How Hillary will attempt to use the McCain story to her advantage tonight....

[scheming daemons]

Moderator: "Senator Clinton, what do you think about the story about John McCain in the NYT?"

Hillary: "We've really got to end the era of 'gotcha politics'. I've had several unsubstantiated rumors about myself over the years, and I'm sure that Barack agrees with me here. After all, there's a horrible unsubstantiated rumor about him going around right now that is being pushed by the far right. We need to move away from this kind of thing in America."

Moderator: "Senator Obama? What is the story that Hillary is referring to?"



Boom. That's the Mark Penn game plan for tonight. Despicable, but there it is.


Watch for it. Hillary gets an applause line, appears to show sympathy for McCain and Barack, but gets the story out there for the MSM to "investigate".


Dirty pool. But that's the game the Clinton's play.

[Mz Pip]

1. Obama's

response to that should be: "You need to ask her."

[Missy M]

2. That's pretty good that you know what Hillary will say...

in advance. Lots of crystal ball readers on DU lately.

[LiveLiberally]

3. Clinton and Obama are both smarter than that....

An alternative scenario:

Moderator: "Senator Obama? What is the story that Hillary is referring to?"

Obama: "Senator Clinton clearly has her finger on the pulse of the far right more than I do. Perhaps she would like to elaborate on this and on the many unsubstantiated rumors about her over the years?"


I doubt either candidate will touch this with a 50-foot pole.

[scheming daemons]

5. it WILL be asked about.......

...you know that Wolf Blitzer won't let this topic pass.


What do YOU think the two candidates will say about it?

[LiveLiberally]

9. If they are wise they will both fly @ 35,000 ft above it....

You're right -- I think the topic will come up. But it will be very easy to deflect w/a simple expression of sympathy, a statement of support for McCain's public service, or -- more vaguely -- a reference to the story as a trendy media obsession that may or may not have any relevance to this campaign. In any case, both would be smart to avoid the temptation to score a point.

[madame defarge]

16. I don't think Wolfie is the moderator tonight...

Campbell Brown is. Not that she's any better...

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. and investigations

[littlebirds]

4. ding! ding! ding! I think you have esp!

I have posted this on 2 other threads to get the word out for people to be ready. I signed up after not having been here for a couple years because I have it from someone who should know that Hillary is going to be asked about the mccain scandal in the debate and sympathize with him and say she has been hit with unsubstantiated charges and she also knows Obama sympathizes because there is a man out there making horrible unsubstantiated charges about him right now. Forcing the media to explain it. the person that told me this is a huge Hillary supporter and she was very excited about this. said "this will bury Obama while making Hillary look like a saint for feeling his pain. and she was really laughing. Who knows, maybe my source has lost her mind but she is a big mukety muck in local politics and has proven right before. I'll be watching.

[thereismore]

6. If I could place an emoticon in the subject line, it would be

:rofl:

[scheming daemons]

8. I hope I'm wrong..... but the Clinton campaign plays dirty.......

She wants this nomination more than anything in the world... and her campaign will stop at nothing.

They need to change the dynamic of this campaign.


She will pull out all the stops tonight... and this is her best way to "attack" without appearing to attack.


I fear what they've got up their sleeves for tonight. And I hope Obama answers it the way someone said up thread. "Hillary, you seem to know an awful lot about what the far-right is thinking right now."

[LiveLiberally]

13. I understand the concern but it is just too obvious a ploy & it can so easily backfire /nt

[emilyg]

10. Clinton is smarter than that.

[Beausoir]

11. LOL. That's just silly. That will not happen.

[Renew Deal]

12. I wouldn't count on that.

;)

[Saturday]

14. I'm sorry your Mother dropped you on your head. n/t

[babylonsister]

15. You're kidding me, right? The moderator will ask Clinton about a

possible affair by a politician, and she'll pass the buck? Hmmm, I'll be watching, but I can think of all kinds of hot water with that scenario.

[juajen]

17. I believe she would look right at Campbell and say very quickly,

"Campbell, I'm not touching this with a ten-foot pole. Obama and I both know better than to play into destructive politics." End of answer.

[babylonsister]

18. THAT would be a good answer; I hope the moderators know better

than to even ask it, or at least to not make it seem personal.

[Vinca]

19. If Hillary is smart, she will stay far, far away from this story.

I'm not being "anti-Hillary," this is really for her own good. While there might be unsubstantiated stories about Hillary, the ones that mention Bill have . . . shall we say . . . more credence. Hillary doesn't want to remind the voting public of Monica, Gennifer, Paula and others. Both candidates, if asked about McCain, should say "No comment."

[pdxmom]

20. That one would be way too easy. Obama's response would only have

to be "Thank you, Hillary, for allowing me to clear up that viscious email going around about my religion and patriotism. And thank you, Hillary, for firing those staffers of yours that were perpetuating that rumor by continuing to send out blatantly false emails."

Or at least, that is what I would do.

[rox63]

21. With Bill's history, Hillary probably shouldn't wade into that swamp

They'd both be best served by not commenting on it at all. They need to look presidential and stay above that fray. Let McCain wallow for a while.

[cali]

22. ridiculous

more Du useless tea leaf reading. good grief.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

23. So when your prediction doesn't come true tonight, what then, Madam Cleo?

You going to blame it on a dude set of tarot cards or the negative energy of the non-believers disrupting your powers?

[scheming daemons]

24. I'll be extremely happy....

... I don't want this to come true.



But I've seen how the Clinton campaign operates..... and they are wounded and backed into a corner.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

28. I shouldn't have been so snarky.

It just struck me as funny to assume she'd do that and I thought sounded like one of Madam Cleo's predictions. I'm sorry I replied to your post the way I did.

Honestly, I don't expect Hillary will be foolish enough to do as you're suggesting. It has too much potential to backfire. I fully expect them both to take the high ground on the topic of McCain's situation should it be brought up.

[Iceburg]

25. This issue kinda put Obama between a rock and a hard place. /nt

[onenote]

26. I thnk you need to loosen the tinfoil

But if anything remotely resembling this occurs, I'll donate $10 to DU.

[TheZug]

27. Obama's response

. . . should be to point out the hypocrisy of such a tactic and then ridicule her for it.

Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

He also needs a good response to "Get real," which is lame but she apparently thinks is a zinger comparable to "Where's the beef?" I'll be Mark Penn charged her six figures for it.

[Thrill]

29. Actually the question will be asked like this.

Senator Clinton, can you sympathize with Cindy McCain, considering she is going through what you went through with Bill?

BOOM reminds people of what Bill Clinton did while in office. lol

[Bucky]

30. See, infidelity won't bother Obama. See, as a Moslem, he can have up to four wives.