Clinton campaign opens: 'I'm in'

Half the country hates Hillary.

That's a heck of a handicap for a nominee.

I know the same thing could be said of Bush*, but the Republicans are better at cheating than the Dems.

(* = That was in 2004, of course. Now, 65 to 70 percent of the country hates Bush.)

God bless America, let us pray that Hillary Clinton and her backlog of scandals never gets the nomination. Her track record smacks of abuse and social degeneration, degradation and terrorism. May the wheelings and dealings of the Clintons be banned from the White House, again.

I already questioned her electablilty.

I already questioned her true nature behind-the-scenes on important issues like healthcare.

I question the format.

I question the "canned" nature of the content.

I question the timing, coming as it does in Obama's wake and on a Saturday.

Whoever talked her into this and whoever wrote it did her a great disservice.

I am a strong democrat who drooled over the possibility of a second Clinton presidency and could not wait to vote for the first female president. That was before her Iraq vote. My anger and sense of betrayal is boundless. I have never missed a vote but if Ms Clinton makes it past the primaries, I definitely will sit it out.

If the Presidential election is held today, I'll vote for Hillary Clinton. I know that my Republican friends will vote for her, too.

My family and I LOVE you. You already have our votes !!!
Clinton and Obama will save our democracy, the same one that Bush has been trying to destroy for the past 6 years. God help us until 2008.

"Let's talk. Let's chat,'' Clinton says in her campaign announcement. "Let's start a dialog about your ideas and mine.''

She's had more than 6 years to start a dialogue. And she is widely perceived to have staked out a pro-war position so that she would not be regarded as weak/feminine. She has only recently within the last year changed her mind.

To be perfectly honest, I was also initially pro-war. I believed Bush was telling the truth when they said they had evidence of WMD and Al-Qaeda links/Saddam links. I still remember before the invasion reading all those magazine articles with the mobile trucks and airplanes for terrorist training. But after they went in and it was discovered to be a hoax within the 1st year, I knew that Mr. Bush had pulled a fast one over the American public. He had sold most of the country by playing to our fears - and it worked. That immediately made the war immoral for me.

And then it was reading all about money going to building bases instead of reconstruction, soldiers guarding oil fields, unarmored Humvees and Vietnam era flak jackets, overpaid contractors, and civilians getting killed accidentally or intentionally with little remorse.
And unwinnable, since we didn't have home field advantage, and knew nothing about either the culture, language, or history, so all of our intel has to rely on locals, many of whom were getting killed. It's an irony, we Americans like to support the little guy & the underdog, but we continually underestimate them when it comes to wars. We hadn't done our homework - we had just literally barged into people's homes, bombing and killing a lot of people. This kind of attitude and policy doesn't help to promote democracy. And Bush had the gall to say America was winning for 4 years, and even now he continues to say that there isn't a civil war going on.

And Ms. Clinton went along, changing her mind only last year, IMO because it looked more and more like we were going to lose. That's mostly why I'm not a Clinton fan.

I actually prefer Giuliani to Clinton, but he's also pro-war, and I refuse to vote for any pro-war candidate. I don't know how other voters feel, but right now, this war is my primary issue, because unlike most other issues, the blood of 100s of thousands of human beings is directly on the line. This is not to mention the billions/trillion dollars, too, since expensive wars tend to bankrupt countries, with the former USSR being the last major example.

I wish all the candidates luck, but I support Mr. Obama.

I'm glad to see that Mrs. Clinton has declared and i hope she goes all the way to the White House. I've always liked her and I think that she would be a great President.

As a moderate I hope that she relies on her common sense Midwestern upbringing and doesn't let the fringe, in either political party, sway her decision making.

As a woman I'd be proud if she achieved the milestone of becoming the first woman elected to the Presidency.

Hillary Elected ? Never Happen, she is a complete Phony, with a sham marriage. People are not stupid it is no secret she has a new Bo and her and bill are Married in name only to protect her new found carreeer.

Many folk are in the procees of creating news letters/ Blogs to really show the americanpublic the truth surrounding her and those shehas destroyed that have ateempeted to uncover and expose her for what she is.

