The one thing unifying Republicans: Hillary Clinton

JOHN McCain has come under fire for refusing to condemn a questioner who bluntly asked about one issue currently obsessing Republican voters: "How do we beat the bitch?"

He tried to defuse the moment with humour, before conceding: "But that's an excellent question." He added: "There was a poll yesterday that shows me three points ahead of Senator Clinton in a head-to-head matchup."

The roomful of Republicans in South Carolina cheered.

In a presidential election year full of unpredictability, the incident reflects one of its few cast iron certainties: little unifies Republicans at present, except the prospect of Hillary Clinton in the White House.

In recent weeks, nearly all the Republican candidates have been invoking Mrs Clinton every chance they get. Pejorative references to the former First Lady often receive the biggest cheers on the stump or in debates. A new survey shows that in the Republican debate on October 21, Mrs Clinton was mentioned no less than 29 times.

I sat in on a focus group of Republican voters during that Florida debate. The 23 people could not agree on a Republican candidate. On that they were deeply split. But 22 of them raised their hands when asked: "Is Hillary Clinton a socialist?"

A man called David: "She's a socialist, she doesn't have American values." Doug said: "Nobody wants to live through that hell again." Bob: "The Clintons are ruthless. I just want a candidate who can beat her." Nicole: "I want someone with backbone her can kick her ass."

Mrs Clinton wears such Republican loathing as a badge of honour. But her closest Democratic rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, are using it as a chance to sharpen their contention that she is unelectable, and the one Democratic candidate Republicans actually want next year.

Comments

[brian lee]

Well i guess that shows how crude some people are .
Republican ,The party of the greedy screw you jack i,m ok

[ashleiyy]

That Mr McCain did not condemn and laughed off the matter is very sad indeed. Imagine someone calling him a "dog". Whatever his personal or professional differences with Mrs Clinton or anyone else, it has to be strictly within the limits of decency. Whatever the woman said, as a senator and a fellow lawmaker, he should have politely admonished the woman saying such comments are uncalled for. There has to be a more gentlemanly way of criticising and if he wants to become President, he has to show some class.

[Roger Mifsud (to be shown as Roger)]

Of course the Republicans are united against Senator Clinton. They know that if she gets to the White House she will be there for two terms.
Roger

[Barron (North Carolina)]

I am a registered Republican and strongly disagree that we are greedy and have a "screw you" mentality. The reason we do not like Senator Clinton is that she is entirely too machine-like and she is too caught up in the political corruptness that exist in Washington. I read an article yesterday that her press corp has been intimidated and "black-mailed" (for lack of a better term) into writing nothing negative about her. They have been told that if they write something negative about her then they may lose their access to speaking with her. How can one live and operate in a free republic if one is discouraged from questioning their leader?

[Sriram Chandrasekhar]

Hillary Clinton must be beaming from ear to ear. She very well knows this one simple fact: the more personal and dirty the accusations get, she'll end up looking saintly and her contenders - agents of Satan. And that's enough for her to win a ticket to the Oval Office.

[The Bruce]

I don't care much for Barak Obama's policy ideas, but I'd still much rather see a stand-up, honest leader, than a dishonest, manipulative, deceptive person like Senator Hilary Clinton.

I can't even say that at least she'd be better than Bush. After all, she voted for the war, & while she's certainly more intelligent than President Blowhard, she's not much (if at all) more ethical.

[John F.]

It sounds like McCain counters the rudeness of the question in the statement that follows. Perhaps he should have done so more immediately. I'm disappointed in McCain because I think he's sold himself out for the bid for election.

But, on this point, I don't know that he should be the target of attack. Really, it's the reporter who has compromised her professionalism.

[Marty]

Is this what our great country has come to. Really insulting one another to the point that we now use the word B**** in our political debates, polls, and blogs. Regardless, of what Clinton is or isn't she is truley no different from any other candidate. They all lie it choosing which candidate will at least attempt to give back to his or her fellow man/woman while lining their own pockets. And personally I admire the woman. She has worked hard to get where she is. Not to mention the Clinton's as a pair attempt to better society and give a little back to the people.

