Greg Sargent's Plumline: Bill Clinton Throws His Support to Blanche Lincoln

[flpoljunkie]

Bill Clinton Throws His Support to Blanche Lincoln

In a boost to embattled Dem Senator Blanche Lincoln — and a bit of a blow to primary challenger Bill Halter — fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton is throwing his support to the incumbent Senator, his spokesman confirms to me.

Halter’s entry into the race had kicked off a round of speculation about who Clinton would endorse, given that he hails from the state and remains very popular with Dem primary voters. If Clinton had remained neutral it would have been a big boost to Halter.

Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna tells me, however, that the former President is supporting Lincoln.

“Senator Lincoln asked President Clinton several months ago to support her reelection,” McKenna says. “He said he would, and he does.”

McKenna confirmed that this applies to the Dem primary, too, and declined further comment.

Clinton’s support for Lincoln may disappoint liberals who are coalescing around the Halter challenger. Halter supporters, however, may say it’s no surprise and cite it as further proof that Lincoln is the candidate of the establishment, while Halter is the insurgent outsider. Either way, Clinton’s backing of Lincoln is noteworthy, given his stature with Dem primary voters and his roots in the state.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-dems/bill-clinton-throws-his-support-to-blanche-lincoln/

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. Of course he would.

They are both made of the same cloth. Corporate DLCers to the bone.

[roguevalley]

26. yeah, bill, support the candidate that everyone says is dead in the

water even if God supported her. Fuck centrists, fuck them all. Bill, you are a dipshit. Again.

[joeybee12]

2. Too bad, but not unexpected...n/t

[flpoljunkie]

4. Not unexpected, but I hope Dems who previously voted for her have seen she does not represent them.

Blanche Lincoln may as well be a Republican. I was pleased to see that Emily's List is withdrawing their support for Lincoln, as she said one thing to them and voted another way.

I am supporting her primary opponent, and if Bill Halter wins, I am sure both Obama and Bill Clinton will support him, as well.

[denimgirly]

3. Clearly this is a Ploy by both Presidents to get her to vote with Dems -- SADLY this wont work

This seems more like political theatre than anything. Seems dumb to give support to a dlc'er corporate democrat who has not voted for Obama's agenda at all unless they are hoping this will sway her to vote with the party on key issues. She wont! But i see little good in both coming out supporting the more progressive challenger. In my opinion i would have just kept quiet and not endorse anyone, assuming this dlc'er was not going to be swayed one way or another. But that being said, i understand where both presidents are coming from....its just a game.

[IndianaGreen]

12. Is this another claim of multi-dimensional chess?

I truly think the corporatists stick together like glue, hence the "game" you are referring to.

[David Zephyr]

5. LOL! Just like he "threw his support" to Gavin Newsom & Terry McAuliffe!

Bill Clinton has the political Midas touch in reverse: everything he touches turns to shit. Leaving aside the fact that he and his corrupt buddy, Mark Penn, destroyed poor Hillary's campaign in 2008, let's review the record of what a Bill Clinton "endorsement" shows:

1.) Bill Clinton jumped into the Virginia Governor's race by endorsing Terry McAuliffe in the Democratic Primary. Whoops. Terry was trounced by Creigh Deeds.

2.) Bill Clinton then raced to California nursing his stupid grudge against Jerry Brown to endorse Gavin Newsom against a not-declared Jerry Brown who already had every major Californian Democrat in his corner. Somehow the obvious escaped Clinton. That would be Californians saw one world class adulterer endorsing another yet another adulterer in a petty grudge against Jerry Brown. Bottom line: Newsom pulled out of the race and Bill's "endorsement" was as impotent in California as it was in Virginia.

3.) Now, Bill's endorsing Blanche Lincoln against a progressive challenger in that primary.

I'd have to say that Halter's stock just rose even higher.

[karynnj]

18. He also gave a great speech endorsing Lieberman in the primaries

It really was the best endorsement speech I ever heard him give, far better than the Gore or Kerry endorsement speeches and even better than the Obama endorsement speech. It was actually all about Lieberman and it was sincere.

