Hillary Clinton on Sarah Palin? She's keeping her cards close to the vest

Perhaps Amy Poehler, in the much-anticipated opening skit on the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live," truly channeled Hillary Clinton's innermost feelings toward Sarah Palin.

  But as for the actual senator from New York, if she shares the angst and anguish so comically expressed by Poehler, she's steadfastly keeping it to herself.

The media entourage that once breathed down Clinton's neck has long since moved on. But Elizabeth Moore, our colleague at Newsday, was on the scene this past weekend as Clinton campaigned in Ohio on behalf of Barack Obama, that fellow who bested her in the Democratic presidential race.

As the Palin phenomenon has taken much of America by storm -- and clouded Obama's presidential prospects -- some Democrats have spotlighted Clinton as the party figure best able to stem that tide. They envision her vigorously taking Palin to task in a way that a male politician dare not.

So far, Clinton has carefully avoided going that route. She took a pass at a large partisan gathering earlier this month in New York. And in her two Sunday stops, Moore relates, she "continued to play it cool," delivering "what is becoming her standard vote-for-Obama rally speech."

And what does that mean, in terms of Palin?

Barely a mention.

-- Don Frederick

Photo credit: Associated Press 

Comments

[BJ]

Hillary is not going to fall into that trap. It would serve her no purpose to take on Palin. Her strongest speech for Obama was at the convention. SO, if that still did not make a difference with her supporters, why should she put herself in the line of fire for Obama?

He surely does not deserve it. He obviously did not think we were important enough for him to make a special effort to win over, after he won the nomination. He took it for granted that we would "fall in line for him".

It is only now, when his star is fading that he calls upon Hillary's supporters to come to his aid.

NO WAY NO HOW NOBAMA!!!

[Iris Bittencourt]

BJ is a Republican male that most likely works directly for (or is closely affiliated with) the McCain campaign. Do not believe the hype. BJ is not a woman and never was a Hillary supporter. BJ, last time I checked, PUMA no longer stood for party unity my $#@. Nice try.

[Tim T]

I agree with BJ. Why should Hilary become a tool for Obama? To do the dirty work of muddying another female, just so the self-anointed messiah can win? A better plan would be for Obama to resign and for Hilary to take over. Let someone who is competent take the lead. Maybe Hilary would then allow Obama to be her VP.

[dan]

As a conservative republican I watched Hillary in the primaries. Unlike Obama she never waivered on her positions. I admired her for that.

Then when she hit the trail for Obama she has never resorted to gutter politics, against Palin. Even though Hillary has not earned my vote...she has certainly earned my respect.

Unlike Obama that hasn't earned anything from me but a deragatory term.

[Paul Stewart]

Palin is not worth the words to address her. I mean, she is the VP candidate and not even a very qualified one. Hillary will stick to the issues and McCain. Palin is just an appendage to McCain.

[Emmery Jones Jr Medical Record's Admin.CCS-P]

DATE: Monday Sept 15,2008
Time:7:13Pm

Re: Hillary's PUMA

"Thank you Sentator Hillary Rodham Clinton'"

P.S.

" Keep work'in"

" PUMA's for ..McCain/Paulin 08"

Siincerely,

[Ken Tucker]

Look - Hillary ran a strong campaign but it's time for her and her hold-out supporters to commit to Obama. If he looses in Novemeber:
-A lot of blame will go to Hillary and her supporters
-The Supream Court will move even further to the right
-We might be looking at 12 years of Bush/McCain/Palin control of the White House

Does anybody really want that... no matter how angry they are that Hillary lost?

[1of18Million]

Keep it simple. Obama gets the vote. Hillary gets the love. The task before us is to influence our men not to vote for McCain just because Sarah Palin is hot. Besides the social conservative base, wasn't that the whole idea? I mean, it worked on John McCain when he was 45 going on 25 or whatever. Between the war hero image and the hot babe, there's a lot of male bonding going on.

John McCain is no hero. He's a cynical opportunist. He craves glory. There are many who have suffered as much or more than John McCain. John McCain does not support these people and their families when its time to vote for pro-veteran legislation. Instead he capitalizes on the sacifices of our military as if they were his to barter in the fulfillment of his personal ambition. I supposed he thinks they are whiners just because they didn't hook up with an heiress. Let's not even get into his ex-wife's health care plan. C'mon, the guy's a gigolo.

Seriously, I just saw an issue of Newsweek that had a photo of Sarah Palin wrapped in an American Flag. When I ask you have you ever seen a male candidate pose for a photograph like that? Is this what it's come to? I've heard McCain say more than once that he didn't win "Miss Congeniality." No surprise there. So he did the next best thing. Disgraceful.

[ycgmae]

>>Look - ....but it's time for her and her hold-out supporters to commit to Obama.