Ther are current palns to compete with the traditonal media and they already have some very intresting facts surrounding her.

Surprise! Surprise! She's in! Just what we Democratic Party wannabe's dreaded. Another likely candidate from the Northeast to suck up all of the party energy and ultimately lose to turn off middle America and all those people on both sides of the political divide who absolutely do not want a part of the teeter totter between the Bush and Clinton name. We endured the embarassment of Bill and his ability to step in one pile of dog poop after another. What's to say we won't have the same with Hillary in the White House and him hanging around? I think most of us want a new face, with new ideas, and a different Karma this time.

If you thought Bush was bad...

Even if Hillary is not as wicked and nasty as I believe she is, she still openly wants socialized health care. That is the equivlient of replacing your 180,000 mile 1991 Accord that still runs ok with a brand new Kia. Sure it looks shiny and new but in a few years it will be broken beyond repair. Government health care did not work in Europe, or Canada. What makes anyone think it will work here? Just for some background, I am one of the uninsured Americans Hillary wants to save with her facist health care fiasco. Please, Democrats and Republicans, keep your nose out of my Libertarian life!!!

Recently reported, but always understood, 400 individuals combined wealth is worth 1.25 trillion dollars. If you are worth only 7 billion you would rank the 40th wealthiest person in America. That means that the top ten must be over the top. Remember our revolution - taxation without representation. Well, if the top 1% owns or controls all of our wealth, isn't that the same thing? How lop-sided does it have to become? Let's hope Hillary focuses on real issues, and not stupid issues such as gay marriage, flag burning, death penalty .... China is going to pass us by while we concentrate on these stupid issues. The planet is ready to die, and Jesus isn't going to help us. He's got to be pissed!. What ever happened to the Beatitudes? God bless us all!

I'm in too! Let's see what our country can do with the great women of this nation running it. We have so many smarter women in politics right now than some of the "good old boy" men that love to hear themselves go on.

Nice try. The Democrats invented cheating and the political climate we have today. Now they all do it. Here's to a viable third party soon!

So many great Democratic people to choose this year. I have always been a fan of Hillary Clinton, but I think you Northeasterns just don't get it. It will be impossible to elect Hillary. There are too many people who have some kind of irrational fear and hate of her; it is virulent. It's so irrational, some even blame her for us not having national healthcare. We need a Democratic president next time. Please don't throw this opportunity away on someone who is so unelectable, even if she is qualified. Hilary, throw yourself on your sword for the country--don't run!

"Half the country hates Hillary."

And therein lies a good reason for America to go straight to hell. One half of the country hates everyone, and half of the rest hate someone, even if the hated people are not monsters. We have become a nation of haters, if we weren't all along. Everytime I read comments following any report, the vitriol and arrogance are depressing, and there is rarely a learned opinion in the bunch. I have been teaching at the college level since 1967 and I can't help but conclude that we are a fouled ship that has run aground. Thank you, Lush Rimbaugh and Ann Coulter, for showing us how to hate, polarize, and pervert every point of view in this country. What a service!

Her comment "if you work hard and play by the rules, you can build a good life for yourself" - that's rich, coming from her. This is not a woman who plays by the rules. Every move she has made has been coldly calculated to regain the presidency she always considered her own. The phrase "we are the president" comes to mind - and no, you slag from hell, YOU are not the president - at least not yet.
She and her husband stole from the American people, not just in their ridiculous moral and political sellouts, but literally, in the items that disappeared from their rooms and offices at the White House, particularly in the last days they were there.
I hope she runs and loses horribly - and that the stain of humiliation and defeat mar her ugly mug politically, until such marking forces her out of power and political life back into obscurity and oblivion.

Please God the American nation elects a democrat as their next president. Hilary stands high in the opinion of nearly all folk I know in Europe. You folks could do more to improve the image of USA in the rest of the world by electing her than by any other move. go for it.

