    Just try getting WILL to define specifically what "the Liberal Agenda" is.

    Posted by Mask at 03/25/2007 @ 08:12am

30. are you etting little desparate mask?

    perhaps you are tettering on the edge of john maasch dementia?

    Posted by Will C. at 03/29/2007 @ 11:01pm