Hillary Clinton with Tim Russert transcripts.
Hillary Clinton is still the best, she's very articulate, on message, disciplined. The media always want to create some sort of tension between Kerry and her. But Hillary always nails it and gives them no ammunition. She's also extremely good at defelecting tough questions. I can assure you the stupid 'I voted for it before I voted against it' will never come out of her mouth. Too bad, democrats have no courage to elect a true fighter like Hillary and Howard Dean. The republicans are no shy and have no fear about electing the extreme elements of their party. Perhaps that's why democrats usually lose in a dogfight.
She's hit some very good talking points and look at how smart she is:
On Iraq war vote:
-There would not have been a vote, Tim. There would never have been a vote to the Congress presented by the administration. There would have been no basis for it.
-On 'Compassionate Conservative', 'Uniter vs Divider'
They are running what I call a bait-and-switch campaign. They did it in 2000. This is their second convention. They're trying to present one view and one face on the party to the people, and they're trying to keep the focus on those who frankly have no influence in Washington, with all due respect. They're not running the House, Tom DeLay is. They're not running the Senate. The Republican Senate caucus largely driven by the most extreme members are unfortunately calling the shots, and the White House is.
But the point is that the people who are really running the country under this president are not going to be highlighted in this convention. And we've gone through this. You know, this is the president who said, "Hey, I want to be a compassionate conservative." He's been neither. "I want to be a uniter, not a divider." He's been, in my view, so divisive, and it's been so painful because following 9/11, there was such a chance for everybody to be united and to work together and to, you know, set goals together, and that has not proven to be the case.
-On national security and Kerry's 'flip flop'
You know, I get my back up a little bit when Republicans talk about how they own national defense. The best I recall, you know, it was Democratic presidents who led and won us the major wars of this century--or the last century. But what really bothers me is that any president is going to do what he believes is right and in the national security interest of America. You know, all this talk about this president and how consistent and strong he is, well, you know, if you're consistent and wrong, and you're leading your country in the wrong direction, I don't think that's much of a selling point.
On point after point, this president has been wrong. He said that he would cut taxes dramatically and increase revenues. It doesn't add up in the arithmetic and it doesn't make any sense as a policy. He said that he would, you know, try to have a quick victory in Iraq, and then we'd democratize Iraq. He had to admit it was a miscalculation. So whether we're talking about important domestic issues or critical life-and-death issues abroad, this president may be consistent, I'll give him that, but he's been consistently wrong and he's put our country on the wrong track.
-On how to fight right wingers
Well, I think a lot of people, frankly, have never really gotten to know me or had any direct contact with me. You know, there was a lot of that intensity when I started in New York and there still is some, but it has diminished as people have seen what I really stand for, what I really fight for, what I really care about. You know, I think it's just a question of time. But on the other hand, I do stand up and say what I believe and I do fight back. And I guess they would prefer that everybody, you know, just basically allow them to call the shots.
-On Bush's second term and her own ambition
But if George Bush wins, you're on your way to 2008, the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party.
SEN. CLINTON: You know, Tim, this is a subject that I am absolutely unambiguous about. There is no doubt in my mind that four more years of this administration would be a disaster for my country, a disaster for New York. You know, having a Democratic president, hopefully having a Democratic Senate, maybe a House, would be so good for New York. It would also be good for the issues that I think are important to the future.