John , Scotland

I am an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall, Idaho. I think that at this point, a Clinton-Obama ticket really give our country something to think about. Then upon winning the election they would appoint to the different departments people that have a firm back ground in what these entail. There are to many trying run this country that have no idea or who have never had to work for what this great country has given them. They are making it harder and harder for the common people to make ends meet because of what they are causing.

Respectfully, Lee

Oh,Lordy, Lordy! GO HILLARY!!!!
Deliver us all from cowboys and posses and this plague of "drive-by-thinking" that surrounds our politics!

Iraq will be the deciding factor among the Democratic candidates in 2008, and Hillary was flat wrong on the subject. More and more it looks like it will be Al Gore's election to lose, please see http://minor-ripper.blogspot.com/2006/12/why-al-gore-will-vanquish-hillary.html

I think Hilary could be viewed quite positively in Europe and could perhaps improve America's somewhat damaged reputation on the international stage.

In defense of her initial vote on Iraq, don't forget she was fed the same false intelligence by the Bush administration as the rest of us, and Ground Zero is in the state she represents.

Ed Williamson,

"Everybody knows" she has a beau? Not me. Do tell, now that you've opened Pandora's box.

SDD,

If all's well in your Liberterian world, why don't you have health insurance? The only developed country without some form of national healthcare -- it's an embarrassing disgrace. A few less aircraft carriers, perhaps..

Well she's in. Good, she should be. I can't support her, however, because I believe her brand of politics is wrong for this country right now. The country is seriously broken and we need untiers right now, not dividers of which Senator Clinton is. Don't get me wrong, I think she is an extraordinary politician with some good ideas, I just think that her "attack and destroy" style is simply a mirror image of President Bush. It';s simply not what's needed. I'm hoping that her ideas will lend substance to this race and that eventually she will support the Denocratic nominee who I beleive will be either Senator Obama or Al Gore should he choose to run.

To Jim of Missouri:

That is exactly why you should post your opinions, and I would say, it is probably your civic & moral responsibility to do so. If your opinions are learned & nonhateful, wouldn't that provide a great counterbalance? The world is obviously filled with relevant and irrelevant opinions and "hateful" attacks, but it is our responsibility as students and citizens to distinguish between them. In the end, even unlearned or hateful attacks have their information value, as they represent the pulse of at least a part of our country. Besides, this is also one of the few major online newspapers that I know of that allows comments (of course, I also might not know where to look). Most online newspapers do not allow reader commentary. So thanks to the Tribune, as well as to all commenters for sharing their views, whether American or not, pro-X or anti-X.

I am an American living in Germany. I can tell you from living with Government Health Care for the past thirteen years, that it simply does not work. Our health care hear is extremely bad. You have to wait weeks to get an appointment with a doctor. You can not choose which doctor will operate on you. You are treated like a number. They refuse to give many treatments because they know the government will not pay for it.

Mrs. Clinton, should really take a look at the European model. It simply does not work. Why import what is broken into our great country?

I've been waiting for Hillary to run! Hurray!

Hillary is going to be installed into the Presidency. Anyone who knows that Poppy Bush has been runing this country since the 80's has been aware of this for years now. The New World Order is not just the harmless catchphrase it's been rendered into by the media and Pro Wrestling. : )

Once Queen Hillary ascends, maybe THEN we'll notice the pattern: Bush - Clionton - Bush - Clinton. Politics is sham theater, we are living in the Bush Dynasty Dictatorship.

As a female voter who has leaned toward the Republican side of issues up until George W. Bush became President,I can truly say that this is a great day for women in America.

I'm willing to listen to Hillary and THEN make my decision on whether I vote for her later.

I've read the comments posted about her from one of the Republican posters on here who called Hillary names because of her looks;this poster's additude toward Democrats and women in general is one of the reasons why I'm excited for Hillary and no longer call myself a Republican.

