The best strategic move Hillary did this year was her interview with Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly is one of a few tough interviewers out there. When Hillary uses a venue such as this, it can only help her. It shows the softer side of her, and it also shows she is able to hold her own. She appeared confident during the interview. Bill O'Reilly interviewed her over a two night period. Hillary answered the questions with very little dodging, and she had a broad grasp of the issues.
Hillary of course, did the interview because she recognizes Obama's weakness at the moment, but what is most noteworthy regarding the interview is how Hillary crossed the far-left wing sites such as www.moveon.org and the www.dailykos.com after they eviscerated her. These far-left groups have threatened all the Democratic candidates. The candidates know these left wing groups will try and destroy them one way or another if they interview on venues such as Fox News. The Democrats have been afraid to go against these far-left groups because of the power they wield. Obama is the now new darling of the left, and Hillary has become the pariah. This is why Hillary has recently been talking against moveon.org. Hillary broke ranks and made the decision to interview with Bill O'Reilly. This will increase her clout, make her more appealing to some moderates, and enhance her credibility. This can only make her stature rise. I applaud her for it.
Obama was actually the first to break ranks and interview with Chris Wallace because of the Wright controversy. In fact Politico.com reports on how the Democrats are now running to Fox News after previously shunning them.
The issues from the interview
O'Reilly asked Clinton about health care. There is a fundamental disagreement here between what is best for America. Hillary truly believes in her socialist style of health care, and she makes no excuses for it. She debated O'Reilly on the merits of her health care plan. You only need to look to Europe or Canada to see how socialized health care does not work. These are two different mindsets. If you believe in socialized health care, no amount of evidence is going to convince you otherwise. That is the difference between the two parties. Democrats want government solutions, and Republicans want more free market solutions.
Taxes were also discussed including lowering corporate taxes. Clinton will increase capital gains but not to the extreme Obama will. Again, I will never get why Democrats do not look at History. President Kennedy, President Reagan, President Bush, and Mayor Guliani all decreased taxes, and in every case the economy grew.
O'Reilly asked about the Wright controversy, and Hillary said after some prodding the relationship was troublesome.
When asked about Iraq, Hillary reiterated her position on withdrawing from Iraq. She believes that this will somehow cause the Iraqi government to step up to the plate. Bill said, "You start pulling troops out of Iran, Iran is going to like that." Hillary responded, "First of all, we have done everything we said we were going to do. I believe there is no longer a military solution, we have to emphasize a political solution." (paraphrased) She didn't seem too concerned about Iran invading Iraq even after Bill said Hillary's plan of withdrawal would only embolden Iran. Hillary said this even after the AP reported that Hillary stated she would not hesitate using nuclear weapons against Iran if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons. This prompted Iran to lodge a complaint with the United Nations. Hillary does recognize there is a war on terror, and she can talk tough on the war. She even mentioned how the attack on New York affected her since she is senator of New York, but that does not excuse the fact she has voted down every bill that keeps us safe from threats abroad. Hillary voted against the cloture vote for the FISA authorization because she did not want to have to explain it during her presidential run. The Democratic posturing on this bill hampered one of the most useful tools in the war on terror. Her plan to withdraw from Iraq is troublesome to say the least. If you had to choose between Obama and Hillary, Hillary would be the better candidate by far. If Wright came to light before Super Tuesday, Hillary would have been the nominee. She would also have been the nominee if their selection process were similar to that of the Republicans.
Bill and Hillary debated immigration. Hillary is somewhere between McCain and Obama. We shall see. She is not totally open border, but she is close.
O'Reilly did not push the energy issue as much as he should have. Hillary says she is for nuclear power plants although she voted down various bills of nuclear power plant initiatives seven times. She may have seen the light. And, I will not blame her if she now sees the energy crisis for what it is and rethinks her former stance on nuclear power. She doesn't want to drill in Anwar, but neither do Obama or McCain. This is aggravating. Hillary is into creating green jobs. Green jobs are fine, but it will not solve our energy problem. This was not brought up in the interview but it is her position. The energy and security act of 2007 brings into doubt whether any candidate will solve the energy crisis.
Hillary did a good job on the interview. She should do more of them. She shows a different side of her when she is not doing the softball interviews. She is still wrong for the country, but she is a zillion times better than Obama even if she does fib on occasion (okay on many an occasion).
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