On Air America's Majority Report last night, John R. McArthur of Harpers ended a thought-provoking discussion by passing on some snarky gossip about Hillary Clinton working actively to sabotage Kerry/Edwards. Could any left-leaning person really believe this AND be willing to talk about it on national radio?
Apparently this talk is all the rage with certain segments of "beltway insiders". Doesn't make it true, of course, just means some people are speculating about it. Seems there's this titanic struggle, completely unreported by the media, between the Clinton/DLC contingent and more liberal factions including Kerry & Gore. And at the root of this is Bill & Hillary Clinton's overweening ambition.
Of course the first note that doesn't ring true is that the rumors have gone virtually unreported. When was the last time the mainstream media refrained from reporting/speculating on fractures within either party? No way. Fractures = conflict, the essential ingredient in every good story. And it's not like Hillary or Bill have been darlings of the media.
Second point: if Hillary is so willfully ambitious she's ready to keep Bush in office for four more appallingly disastrous years, why would a little promise about serving out her Senate term in NY stop her? In four years her star would have faded more than it has today (unlike the Hillary hatred which still seems to be burning bright).
A wily friend of mine suggested maybe certain factions of the Democratic Party want Bush et al to have to clean up the mess they've made, instead of dumping it on the Dems again. If these factions win out, they'd better have a foolproof plan for retaking the Senate and evening out the House, or the next four years will be nigh on unbearable.
But I don't want to believe this rumor. I want it to be like the recent Republican pie-in-the-sky about Bush dumping Cheney for McCain. I want to believe people like the Clintons actually care about the average people who are suffering every day under Bush.
