Arianna H: Bill Clinton encouraged Tom Harkin to back the Schiavo bill

[Rose Siding]

snip>
In an interesting twist, it turns out that Bill Clinton had a behind-the-scenes role in the party's decision to adopt a hands-off policy on the Schiavo debate. According to CBS News, the former triangulator-in-chief helped sway Schiavo bill backer Tom Harkin, "egging him on" to roll over and play dead -- an odious echo of his efforts to get John Kerry to come out in favor of all 11 state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. This kind of strategic calculation may have been all right in the mid-'90s, but not today, when the party is in desperate need of bold, decisive leadership.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/huffington/2005/03/29/schiavo/

Is this correct? I can't find a CBS report about it.

[DearAbby]

1. I KNEW IT...It's CLINTON'S Fault....Why didnt the Democrats stop them

before they fell upon their own swords? Damn their eyes!

[MichiganVote]

2. Today I was stuck in traffic and that was Clinton's fault too

[saracat]

3. Here is the link to the CBS story!

http://election.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/25/opinion/lynch/main683233_page2.shtml

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Arianna on her website

Arianna on her website links to this CBS story to document the claim, but it says nothing about it.

Perhaps there was something there earlier that has been pulled.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. After A Major And Minor Surgery Clinton Is Confronting His Own

mortality and doesn't want anybody to pull the plug on him...


Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton, and I are products of the same Baptist preaching and I am not surprised any of us ended up where we did...

Only difference is Clinton and I went to white Baptist churches and Jesse Jackson went to a black one....

[Jack Rabbit]

7. FOUND IT: THIS IS ARIANNA'S SOURCE

I had to Google for this. The version on the CBS website no longer contains this verbiage.

From CBS News
Dated Friday March 25

Schiavo Politics, Up Close
By Dottie Lynch

Snip to page 2

Two Democratic senators who have thought this through, Tom Harkin and Ron Wyden, took very different positions. Harkin, of Iowa, was a prime mover behind the Senate decision to join with the Republicans to urge federal judicial review. Harkin is close to the disability community, which worries about "right-to-die" issues, and Senate Democrats deferred to him on Schiavo. He forged the coalition with Republicans Frist, Santorum, Martinez and, according to two sources, had the support of former President Clinton for his actions. While Mr. Clinton apparently didn't talk to Harkin until after the vote, one source described Mr. Clinton as "egging him on."

ON EDIT

I see saracat found it, too. See post 3.

[Rose Siding]

8. Thanks!

How do you egg someone on after they already did something, One Source?

I support Harkin too, although I completely disagree with him on this issue. He's always been big on rights for the disabled but he (foolishly and inexplicably) misjudged the direction the repubs would go with it.

Maybe he made a deal for more Medicare $s for IA. They get screwed for federal funding.

[Jack Rabbit]

10. I think a lot of Democrats misjudged this as badly as the GOP did

I also think Arianna's points are well taken.

About the same time you opened this thread, I opened another in Editorials/Other Articles.

[salin]

16. I believe

that what the House was angling for was much more extreme... a broad bill that was not "private" (exclusive for Schiavo). I also believe, that the House (pushed by DeLay) voted down - on voice vote - an earlier "private" bill.

Thus, the Senate bill - forced the hand of the House... if they were to get anything it would have to be a "private" bill.

I find the whole thing awful - but, I think that the move, if my back story and memory is correct, was in recognition that something was going to go through - and that the havoc to be wreaked by what DeLay and crew wanted was viewed as what had to be stopped.

Look at the original leaked talking points - the last point refers to people LIKE Terri Schiavo having fewer rights than folks on death row. Key point - not talking JUST about Schaivo.

[jrthin]

5. I don't know if this story is

true or not. However, it has been my observation (and I love Clinton)that he has great political instincts for himself, but really bad political instinct for others and his party. Since Clinton has been on the scene, because he has tried to get the dems to appeal to the phantom middle, we have lost too many races and too many seats.

[saracat]

14. Absolutely right on!

[karynnj]

9. But he didn't advice Hillary to do this?

[chaumont58]

11. I think the Dems have done pretty good on the Schiavo mess

I'm on the side of medical science. I trust the doctors to make intelligent diagnoses, based not on hope and a biblical view. That said, a week ago sunday, I viewed the whole thing as one big values trap. The House Dems holding that news conference was just the right thing to me. The repukes, the born agains, the right to lifers have managed to alienate a lot of people without any help from Dems. I even think Jesse Jackson did the right thing, today. I'm especially anxious to hear what Shrill OhReally will say about Jackson.
I say let the Repukes make fools of themselves. As far as Bill Clinton, how are the repukes going to trash him for this? I can answer that myself, they will say he did it for political gain. Bill does it for political gain, but Tom Delay has only the most sacred of reasons. It will be interesting to see how is plays out.

[LittleClarkie]

12. I was proud of Kerry for NOT taking Clinton's advice

He said backing DOMA wasn't something he could ever do.

[saracat]

13. Amen. I was too!

[mattclearing]

15. Does the BFEE have Chelsea in a bunker somewhere???

WTF?

[jayfish]

17. I Think It's Brilliant Strategy.

Give the Rethugs enough rope to hang themselves and avoid the ever-present "obstructionist" moniker. Not to mention the fact that the majority of Dems. who actually voted on the bill, voted against it. Clintons' fault or not, we played this one correctly for a change.

Jay

[DemonFighterLives]

18. I don't know if it was brilliant or dumb luck

But it did allow the self righteous republicans to spread their dirty laundry far and wide. Didn't appear to hurt the dems. yet.

[jayfish]

19. It Hasn't Hurt Yet.

But it's not for a lack of trying on the part of the the mass-media and Rethugs. The Dems I have seen speak about the vote (whether they were a part of it or not) have done a very good job at explaining the logic behind the it. It's almost like we have a winning strategy to go with our ideals for a change. I hope it's no accident.

Jay