Harry, Hillary and the Smackdown with Rummy
03 August 2006 2:02 pm by Taylor Marsh
Harry, Hillary and the Smackdown with Rummy –updated–
The curiosity factor on this one is huge.
The rumors are flying.
Everyone is denying.
And earlier today the sparks were flying.
First, the Hillary – Harry rumors. Everyone except Steve Clemons is denying
it, but Steve is sticking to his earlier post today, which stated that Senator
Harry Reid has approached Senator Clinton in foregoing her presidential dreams,
assuming she has them, to take over the Democratic leadership spot in the Senate.
I heard about this very early this morning. Emails have been coming in ever
since, but I'm hearing abject denials from Reid's office.
Some high level Democratic Party political insiders have shared with TWN
details of a potential shift in vectors for several of the major political
stars in that party.First of all, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, whom most give high marks
for the manner in which he has stewarded the Dems in the Senate despite the
absence of a clear Democratic Party chief, has sent private signals to Senator
Hillary Clinton and other stalwarts of the party that he “would like
to” step down from his post in early 2009. Reid has not stated definitively
that he will — but he apparently prefers “whipping” the Party from
behind and the side rather than serving as commander-in-chief on the Senate
floor.What Reid is offering Senator Hillary Clinton is his total, robust support
to succeed him as Senate Majority Leader if she elects not to pursue the Democratic
nomination for President. …
Clemons has two updates now on his post.
Raw Story is saying Reid's
“office” is denying the story, which Clemons calls a “100%
denial.” Stuff like this drives me nuts, frankly. What does Reid's “office”
mean? A receptionist, secretary, who exactly is denying the story? Clemons comment
of “100% denial” is nowhere in the Raw Story account, so he's obviously
been told from Reid's office that what he's reporting today is rubbish. In other words, Clemons, I and many others are hearing the same thing out of Reid's office. My source isn't for attribution, but it's good. Doesn't help much, now does it? Clemons
is making it clear that Reid's people aren't going anywhere near his report. That said, Steve Clemons, whom I trust completely, is sticking to his reporting.
Meanwhile, Senator Clinton isn't talking. No surprise and I don't blame her.
I'm one of the few people who was never convinced she was running for prez. In fact, I
would have advised her to do exactly what the Clemons piece is reporting: take
the majority leadership role in the Senate instead. But then I saw her at Take
Back America, which altered my impression quite a bit. If she's not running
in '08, that decision has not been made yet, as far as I'm concerned.
There's a lot of “ruinous” prediction emails coming in from many readers regarding
a Hillary run, which I completely understand. I'm also hearing relief exhales
over the Clemons piece, but it could very likely be premature.
Others are talking about the difficulty the new Nevada primary poses to any
Eastern Democratic candidate, especially Hillary or Kerry. Some say the new primary schedule, if adopted, favors Edwards. I don't know, because during the 2004 election the people I interviewed and spoke with in Nevada couldn't stand him. Lawyers weren't very popular in 2004.
While all this was brewing, I taped the greatest show on earth, at least for today: Hillary
v. Rummy smackdown.
Markos has the primer: Rumsfeld
pulls a Lieberman. I'll say.
The Senate Armed Services testimony coverage today, with Senator Hillary Clinton
up front and in
Rumsfeld's face, is good TV, if you ask me. Watch it and ponder the possibilities.
Also think about what General Abizaid said today; comments that were sobering, unless of course you're part of the reality based progressive blog community, which has been talking about this reality for a very long time.
… “I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I've seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and that if not stopped it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war,” he testified at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Fueling this possibility, he said, was the combination of “sectarian violence, al Qaeda terrorists, insurgents and Shia militants.”
“Failure to apply coordinated regional and international pressure … will further extremism” and could lead to a widening and more perilous conflict, he said. …
Head of U.S. command: Iraq civil war possible
Clinton, Rumsfeld exchange is polite but testy
| WATCH THE VIDEO |
UPDATE (5:17 p.m.): After bitch slapping Rumsfeld around the room today, Hillary then asked for his resignation. Well done, madame. It's a far cry from here. In fact, I've said it before, but I truly believe that was Hillary's tipping point. Great day for the reality based community.
