Hillary Clinton's website lists Reagan and Bush 41 among her favorite Presidents

[TeamJordan23]

Obama spokesman Bill Burton pointed out that a press release on Clinton's campaign Web site listed Reagan among her favorite presidents, along with her husband and eight others. "It's hard to take Hillary Clintons latest attack seriously when shes the one who supported George Bushs war in Iraq, the most damaging Republican idea of our generation," Burton said.

http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/2325872


Here is the press release from HRC's website: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=4674

But no president can do it alone. She must break recent tradition, cast cronyism aside and fill her cabinet with the best people, not only the best Democrats, but the best Republicans as well.. We’re confident she will do that. Her list of favorite presidents - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, George H.W. Bush and Reagan - demonstrates how she thinks. As expected, Bill Clinton was also included on the aforementioned list.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. What on earth??? nt

[MH1]

6. Link to Hillary's own website

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=4674

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. You were not lying.....

Here's an excerpt:

....Her list of favorite presidents - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, George H.W. Bush and Reagan - demonstrates how she thinks....

Why would she have that on her website? What on earth is the POINT of that? And is it true?

[papau]

30. It appears that no one noticed the quote is from an endorsement editorial

The Salmon Press endorsement editorial is their write up of their interview and their interpretation of the words used - but be that as it may - in what the Salmon papers say she said is included:

"But no president can do it alone. She must break recent tradition, cast cronyism aside and fill her cabinet with the best people, not only the best Democrats, but the best Republicans as well.. We’re confident she will do that. Her list of favorite presidents - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, George H.W. Bush and Reagan - demonstrates how she thinks. As expected, Bill Clinton was also included on the aforementioned list.

After all it was during his administration - eight years of peace and prosperity - that Hillary was able to observe, learn and contribute, all at the same time. And though she possesses traits similar to the former president, a great communicator chief among them - the voters of New York State have overwhelmingly validated her abilities - twice.

Sen. Clinton told us she doesn’t want our vote just because she’s a "woman." She wants our vote because she’s the "best." On the Democratic side we agree that she is."

now contrast to Obama's comments:

"I don't want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what's different are the times. I do think that for example the 1980 was different. I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing."

I note that Hillary never praised Reagan like Obama did - Hillary just included Reagan with Bill Clinton as presidents with skills -

Not quite the same.

But even more on point is the newspapers own statement:

In an effort to divert attention from Senator Obama’s comments about President Reagan and his assertion that the GOP has been the "party of ideas," the Obama campaign circulated an item this evening from the Salmon Press in New Hampshire that asserts that Senator Clinton listed the former President as one of her favorite presidents. In fact, Senator Clinton only complimented President Reagan’s communications skills – an attribute of his that has been widely praised by Americans of all ideological stripes – and did not list him as one of her favorite presidents. She also noted that she respected George H.W. Bush.

David Cutler, the co-owner of Salmon Press Newspapers, released the following statement:

"The question posed was originally what portraits would you hang in the White House if you were President and as the dialogue progressed, who are the presidents you admire most?

She listed several presidents that she admired and mentioned she liked Reagan’s communication skills. She did not say Reagan was her favorite President. She didn’t say anything close to that."

http://facts.hillaryhub.com

[Sarah Ibarruri]

32. So she doesn't really like Reagan after all? Then these folks need to say it out loud. Shout it!

[papau]

36. DU should indeed shout out the truth - but please don't hold your breathe when it involves Hillary

[Bishop Rook]

42. Right, not at all similar

The question posed was originally what portraits would you hang in the White House if you were President and as the dialogue progressed, who are the presidents you admire most?

She listed several presidents that she admired and mentioned she liked Reagan’s communication skills. She did not say Reagan was her favorite President. She didn’t say anything close to that.

"Presidents I admire most" versus "my favorite Presidents" ... I can see where there is a huge, gaping difference there.

Hrmph. I don't give a crap what Clinton or Obama said about Reagan. In both cases they were talking about the strategic political skills of a historical opposition leader. That's no worse than discussing why Germany was so efficient and capable at mobilizing its industrial infrastructure before the second World War. What I object to is the raging hypocrisy by Senator Clinton's campaign and her supporters criticizing Obama over this while trying to spin their own candidate out of it.

Or even worse, blaming Obama for the existence of this press release.

[papau]

45. the characteristics - Obama saw Reagan's great ideas - Hillary - not so much

[peacetalksforall]

10. Is this a polar onion or something? What the heck is going on? Is that

really her website? Poppy and Reagan? Favorites. Please tell me this is not her site.

[MH1]

17. It is her site. Check it out.

I am sure if you look around you can find plenty of corroboration that yes, indeed, it is Hillary Clinton's campaign website, and that page is a press release about an endorsement.

[papau]

24. LOL

[Zorra]

31. 5 or 6 radical conservatives on that list! Jeebus! Vote for Dennis Kucinich!

Any questions?

There shouldn't be.

[burythehatchet]

19. or as Stewie might say "WHAT THE DEUCE"

:rofl:

[1620rock]

2. ...yawn.

[burythehatchet]

22. ...

