Right Wing Newsmax Takes Note that Bill Clinton is Campaigning for John McCain Again

[Demeter]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorblog/073

For sometime Bill and Hillary Clinton have been boosting the electability of John McCain by continuing to offer effusive praise of his character, his "maverick" nature, and his ability to be Commander-in-Chief....Senator Clinton supporters remain blind to the two-pronged Clinton strategy of holding out some sliver of hope of grabbing the Democratic nomination or elevating McCain to such a pedestal that it will be that much extra work for Barack Obama to beat McCain. (Then Hillary Clinton would run for the presidency again in 2012 if McCain wins.) In fact, the Clinton homages to McCain appear so ill-advised as offered by someone running against him (and her spouse) that there has been speculation that if Senator Clinton doesn't get the Dem nomination, she might bolt and run on some sort of "dream team" fusion ticket with McCain. (Although that is a highly unlikely scenario because it would be rather challenging, to say the least, to get the Republican base to support such a move. But given McCain's age, he -- were he to win -- might be a one-term president, making Clinton the likely successor in 2012.)

But even the most ardent of Hillary Clinton supporters must in their hearts be puzzled by the following and unusually accurate excerpt from the right wing publication NewsMax, posted at 1:45 PM on March 28:

For the second time in a week, Bill Clinton offered high praise for Republican presidential nominee John McCain — the candidate who could end up squaring off against Clinton’s wife Hillary.
At a stop in rural Pennsylvania on Thursday, Bill told the gathering that McCain is a “moderate” who “has given all you can give for this country without dying for it.” He said McCain is on the right side in opposing the torture of enemy combatants and on the global warming issue, which “just about crosses the bridge for .” Clinton also told the audience that the race should not about the past, but about who is going to do more for the country in the future, ABC News reported. That person, he said, is Hillary.

One week ago Clinton expressed similar sentiments at a gathering in North Carolina, calling McCain a war hero who had demonstrated his love for his country. Clinton noted that McCain supported campaign finance reform and “he doesn’t think global warming is a myth … so it is not going to be all that easy to beat him.” At that same campaign stop, Clinton angered the Barack Obama campaign by saying that McCain and Hillary share a love of America — without mentioning Obama. “I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country,” he said. “And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics.” By not mentioning Obama, he suggested to some observers that he believes Obama’s patriotism is lacking.

What are the Clintons doing continuing to promote McCain's candidacy? It's getting to the point that Bill is coming close to pulling a Lieberman in terms of undercutting the Democratic Party in the 2008 election. He's trying to diss Obama and promote McCain at the same time. To what end?
Whatever it is, it's not putting the Democratic Party and the country first. It's the Clintons hedging their bets at the expense of the Dems. There's a point at which Senator Hillary Clinton supporters have to decide whether they are members of the Democratic Party or of the Clinton Party...And we passed that point a long time ago.

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG

BuzzFlash Afternote: For the first time, ironically, on the same day -- and perhaps to offset Bill Clinton's remarks -- Senator Clinton actually said that any Democrat would be better than continued Republican rule. Will this be a one time defection from the Clinton Party, or is it a sign that some sense of Dem Party sanity is returning to the Clinton camp? Stay tuned.

[Forkboy]

1. I wish everyone, Buzzflash included, would just ignore that rag permanently.