==> Why so? A lot of our problems are caused by party politics. Look at the deadlock in our congress. Have they got anything done for the last two years? A great president should put the country and the people above his party. The policies of both left and right are not all good for the country. We need go a middle road, and to do that, we need a leader who is independent and can break from his/her own party, and is pragmatic in getting things done. Obama has shown none of these qualities. Both Clintons are a lot more centrist than Obama and his supporters like Reid or Pelosi or Dean. That's why I supported Hillary Clinton, but will switch to McCain.

[Ski]

BJ said: "...why should she (Hillary) put herself in the line of fire for Obama?"

How about because Palin stands for everything anathema to Hillary?

[colleen akin]

Someone has got to defend the goodness of this woman. She is following the direction of the Obama campaign and her own conscience. Why would she want to diminish her legacy to woman by attacking the first republican woman candidate for high office? She is behaving honorably. Again and again, I am impressed by her since the primaries ended. I deeply support and hope for an Obama presidency. To insinuate that she is coyly sticking it to Obama by her refusal to get into a mudfight with Palin is insulting to this fine fine woman and to woman everywhere. The world is watching you USA.

[ShouldaWouldaCoulda]

Now comes the recognition from Obama that maybe he shouldn't have been so hateful, derisive and dismissive of Hillary and her supporters. He is truely a pathetic character.

Cheaters never prosper, Barack. Don't expect Hillary to do your misogynistic dirty work against Palin for you either. Fight you own self-inflicted battles. If ever there was a battle that was custom made for you Barack, this is it.

To think, you could have had the most experienced, tough and gracious female running mate by your side; but, alas, your big fat arrogant ego just couldn't take it.

I'm really gonna dig it when that younger, more attractive hocky mom sends you and your pompous DNC (which, by the way, stands for Does Not Connect) to political H-E-double hocky sticks!!!!

What a crock you are Obama. For all your pretty words about unity and healing, you couldn't do the right thing for your country and your party when it really mattered. For you, unity and healing are "just words".

Barack Obama, you're one arrogant piece of work.

[HI]

Wow, apparently tons of republicans are really dissapointed about Obama not picking HIllary...Seriously, Bush didn't pick McCain as VP in 2000 and republicans still voted for him.

To be fair, some democrats are disappointed by Barack not picking Hillary, just not nearly as disappointed as they are from McCain picking Palin.

[HelloAgain]

Apparently tons of republicans are really dissapointed about Obama not picking HIllary...Seriously, Bush didn't pick McCain as VP in 2000 and republicans still voted for him.

To be fair, some democrats are disappointed by Barack not picking Hillary, just not nearly as disappointed as they are from McCain picking Palin.

[Jon Sandler]

Is it just me or does anyone else find that Sarah Palin reminds them of the long forgotten Katherine Harris of the Florida 2000 presidential election? She too appeared to be a rising Republican star for a while.

[Anne]

Hillary is an extraordinary, classy woman and likely sees no value in responding to Sarah. Sarah is not in Hillary's league and needs to go back to her home to nowhere! I am a Hillary supporter and will back Obama!

[FJStratford]

STOP IT!

Hillary should not be used after she was abused by the Obama campaign. She is trying to be a good Democratic soldier, as she has always been, but come on!

If Obama can not win when ALL the issues are going for him, then he does not deserve to be President.

[Mike]

Well Ken Tucker, why voting for Obama who cannot rally people from his own party. If he cannot close the deal with his own party, how can you expect him to close it with the Americans. It's pretty sad that he has to ask for Hillary's help after totaling ignoring her. Palin is right he should have picked Hillary as his VP to at least secure his base. He failed to do that. In the other hand McCain did just that by choosing Palin...a brilliant move. As much as I dislike it, it shows who has better judgment.

[Shell]

I am a former Hillary supporter, and an avid one at that.

But I think she is doing what everyone else should be doing and that is IGNORING Palin and focus on McCain.

I'm shocked that the press has been unable to put the Palin choice in context and carry on. But, it's clearly all about ratings now and not about the sorry state of our country.

We had the worst day on Wall Street since 2001, bankruptcies, the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and or Fourth Estate is missing in action.

Dems themselves have become reactionary screaming me me's. Go out and find undecideds and Independents. Ask them what really matters to them. I think you will not find Sarah Palin on that list.

And why is it such a story that one person, in this case Hillary is not following the crowd? Maybe, the crowd needs to wake up and get their heads in the game.

[BJ]

Ken, I beg to differ...

You cannot hold Hillary responsible for Obama's failure and lack of judgement. He only has himself to blame. HE'S the one running for president, last I heard.

Is it too difficult to comprehend why Obama in so unpalatable to some voters? You don't just vote on policies, you also vote for the person that will be holding that office! Obama will NOT fulfill his campaign promises.

And IRIS, sorry to disappoint you, but I am NOT a republican. Altho I'm sure you wish I were. You sound just like your messiah... IF someone disagrees with you, then that other person is wrong. It must be tough to accept that a democrat would be voting for a republican... BUT I trust McCain more than I do Obama with our country, especially with the confluence of disastrous issues facing the US.

