In Meetings With Allies, Clinton Hones ’08 Strategy - The New York Times

[applegrove]

In Meetings With Allies, Clinton Hones ’08 Strategy
By PATRICK HEALY and ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: January 3, 2007
The New York Times

The topic was the Democratic sweep in New Hampshire in November, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton couldn’t get enough of it.

Skip to next paragraph Dining in Washington recently with three allies from New Hampshire, which has the first-in-the-nation primary, Mrs. Clinton was by turns probing and absorbing and, a participant said, clearly informed. How did the Democrats manage to unseat the state’s two Republican members of Congress? What were the key issues? And who were the new players to have emerged there in the 10 years since she last visited — and since her husband, Bill Clinton, used a strong second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary to vault his way to the Democratic nomination and the White House 15 years ago?

“She’s always been a student of government and of how you get there,” said Patricia McMahon, one of the dinner guests, a former Clinton White House aide who is now a state representative.

This meeting was one of a series of nearly nonstop political consultations that Mrs. Clinton has engaged in — over dinner and drinks, at private offices and at her home in Washington — since Election Day, in what her advisers say are preparations for a probable announcement that she is taking the first steps into the presidential campaign.

......SNIP"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/washington/03cnd-clinton.html?ei=5094&en=efef067c40560e2e&hp=&ex=1167886800&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1167858121-xEpspaImSiVU0SQf0yqGOw

[Larkspur]

1. It's amazing that she will delay her formal announcement so that she can rack up some

accomplishments in the Senate. She's been in the Senate for 6 years and has nothing to show for it?

[theoldman]

2. One of the biggest problems with being a junior senator is that

you are very limited in what you can do. This is a problem for both Clinton and Obama. However, you can vote just like a senior senator and your vote counts just as much.

[applegrove]

3. I can't wait to see what the Dems will do ..myself.

[liberalpragmatist]

4. Which party controlled the Senate for most of the past 6 years?

I'm not a big Hillary fan, but the Senate is a tough place to get legislation through, especially if you're in the minority party.

[applegrove]

5. Absolutely. And there was the blank cheque almost everyone gave

the *WH after 9/11.

I don't blame her for wanting some time to build a track record.