Let's see, she was wrong on Iraq, healtcare, and kept her mouth shut when her husband was being you know what. Can we please stop "Midwestern values"/she is a woman/Obama is black nonesense and concentrate instead on the issues and where each of the candidates stands on those issues? US debt is sky high, economists sound alarm everywhere, the environment around us gets distroyed at the alarming pace, US position as a world leader pretty much gone after Iraq fiasco, US manufacturing disappearing.
Ms Clinton recently hinted that tough times are ahead of us, and each one of us will be required to pitch in...sounds lovely

It's time for us to elect someone other than a Clinton or a Bush and that person is so not, a Rodham-Clinton! See how many times the name she uses changes based on public sentiment. What a phony baloney!

It's getting interesting!
The Clinton camp,yesterday "outed" Obama by releasing information that he was schooled at a Madrassa in Indonesia for four years (which I commented on weeks ago)and never wrote about it in his memoirs...I wonder why?
Also the Chinese shot down an orbiting satellite with a space missile....where did they get that technology? Well,the Chinese were having problems shooting their missiles straight,so the B.J.Clinton administration gave them ours!And Hillary is far to the left of B.J. Hmmmmm.
Paulo

This is unfortunate for the Democratic party, if they plan on gaining back the whitehouse. I am a 32 year old working professional mother of one, and Hillary Rodham Clinton does not represent the ideals and hopes for what I believe to be the majority of women and men in this country, at this time.

She is pursuing HER dream, not ours.

Does anyone remember Ralph Nader? He is why we've had six years of Geo. Bush. Liberals and Democrats are our own worst enemies.

Interesting how polarized the female posters are. Love her or hate her. She'll need more of the former to solidify her base.

It's also good to get posts from overseas. She's generally seen favorably as was her husband (hear that Paulo?) and as a welcome alternative to W.

Oh, please. Hillary Rodham allowed her career to be subsumed into her husband's for as many years as it took for his accomplishments to push her to the top. She is exactly as qualified to be senator or president as Laura Bush or Betty Ford. How does it teach young women to stand on their own two feet if we keep treating Mrs. Clinton as a feminist icon?

An Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama campaign would really be great for the country if only they would
1. Hold onto their beliefs and not kowtow to the fearmongers
2. Employ Carville, and encourage Brownback to run. Brownback would shock the country with his pronouncements.
3. Get us out of Iraq.
4. Beef up support in Afghanistan. Look at a long term solution for Afghanistan.
5. Stand up to the Israeli lobby, and lead an intervention with the lobby. The lobby needs to move from the winner take all and back to a real negotiation table. The holocaust happened, but by tarrying and feathering everyone (even friends) who have legitimate criticisms it weakens Israel's intrests in the long run. Some people need to stand up to them, to let some fresh air in the room. Mr. Clinton did it with Sister Souljah, how about the Israeli lobby? That would go a long way to reducing our budget outlays for security.
6. Reduce our reliance on oil, increase support for better fuel economy. Use the bully pulpit and shame the US auto manfacturers into doing something. I mean where were they when Toyota was building the hybrid engine? Where are they now? They really need some tough love.

On this inauguration day (and my birthday) -- let us hope this woman is never inaugurated as our president. Some may call it foolish, but the reason I'd never EVER vote for her is simple: I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. And she's a carpetbagger to boot...why is she not the senator from Arkansas, anyway?

I think the Dems know she is not electable in the general election too, so this should get veeerrrrry interesting...

Obama for President...a fine birthday present in '09!

Hillary Clinton will bring common sense and logic to our stressed country we live in today.I believe her ideas about the future and our concerns about it, will infulence her to make the right decisions.

Barak Obama for President.

Hey Paulo,

For two weeks now I've listened to you foam at the mouth while trying in vain to bash Democratic candidates for President.

So here's my question to you sir:

TELL ME WHY I SHOULD VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT?

The Republican Party has held the Whitehouse for over six years now and they have done nothing but divide our country,and destroy our image in the world's eyes.

I'll be waiting for your answer with baited breath Mr. Paulo.
I'm willing to listen,give me a reason why I should?