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Renew Deal]

3. Somebody tell Taylor Marsh.

:rofl:

[jefferson_dem]

4. We've been chatting this up for a while.

Good to see the Obama camp is on the case... ;)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4108953&mesg_id=4108953

[TeamJordan23]

5. Sorry, just got back. Didn't see this thread. nm

[jefferson_dem]

14. Hey, no probs, TeamJordan.

:thumbsup:

[MH1]

7. We still need 46,753 posts to catch up to the attacks on Obama for mentioning Reagan.

[babylonsister]

13. ...

:rofl: :thumbsup:

[Fridays Child]

8. Where on her site does she say that? I'd like to verify it.

On edit: Now I see it. That's hugely disappointing.

[rox63]

11. See links in posts #4 and #6 n/t

[Fridays Child]

12. Yes. Saw it and edited my post.

Thanks! :hi:

[Tom Rinaldo]

21. But how do you know what she really said?

Not from that link or any other thqt anyone has provided here. Don't you think a real quote in actual context is needed before anything can qualify as "hugely disappointing"?

It makes sense to me that Clinton's web site posted the full text of the first newspaper Presidential endorsement given to any Democrat in New Hamphire. It is standard form not to edit an endorsement and they sure as hell weren't going to keep it quiet.

What makes you so sure Hillary actually has "a list"? What makes you so sure those are the only names on it if she has one? What makes you so sure that she wasn't quoted out of context about Presidents whom she admires "something" about? I admired Reagan's poise and quick humor after the assasination attempt that almost killed him.

Do you always literally believe everything you read in the paper without questioning what in fact was actually being talked about?

[Sulawesi]

15. This is so funny!

[OHdem10]

16. Could this be one of the reasons she is not very popular on

this website.??

[MH1]

I don't think many of us knew this. There have been plenty of other reasons.

My personal reason is the way she backstabbed John Kerry in 2006. I thought that showed pretty clearly what she is really about.

[burythehatchet]

18. I. cant.... stop ....... laughing

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Unsane]

20. GAME, SET, MATCH.

[Tom Rinaldo]

23. Show me an actual quote and we can begin the actual match n/t

[Sulawesi]

25. Quote

"But no president can do it alone. She must break recent tradition, cast cronyism aside and fill her cabinet with the best people, not only the best Democrats, but the best Republicans as well.. We’re confident she will do that. Her list of favorite presidents - Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Truman, George H.W. Bush and Reagan - demonstrates how she thinks. As expected, Bill Clinton was also included on the aforementioned list."

[LostinVA]

29. That's not a quote -- it's an Op-Ed piece

[TeamJordan23]

27. I updated the OP to include quote. nm

[Tom Rinaldo]

33. At least that clarifies that there isn't an actual quote from Hillary saying this

I am amazed by the number of people for whom that doesn't seem to matter. Except of course for those folks who are having fun playing the faux outrage card as payback - I can understand why that is tempting.

Yeah I believe in the course of an editorial interview with that newspaper that Hillary must have made some comment in some way positive about something she liked about how Reagan was President, while commenting on other Presidents as well. That is all I am willing to accept on sheer faith however, and that is a pretty wide net that could include all kinds of relatively harmless observations. I do not for example assume that the one liner in that newspaper was exhaustive in listing the Presidents that Hillary had SOMETHING favorable to say of. And I have no reason to accept their framing of whatever the content of Hillary's actual and unknown comments was. I have seen far too many misrepresentions of people's comments printed in newspapers to just accept that one liner on pure faith.

There is no quote from Hillary. There isn't even any report about the conversation on which this observation is supposedly based. No context for it, not a word, and therefor no way to judge if it is in anyway an accurate representation of Hillary's thoughts.

I was asking from a quote from Hillary herself and I didn't expect one to be produced, and I was right.

[ShadowLiberal]

26. Wow, both Reagan AND Bush Sr.! Even my republican dad admits Bush #1 was a bad president

As much as I can understand respecting Reagan for what he was able to accomplish, and him being charismatic to help make others love him, I can't possibly understand why someone would list W's father as a top 10 president. Heck even my dad admitted years ago that Bush Sr. sucked as president.

[BootinUp]

28. There appears to be some more accurate info from the paper

that printed the Endorsement:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4111468&mesg_id=4111468

[Tom Rinaldo]

34. It would be nice if you pointed out that you are extracting a quote from a newspaper endorsement

The full text of a NH newspaper endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President was released by her campaign in a press release as is conventional for that type of political occaision. Your quote is lifted from the actual newspaper editorial - it is not something written by Hillary's campaign themselves for a press release.

[TeamJordan23]

35. Does it remove the underlying fact? nm

[Tom Rinaldo]

39. It would point out the lack of an underlying fact

As shown here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4111468&mesg_id=4111468

[Recursion]

37. Has she said much about being president of the Wellesley College Republicans?

This was a part of her bio I literally knew nothing about until pretty recently...

[Bonobo]

38. She says on her own website that she will put Republicans in her cabinet! OMG!!

[Tom Rinaldo]

40. Where does SHE say that?

How elastic can the truth become and still remain the truth?