Obama has proven his judgement is flawed. How else could he have miscalculated so badly, when he passed Hillary over for the VP position? He really thought he had the election won, thus picked someone who could bolster his foreign policy position. You may call this arrogance too, and that would also be true.

NO HOW NO WAY NOBAMA

[Monte]

I can tell ya, at this rate, if Obama looses, Hillary is gonna unjustly end up taking most of the blame. One thing that history has shown is that the supporters of loosing side (not the candidate themselves) always tries to find someone to blame for their loss other than their candidate and the media will eat up and let such blame fly. Just as Third party candidates get blamed for stealing votes, Hillary will get blamed for not doing enough to unify the party... i can see it, the pundits who will say that Hillary damaged the party by staying in the primaries too long, and that when it was time to fight the GOP and the Palin phenomenon, she gave a half hearted effort and didn't do enough... They may even claim she hated Obama and the democrats and was only looking out for herself and her run in 2012; her great speech at the DNC was nothing more than a lying cover to keep herself in the good graces with the democrats... I ain't saying its right cause it certainly is not right for them to say such things, but they won't care about how hard she campaigns for obama and they won't care about how Obama could have picked hillary as his VP... they will likely blame her for his loss... That's just the way the media works; they just eat up those kinds of stories... if McCain looses, i'm not sure who the conservative supporters/pundits will blame...

ycgmae: "Why so? A lot of our problems are caused by party politics."
Very true, however McCain does not represent a bipartisan middle road approach; he is not the maverick he once was back in 2000. He has promised a very conservative government vs Obama's promise for a liberal one. The switch McCain is not a vote for party cooperation but for a simple switch in partisanship. Instead of working with the democratic congress, i expect he will be vetoing their efforts left and right just like bush has been doing

Obama stances and policies far most match that of Hillary, if you supported hillary for her policies then the democrats are the way to go. Obama and Hillary may have their differences but when all is said and done they share similar beliefs and are both liberal democrats.

Frankly, i lost my last hope for the McCain that ran in 2000 when he chose the Palin instead of the more moderate republican or the former democrat lieberman... i also held hope that Obama might be daring enough to pick Chuck Hagel if he was not gonna pick Hillary Bipartisanship is the way to go and neither candidate was willing to go that way...

[Lisa]

I agree 100% with Ken Tucker. Excellent post!

The american people are much smarter than the charade and circus that McCain has made of this election.

Look at the past 8 years... a failed and disastrous economic ideology. Unbelievable!

Not only that, but Sarah Palin is refusing to co-operate with the bi-partisan investigation into Troopergate. If she has nothing to hide, why won't she just speak with them and release all of her emails? How about her secret emails in her yahoo account. Who has ever heard of an elected official doing government business with their yahoo account?

Criminals don' co-operate with investigations. People that are innocent do.

[Richard Keppler]

I am in an Independent from Berkeley, Ca.. I am glad to read here that other people are feeling the same way that I do about Obama. He should have at least offered Hillary the vice presidency. His pride would not allow him too - and so Sarah Palin has bitten him in the butt. I've have always thought that he was too inexperienced .. He needs another 8 years or so of being kicked around before he has sufficient bruises and scars to gain my respect.

[Think and then act]

Take a moment to clear your head. What does you gut instinct say. Mine says we need to get our country in order. Vote for the person you think will help turn stabilize our country. Take individual responsibility in this also, step up, do something. Commenting on blogs does not count, although it is entertaining. I have my opinions about each candidate, but that is not what is going to help our country. Whatever party wins this is still the USA and we need to pull ourselves together. Think critically, act passionately, and take part in the democratic process in a productive way. Please. The world is listening.

[IndependentVoterFL]

I was an undecided voter in Florida who has always sided with the liberals till a few days ago, meaning I have pretty much made up my mind at this point. I am a big fan of HIllary Clinton (like many of my friends and family members) I supported her whole-heartedly during the primaries, and was devasted when she lost to Obama.

I don't think Hillary should let Obama or her party force her to become their attack dog. She is WAY too smart and sophisticated to allow herself to be used and abused that way. And that's EXACTLY why I love her.

If Obama loses this election, only the die-hard Obama supporters will TRY to point the blame on Hillary. The rest of us will blame Obama for not selecting Hillary as his running mate, and thus losing the White House.

Like many commentaries out there from BOTH sides of the fence, there would be NO PALIN if Obama would've selected Hillary. So in a way, Sarah Palin is Obama's own creation...and his biggest mistake so far.

It's surprising that Obama is lagging in the polls, considering this election is coming at the end of 8 years of the worst admistration in American history. SO, Obama has (had) every advantage that any presidential candidate can ever hope for...so if he screw this up, he has NO ONE to blame except himself. Remember, he was elected to run for office, and HE CHOSE Biden to be his attack dog, not Hillary.

Obama, you can't have your cake and eat it too.