Dave,Freeport.Il---
Nooooo,If Al Gore would have won his own state in 2000,he would of been president,regardless of Nader.
I love how the dems always play the "blame game"....Bush had more votes! Get over it!
Who do you blame for 2004?
Paulo

Oh Boy this should be fun. With all the Democrats running. And Sorry to say all Right wingers running on the Republican side. 2008 should be a fun year

Hillary just seems too calculating for me. She's also a touchstone for controversy. Look at the lies that were spewed about Obama recently (btw in islamic coutries all grade schools are called madrasah's, every enlightened person knows Barack spent 2 years in a predominantly muslim school and then 2 years in a catholic school, and not the b.s. Paulo espouses) and attributed to Hillary to cause infighting amongst the camps. The Republican smear machine is a very effective one, honed over the years.

Still it will be an exciting race. I will vote for the candidate whom I perceive will be able to exercise the best judgement while withstanding the Republican smear machine (b'cos u can believe the republicans won't sit out the Dem's primaries). The election process will allow me to really compare them against one another. So far it seems Obama is the man, but we'll see.......

God bless the United States and we can only hope that a good canidate emerges in this race... We have to "Media" hyped individuals running and as we know the media usually declares a winner long before the American public votes... So I would urge everyone to set the record straight and vote how you want not how our media outlets declare the winners. I am not a fan of either Clinton or Obama niether really have proved themselves to the American Public.

Women were responsible for the only amendment to the United States constitution that ever had to be overturned by another amendment because it was ruining the country.

This election will be their finest hour.

They will choose between voting for someone because of their sex, and by that exhibit their own sexist attitudes, or they can *think* and vote for someone who can save the United States as it sits on the verge of a, possibly nuclear, World War III.

Hillary will finish her husband's job - the destruction of the United States!

Judging from the support Hillary has from the female posters here, I'd say it doesn't look good.

God have mercy on us all.

This has to be one of the strongest women alive. She has had that ball and chain husband slowing her down all her life. but would she be where she is if her last name was not Clinton? Kind of a catch 22. Bottom line,it does not matter what she can bring to the table,you look at her and you see the man. That will be her downfall. Small politics we will accept from her but the "no vacancy" will always be lit for her at the House in Washington. Also,the thought of Bill loose in the White House again, makes me cringe

I'm excited for Hillary and the Democrats.

As BushFan#1 said After 6+ years of the Bush administration we are on the verge of WW3,and that's about all the Republicans have accomplished,nice job guys.

I'll be voting for Hillary or whoever is the Democratic candidate.
The Republicans have already proven that they can't govern.

Can't wait to have Bill C. back in the Whitehouse,our country was prosperous and peaceful under his Presidency,that's why the Republicans hate him so much,poor kids.

Bill Clinton told George W. Bush about Osama bin Laden before he left office and Bush ignored him,Condi also knew about the Osama threat and she went shopping for shoes instead of listening.

Pity the poor Republicans,you're day is done.

I am glad that Hillary Clinton is running for President. Many people can critique her but at the end of the day, our country is ready to have a woman President. It is long overdue. Go Hillary. I support you.

For those of you dolts who think we don't already have National Health Care, we do: you just have to be poor, disabled or above a certain age (65?)... remember Medicare and Medicaid?

My grandmother is on Medicare, and I think a system like that for ALL Americans is better than the one that 42 million Americans have: prayers, home equity loans and credit cards.

I also believe national health care would spur small business growth. How many people (maybe even including you?) stay with your job solely because of the health benefits. Transferrable benefits would allow many more workers (especially those with families) to work for smaller companies, start their own businesses, etc.

Sure it will cost $$$, but how much are you and your employer currently paying for that health insurance? For me, it's $380+ a month (with a $2500 deductible, mind you), and I'm a healthy young single guy.

All of you people on the right:

Please know that the left hates her more than you guys do. We cannot stand that DLC, corporate, insider fake. She is the worst thing to happen to us. I would love it if the right and the left could get together and destroy her campaign.
If you do not believe me, go to any liberal blog and look at the comments about her. One out of 100 might be happy.

I'm still waiting on your answer to my question Paulo.

WHY SHOULD I VOTE FOR ANY OF THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT?

Did mommy and daddy kick you off the computer?