[Jonathan]

Class? Ashleiyy? Class? When Hillary Clinton stops using plants within her campaign stops, when Hillary Clinton stops committing felonies to collect fundraiser money through back avenues (google "Hillary Clinton Truth Boating"), then we can talk about class.

It's about power. Class has nothing to do with it and the Clintons don't know the first thing about class. That was left on Monica's dress.

[Nic]

This is blatent sexism. When ever do men get talked about in this manner in presidential elections in the paper? The answer is never. No matter what a politician may think about the other or say in private, to allow this comment to be public and not eject the questioner is wrong. How anyone can support this man is beyond me.

[wev]

yeah,she'll be there two terms(clinton) it's called martial law!

[Christopher Hobe Morrison]

I'd like to think that Clinton, or Obama for that matter, would be around for two terms if they were elected. If Clinton is elected and isn't re-elected, it will be because of her and the Democrats in general rather than some sort of grand Republican coalition. The Republicans have more contradictions within them than the Democrats. This is why the only way they can hang together is to attack liberals.

Democrats, and liberals, have to learn from the Bush administration's failure. Bush could have encouraged support from Democrats and independents by making proposals in terms that appealed to underlying values held in common. Perhaps because he feels he has an intuitive sense of these underlying values, and because of his own vanity, he made proposals that appealed to a narrow support base. He probably felt that if he could govern on the basis of what he thought was right rather than what he thought was easy, eventually a wide spectrum of people would see that he had been right all along. This hasn't worked out, especially in Iraq.

Of course there isn't much danger of Clinton placing principle above all. She needs to look at her husband's presidency. To a large extent, he did things exactly the opposite to Bush. Since the main criticism you hear about Sen. Clinton is that she tells people what they want to hear, and that she has no underlying principles perhaps she needs to show everyone that she does have principles, and that those principles are ones that a wide variety of people of all parties, and overseas, can relate to. A lot of people may not like them, but if she can persuade them how she came to hold them, and they feel she is being honest with them, I think they will give her a chance. At least more people will give her a chance if she does this that if she seems to them to be a cold, calculating, power-hungry, bitch. Oh, and I wonder if there is an insulting term for a man who is cold, calculating, and power-hungry, or if perhaps this is accepted in men but not women.

[maia]

I suggest reading "Hell To Pay" to learn of the Clintons' quest/demand for money and power. They consider no action to be too vile to feed their need for both. How many people need to die -- and have all records mysteriously vanish -- before these two self-serving, smug, hedonistic hypocrits are stopped. Hillary is at war with the working people of this country, and some of you are too stupid to see that she doesn't care about us. I don't want that hag telling me: what health care is good enough for me (but not for her), what educational system is good enough for my children (but not for her child), what standard of income is good enough for my family (but not for hers), what level of safety is good enough for my home (but not for hers), what retirement system is sufficient for my husband and me (but not for the Billaries), what laws are good enough to use to send Martha Stewart to prison (but don't touch the Billaries), etc. They are the epitome of arrogance! And you can throw in the entire Kennedy clan, John Kerry, John Edwards, Nancy Pelosi, and all the other rich Democrats who have the nerve to pontificate to us about taking care of society's poor, then retreat to their mansions (or compound of Kennedy mansions)! When they must live with the laws they plan to screw us with, then I will listen to them. All of them care only about power and money.

[lana]

So Hillary was called a B****. Poor Hillary. She did much worse than that to the Secret Service agents who put their lives on the line for her and that POS husband. And she trained her daughter to use the same language in addressing the agents. She hasn't reaped nearly so much hatred as she sowed while abusing her power in the Clinton White House. And what kind of people vandalize the White House and Air Force 1 and still think they're mature enough to run this country!

[gb]

Puh-lease. Is anyone in this day and age really offended by the term 'bitch?' Women wear it like a badge of honour. And McCain didn't say it. A woman in the audience did.

This will be forgotten in a week's time.

[Tony Francis]

I guess that's one woman who won't be voting for Hillary.