And he lost the primary.

I really think that endorsements matter only when the person is not well known or the endorsement actually makes a good case.

he did have one success = he endorsed Martha Coakley in the primary.

[Deep13]

6. "...while Halter is the insurgent outsider."

Here's to insurgent outsiders! :toast:

Jesus, Bill, couldn't you just butt-out?

[Uzybone]

7. "Clinton’s support for Lincoln may disappoint liberals"

said liberals must be idiots and/or politically clueless, to think that Clinton would support Halter over Lincoln.

[Mojambo]

8. Not like it would be the first time Clinton has fucked over liberals. n/t

[cascadiance]

15. It also might encourage them if it helps expose Clinton's DLC DINOism to more out there!

[Sebastian Doyle]

16. Didn't disappoint me in the least.

It's what I would expect of the DLC poster boy. Not what I expected of a sitting President though. Obama should stay out of primaries. Especially when there's a useless DINO who needs to be taken out.

[Grand Taurean]

9. I like Bill Clinton but will be supporting Halter for Senate.

[DCKit]

10. Shocking. Clinton (DINO) - Corporate, supports Lincoln (DINO) - Corporate

I mean, who could have seen that coming?

[IndianaGreen]

11. DLC pukes all stick together!

Bye, bye, Blanche!

[cascadiance]

14. DLC have few cards left to play. They appear to be trying to play them now!

But a base that is waking up to their Republican cancer in our party is becoming more and more aware of what's happened over the last few decades and won't even accept someone like Clinton shilling for her.

Bill Clinton still had an opportunity to perhaps rescue his legacy, but appears to be playing cards that is more apt to tune out the base than it is to unite it towards the corporatists again.

People are just getting fed up with corporatists that don't listen to us any more! Nice try, but it WON'T WORK BILL!!!!

[dbt]

13. Desperation.

Miz Blank refuses to hear the train coming. Vic Snyder and Marion Berry heard it and decided to move off the tracks. If Clinton and Lincoln think his endorsement will save her worthless hide, at least one of 'em's laboring under some delusion.

It's rollin' round the bend, Miz Blank. You should be able to see the headlight by now.

[quiet.american]

17. Halter's worth more scrutiny from liberals/progressives.

I went over to his site to "Meet Bill Halter" and came away not sure I liked what I saw. In fact, I know I didn't. And his interview with Rachel didn't do much more to assure me of his liberal cred. Can't help but feel that the liberal blogosphere is being "Scott Browned" by Halter.

For example, Halter claims in a campaign ad that was on his website yesterday, that TARP was passed with no strings or conditions. Under Bush, yes. Under Obama, no. In fact, even today, Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup had to appear before the TARP oversight committee. And Halter declines to mention that because of the restrictions placed on the TARP money eight of the bailed-out banks have fully repaid the funds, with taxpayers even making a $4 Billion profit along the way.

In the ad, he then goes on to imply that a broken "Washington" doesn't care about Arkansas families, but declines to mention that because of Democrats, Arkansas has received its fair shair of Recovery Act grants, loans and contracts, and that close to 3,000 jobs have been created/saved in the state (recovery.gov). Yes, all that is not enough, but if a Republican had created the kind of ad I saw on Halter's site, I would have out-and-out said, "you lying sumbitch."

When Rachel asked him if he supported a public option, I was pretty startled by what sounded like weasel words, "Well, if you ask 100 Arkansans what the public option is, you'll get 100 different impressions of what that means." Huh? That wasn't the question. He then went on to say he would support what is *not* on the table (a voluntary buy-in to Medicare), but that still adds up to, if he were in the Senate right now, he'd have to be one of the ones being wooed for his vote. How does that add up to different than Lincoln?

In any case, I was excited about Halter because God knows I can't stand Lincoln. However, in looking over Halter's website, I'm more convinced it's now a matter of simply trading in one Blue Dog for another, rather than supporting someone who would actually be an asset in Washington.

