What Should She Say?

It's like Agent Smith has Hillary Clinton in a bear hug in the subway, and off in the distance we hear a whisper "Yes we can." And Smith says to her "Do you recognize that sound Mrs. Clinton? That is the sound of inevitability."

Would that all she had to say at that point would be "My name is Neo!"

But that would be stupid. There is however a resonating sound of inevitability coming from the electorate, and if she really does want to be President Hillary does need to come up with something to say to stem the tide.

Obama is getting a lot of mileage over saying that on the day it mattered, when they voted on the use of force in Iraq, that Hillary made the wrong choice. He's spun it this way and that. We've hear him ask things akin to: Is it more important to be ready to govern on day one or to be ready to make the right decision on that day?

I have to believe that the Clinton people are letting him run roughshod over the truth here. The rhetoric is so good that they are forgetting to really mount a defense. Interestingly I think that they have most of the pieces in place, they just need to align them to oppose this specific and very damaging attack. And so I wonder:

Does anyone actually think Hillary Clinton wanted to go to war in Iraq?

I mean clearly she voted for it, it is on the record, but voting for the authorization and wanting war in Iraq are in reality two different things. Now earlier in the campaign cycle she did try to explain to the people that the vote wasn't for the war and that she never expected the President to do what he did and whatever, but I think maybe that was too nuanced. And definitely there's the Kerry "I voted for the war before I voted against the war" thing to look out for, but I really think its salvageable. Actually I think in a kind of political judo using your enemy's weight against them way an opportunity to turn his very clear attack into a monumental weakness.

Obama didn't have the opportunity to have to make the decision she did. I think I am correct in saying he's told us that if he'd had to make that choice he would have voted against the authorization. He uses this as his justification for coming down on her for voting for the authorization. That when it mattered, on that day, Hillary made the wrong choice.

But if you check the record, it's not like you'll find that authorization passed the Senate 51-50 with Cheney breaking a tie. It's not like it came down to one vote.

This ought to provide an opening, an opportunity for the Clinton campaign. Looking at it, Obama is flaunting a decision that proves her biggest point. She should be able to parley his saying he would have voted against authorization into a damning demonstration of his political naivety.

There must be records or people that could speak to Hillary's opposition to the use of force in Iraq, so it ought to be fairly simple to demonstrate that her vote and her position were in conflict. She should be able to demonstrate that from a position of governance it turned out to be more important for her to vote for the authorization than to vote against it.

"Barak, voting for the authorization, voting for the war was the difference between making a point and making a difference.

It's the difference between politics and governance. Sometimes in order to position ourselves to continue to have influence we have to make difficult choices. On that day I made the choice to vote for something I abhorred. I did that so that I could continue to work on a solution rather than labeling myself a pariah and taking myself out of the process.

People with experience in government could explain to you that on that day it was too late. When you say on that day I made the wrong decision; I could not disagree with you more. The problem is that the decision wasn't made on that day. Real leaders understand that the vote is only the facade. Most of the time in Washington something doesn't even come to a vote until the outcome is largely known.

I made two decisions on the authorization for the use of force in Iraq and you can check the record or talk to the others that were in positions of power at the time. Everywhere it could possibly have had an effect, any place it mattered I campaigned tirelessly to prevent it's coming to pass. I used the influence I had at my disposal to keep us from dropping into this folly. But ultimately the support for the bill clearly outweighed the opposition. This is when I made my second choice.

As a leader, in the face of an authorization that's passage was inevitable myself and several other Senators decided our access to and favor with those in the White House and those who were going to be on the winning side of the vote was more important than stubbornly trying to drive home our point.

Was everyone on either side of that vote swept out of office? No.
Is anyone that voted against that authorization still in this race? No.
Would my voting against that authorization on that day have lead to anything positive? No.
That's just not how it works, and I know that.

With all due respect Mr. Obama, leadership is making hard decisions not shouting at the wind. I stand before you today as someone that has already made those hard decisions and stand ready to continue to make them, from day one."

Or, she could just pull the "Democracy isn't easy" speech from The American President. Although with how things have been going, she ought to make sure she gets permission first. My stuff? She can use that without my permission.