[belskoid]

So, is it really true that most of the Republican rank-and-file (i.e., ordinary Americans who are registered as Republicans--not party stalwarts and partisans) would consider Ms. Clinton the most important issue in picking a candidate? We'll probably never really know, but if that is the case, would that be because of intense emphasis and manipulation by the the party elite (and maybe the media)? What a perfect distraction from the real problems needing voters' serious consideration--including an honest evaluation of the current administration's numerous mistakes and how to fix or avoid them in the future. But that kind of direly needed thoughtfulness from the electorate is unlikely given the seductive dysfunctional relationship between the manipulators and the manipulated. Shortcut, emotional, thought-muddling slogans ("Beat the Bitch!") and other generalizations can feel so good--just surrender your responsiblity to think and judge on your own...then blame others for your own failure to think critically.

As far as using the term "bitch," any "righteous" Republicans who support that language in this context are contributing the the very degradation of American society they often bemoan.

Regarding the "Dougs" out there who don't "[want] to live through that hell again"--cut out the thought-blocking claptrap! You want hell? Be a soldier or civilian in a prolonged war, be caught in a natural catastrophe--floods, famine, earthquakes--with no help in sight, or endure a severe prolonged illness in yourself or a loved one where signs of hope are few. Get a perspective--then you may be part of a solution instead of part of the problem.

[Ben]

Sort of scary that some of my fellow Americans are still more worried about sperm stains on a dress rather than being led to war on a lie.

But then again, its these same Republicans that think that evolution is a lie and that a blastocyst is a person.

Hey, I've heard that the sun revolves around the earth in their Republican world.....

[Shelly]

I don't see how this is sexist. I'm a woman. I've been called a bitch when I've been one. And it was a woman that even called her a bitch.

What happened to common sense? Just because of political correctness, we can call a spade a spade any more. Doesn't anyone see the irony here?

Besides, McCain got put on the spot and was really in a no-win situation. Either way, he would have been in the wrong and he didn't even say the word.

You have to admit the whole scene was pretty funny and off the cuff. He is just a normal guy like everyone else. When a woman calls another woman a bitch, then it can't be sexist so why should he do something to defend Clinton?

Besides, what is the big deal? Okay, so there isn't any class in the question, but it did cut to the chase about what many people think about HC - me included! Does that mean that somehow I'm wrong? I think she is a A-Class Number One Bitch and a liar to boot.

[Farouk Samad]

It's almost hilariously hypocritical when Republicans accuse Clinton of being deceptive and untrustworthy. And I'm not even referring to the many lies, undemocratic actions, and violations of the law committed by the man who sits in the Oval Office.

Romney, McCain, and Guliani have all backtracked on, modified, or in some way tried to spin their pre-campaign records. Remember that all these guys have been pro-choice and adhered to other more liberal values. Now they're trying to desperately backpedal. Why? Because they feel they need to win that religious right vote, so cheerfully abandon their principles. That's just the nature of campaign politics. To attack Clinton on such grounds is absurdly one-sided.

[Chris Gallagher]

Since the Democrats have called Bush an idiot and a Nazi for years their protests stink of hypocrisy. The Dems have whole industries that denigrate Republicans at every given opportunity - MoveOn and the 18 Anti-War movies Hollywood are churning out at the moment spring to mind. You've got people like Al Sharpton insinuating all Republicans are racists constantly. For Democrats to demand respect from their opponents is so rich to be untrue. And this is from a non Republican voting British subject.

[Paul B]

I think McCain handled the situation relatively well. After all, he wasn't the one who referred to Hillary as a "bitch."

The question was from a woman, and I don't think it was McCain's duty at that point to chastise the questioner. Everyone was uncomfortably shocked, and McCain tried to diffuse the situation with humor. What were they supposed to do? Drag the woman out with 6 cops and then use a taser on her?

[Dr. Wandemberg Ph.D.]

Let them talk.
No matter what they say or think, Hillary Clinton will be the next US President.

[Sheila]

How can one live and operate in a free republic if one is discouraged from questioning their leader...(Barron North Carolina)

I don't know Barron - call it anti-American maybe? Call anyone who questions the president a terrorist? Say 'if you're not with us you're against us?'

[Jack]

Doug said: "Nobody wants to live through that hell again."

Yeah, who would want the Clinton years back? The last eight years have been sooo much better! As the Onion so presciently said back in January 2001, "thank God our long period of peace and prosperity is now over!"