This is all just my opinion and impression of the guy. Just one voter's opinion (and actually not even that - I'm not an Arkansan -- I just need to see more of how Halter conducts himself before I get on his bandwagon with donations.)

So, I say all that to say, that Clinton is supporting Lincoln doesn't move me one way or the other, because I'm far from convinced Halter is a better answer.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

19. Let's see...

Halter is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and pro-public option.

Hmmm, sounds more liberal than Obama, to me. :shrug:

[quiet.american]

20. Fine. That's your opinion. I have my own.

But when Rachel asked Halter flat out if he supports the public option, after he danced around it, we did not get a "yes."

All I'm saying is, I have reasonable doubt about the weight of his convictions. And the fact that his ad casts a bad light on a sitting Democratic president and Democratically-controlled Congress doesn't help him in my eyes, either. (The first words of his slogan are: "Washington is broken.")

He is 0-2 in whether he would have supported two major Democratic initiatives under Obama: TARP, and HCR. (What he said he would vote yes to if he were in the Senate right now regarding HCR, is not remotely what's on the table.)

No doubt, that makes you want to contribute a million dollars to him. I just have a different view.

edited: meant to say, TARP, not The Recovery Act, and added, "under Obama" and the parenthetical comments.

[IndianaGreen]

22. The point is that Blanche Lincoln is a conservative corporatist bitch

Even an opportunist like Harold Ford would be an improvement!

[quiet.american]

23. Not in my book. For one thing, I live in NY and assure you Ford is no improvement on anything.

We certainly didn't want him representing us here.

Secondly, from what I've heard so far from Halter, he would vote "NO," on major Democratic initiatives, whereas, when it was time for the rubber to meet the road, at least Lincoln stood up with her party and voted "Aye." And I don't see so far where he's any less of a corporatist at heart than the woman he's seeking to replace.

What I'm seeing is a guy who will be yet another pain in the ass on everything. That's fine. But if I were an Arkansan casting my vote, I'd rather do it with my eyes wide open as to what I'm really voting for. Like I said before, I could be wrong about him, but so far I don't like what I see, and what I'm seeing makes me feel he would turn out to be WORSE than Lincoln. I could be wrong. I am certainly open to having my mind changed by his words and actions to come.

And edited to add: I actually went to his website to donate money to his campaign, but what I found there turned me off from doing so. I was so excited that Lincoln has a challenger, because I find her whiny and exasperating. But when we needed the 60 votes for HCR, she came through. To Rachel's question last night as to whether he would vote for a public option if he were in the Senate right now, I have to say again, I find Halter's response to be astonishing. He didn't say he would have preferred single payer. He didn't say he would support a public option. He took the words "public option" and re-worked them into another context - that "the public should have the option of a voluntary buy-in to Medicare" - his version of what HCR should be, and said he'd vote for that. Well, that wasn't the question, and that's not what's in the real world right now, but he weaseled out of the question without having to make a definitive statement either way.

Disappointing to me at this stage that he is Lincoln's only challenger.

[IndianaGreen]

24. Ford would be welcomed in Indiana

He is head and shoulders over the apparent anointed one, a Brad Ellsworth, who opposes abortion rights and LGBT rigths, and loves DOMA and DADT.

[quiet.american]

25. I was so glad to see the LGBT community here very publicly hand Ford's head to him.

And then the story comes out today that Ford apparently had a conversation with Rove about becoming a Republican... what a piece of work. On the other hand, Ford's cousin here, who is very liberal, is primary challenging Charlie Rangel.

[Vidar]

21. Shame on you, Bill.

[PBS Poll-435]

27. DLC? Check! DINO? Check! Corporatist? Check! Anointed One? Check!

This thread has it all!

[krawhitham]

28. He gave his word he would support her when she was the only one running

and he is a man of his word. I would bet he will not be doing any campaigning for her

this is a non story and I do not even like Bill that much