[Bonobo]

41. This is a good laboratory to determine that, don't you think Tom?

Some of us know that the Obama/Reagan thing was a ridiculous distortion of the truth. Where do you stand on that?

Tell me an honest answer and I will give you honesty right back -immediately!

[Tom Rinaldo]

43. There was lots of distortion of Obama's comments

Much of it way way over the top, and much of it made gleefully simply to attempt to damage Obama without any regard for discussing what Obama's true point and/or perspective on that time period might actually be. A whole lot of people approached Obama's comments regarding Reagan simply as a field to mine for bullets to use against Obama, end of story as far as they were concerned.

Having said that, and fully believing all of it, I think that a serious discussion can be had whereby a person in good faith can take issue with some aspects of Obama's comments while acknowledging the validity of others. I can point you to a post or two I made hopefully in that spirit if you would like.

[Bonobo]

44. Agreed. Now I will answer in turn.

I agree 100% with what you just said and would appreciate the links to your statement on the subject as well!

I enjoy good discussion and am having a very hard time finding it here of late. I admit I have become as repulsively obnoxious as many posters in this sordid process -but not yet as bad as many and I still am open to and hopeful of engaging in dialog that broadens communication and understanding -so first of all, thank you for your response.

As to the Hillary website matter, I know it was not a direct qote from her. However, I do think it is consistent with what as I see as her tendency to try to be all things to all people -"triangulate" if you will. Ironically, this seems to be a quality that Obama, also, is cultivating in himself.

This appeal to a larger group is not necessarily a bad thing though, in my opinion. Frankly, I miss living in an America where, if perhaps we don't agree with each other, than at least there is not the sense of palpable hatred and mistrust between the right and left. Honestly, these days I fear to even have a bumpersticker for fear of being attacked -and I am in a highly liberal area.

As I was saying, I want some of the vicious, reflexive divisiveness to end in this country. I want to love this country again. I want a little more unity. With regards to that goal, I think Obama is in a better position to accomplish it. And I think his Reagan discussion reflects the desire to do just that. Maybe it is the fact that he, himself, was a sort of bridge between two cultures in his personal life, that he wants to be a bridge builder now.

In either case, I have a lot of difficulty believing that Hillary will be able to bring this country together, and frankly I just don't want to continue these dynasties. I want a young, new face representing America. I want the rest of the world to see us as a country rich in diversity and willing to elect a man yes, named "Hussein Obama.

I wish somehow we could all stop this mindless, mindless, fighting.

Again, thank you for your measured tone, your respectful ways and your sharing of your mind.

[Tom Rinaldo]

46. It is difficult to have real discussions at DU in the current atmosphere

I am looking forward to the end of the primary season when hopefully we can focus more on what unites rather than divides us as Democrats and progressives.

I agree with you that both Clinton and Obama seem to be seeking ways to appeal to a diversity of Americans, not just the Democratic Party liberal base, and I agree that it is not necessarily "bad" or "wrong" for them to try to do so.

If only we could enter an alternative universe some times that allowed us to dispassionately discuss the various tactical advantages of different approaches for moving America in a positive direction that our different candidates some times seem to embody. There are matters of priorities, matters of emphasis, of tone, of style, of experience both fresh and seasoned, all of which come into play. We have good candidates this year but likely there never will be a perfect candidate and so there is always something to debate the pros and cons of.

If Obama had another 5 plus years of experience at the national level of politics and policy likely I would be supporting him now. I also believe that Hillary Clinton can make a much more effective leader, capable of winning the trust of a wider and more diverse mix of people than most people give her credit for. I think it has been positive for her to be tested in this presidential campaign, for her not to simply coast to a presumed victory as an unbeatable front runner. Events are forcing her to lose some of her reserve and become more open with the public, and that can only be helpful to our party and our nation should she end up as our nominee and from their our President.

As to those posts I made mention of before, most of them are in the context of the discussion happening on this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4104948&mesg_id=4104948

Maybe I'll see you over there later. When I went over there to copy the link for you I found messages waiting there to respond to which is why it took me so long to resond to you here.

And thank you also for being willing to engage in a real discussion here, even with tempertures rising and feelings boiling over.

[peacetalksforall]

47. I feel betrayed. Why have I been defending her for 15 years?

H. W. Bush?

I remember watching the Library opening in Little Rock and feeling sorry for her for having to sit next to the people who were torturing her with lies and accusations for 15 years. What a fool I am.

I don't care about Reagan, He was a fake idealist. He was an evil plotter.

But, George H. W. Bush? She admires him?

I want out.

The two of them, Mr President and the First Lady, could have been sitting on the top of the world in popularity around the world. Why did she have to ruin it for me by running for President causing me to learn all this stuff about her, especially, that HE is on HER list?

What a churning in my stomach.

[Crunchy Frog]

48. Yeah, but she didn't really say that, only that she admired him for being a "great communicator"

and that his portrait should be in the WH. So see, it's really not as bad as what Obama said, and this is just another lame attempt at a smear by his crazed kool-aid drinking supporters.

Oh, and her husband is best buddies with Poppy.

[TacticalPeek]

49. Salmon Press Newspapers,"She [Hill]did not say Reagan was her favorite President."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4112377&mesg_id=4112377