From a registered independent....voted for Bush 1st. time, not the second! I truly hope the dems choose a candidate that is electable, the simple fact is, Hillary is not. Check out who has won the last elections for pres, Clinton (Governor), Bush (Governor) outsiders on D.C. Beltway. The purple voters out here are tired of Washington pro-politicians! How did Gore and Edwards do! Both pro-politicians, Gore couldn't even win his own state! I so want to vote for a dem this time, my hang-up is that Clinton is too liberal and from a very liberal state with a high tax load, (much like Edwards). While Clinton and Obama look like attractive candidates, that ain't gonna get it done on election day. Electabilty not popular, their is a difference.

It's getting interesting!
The Clinton camp,yesterday "outed" Obama by releasing information that he was schooled at a Madrassa in Indonesia for four years (which I commented on weeks ago)and never wrote about it in his memoirs...I wonder why?
Paulo

On the January 19 editions of their radio programs, conservative talk show hosts Melanie Morgan, Lee Rodgers and Rush Limbaugh, as well as Fox News' John Gibson on the same day's edition of The Big Story, forwarded the accusation, originally published on the website InsightMag.com, that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) was responsible for spreading information about Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) -- specifically, that Obama "spent at least four years in a so-called Madrassa or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia." The article, bearing the headline "Hillary's team has questions about Obama's Muslim background," asserted that "researchers connected to Senator Clinton" disclosed the "details of Mr. Obama's Muslim past." Despite acknowledging near the end of his show that it "[d]oesn't seem" that "Hillary's fingerprints [are] on the story," Gibson said earlier in that program that "[t]he New York senator has reportedly outed Obama's madrassa past."

None of the four radio or television hosts cited any evidence that Clinton was responsible for promoting the madrassa story, beyond the InsightMag.com article, which cited no one by name. On December 13, Jason Zengerle, editor of The Plank, the weblog of The New Republic, predicted that Republicans would "launch a savage and despicable whispering campaign against the guy (Barack Hussein Obama, etc.) and then blame it all on Hillary."
InsightMag.com is the successor to Insight on the News, a biweekly magazine published until April 2004 by News World Communications, the company controlled by Rev. Sun Myung Moon that also operates The Washington Times and the wire service United Press International. The website describes itself as a "weekly Internet news magazine."

from Media Matters

Barack's father was a Muslim and Paulo is a Moonie.

I'm guessing someone like Wesley Clark is a valuable commodity because both Hil and Obama are perceived as light on military issues. Linking with him (or other ex-military leaders) would give either candidate a considerable boost.

Catherine-
Truth hurts sometimes....doesn't it?
Paulo

Barack's father was a Muslim and Paulo is a Moonie.

Posted by: Catherine | Jan 20, 2007 10:30:05 PM

Catherine-
Truth hurts sometimes....doesn't it?
Paulo

Posted by: Paulo | Jan 21, 2007 11:37:45 AM

Paulo,
How long ya been a moonie? I just thought you were gullible, ill-informed, with a dash of jingoism thrown in.

Catherine:

You said Barack's father is a Muslim. So what?

What if YOUR father were a Muslim. Would that really have any bearing on what kind of person you were?

Paulo, why would the fact that you're a moonie hurt me?

Evanel, I'm on your side. Paulo is the one that is freaking out about Barack Obama. Though I must say,the type of person my father was,does have some bearing on the person I am today.

Looks like Fox News is trying to make ammends:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245365,00.html

After watching Hillary declare on her web site,I noticed everthing was green in her back yard and the flowers still blooming.
This leads me to believe this video was made in the warmth of the summer or in the fall,not Saturday,JANUARY 20th.
She is such a phoney.
Paulo

Correction, Paulo:
After watching those Dreamboats Glenn Beck, Rush and (swoon) Sean Vannity; I (Paulo) got my talking points.
Summary: Numerous media conservatives have touted a discredited post on the Media Research Center's NewsBusters weblog to baselessly claim that Hillary Clinton recorded her announcement video launching her presidential bid months prior to actually announcing. Even though the post was later updated to add that a reporter "whom I respect informs me that video was produced last week in DC," hosts such as Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity touted the