HILLARY THE INDEPENDENT? – AT 8:14 A.M. ET: Ever the schemer, Hillary Clinton is trying to distance herself from her former boss, the president, while still keeping in his good graces, and protect herself from attacks, right and left. Nice try. From Fox:
Hillary Clinton, despite having served a full term in the Obama Cabinet, is making an overt effort to distance herself from the president’s agenda as she tries to distinguish herself as a candidate -- and blunt attacks from both ends of the political spectrum.
The 2016 Democratic front-runner executed her most significant break yet from President Obama on Wednesday when she came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Obama has made the free-trade agreement a centerpiece of his second-term agenda, despite opposition from many on the left -- including labor unions and Clinton's top 2016 primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Clinton, after hedging for months, said in an interview with PBS on Wednesday there are too many "unanswered questions" about the deal, saying: "What I know about it as of today, I am not in favor."
She later said in a written statement that, "the bar here is very high and, based on what I have seen, I don't believe this agreement has met it." Her position on the agreement also marks a striking reversal for the former secretary of state, who promoted the deal in dozens of appearances during Obama's first term in office.
That's where the hypocrisy comes in. Has she just discovered problems with the deal?
Even before Wednesday's statement, Clinton was drawing differences with Obama on several fronts, notably on Syria.
"I am not running for my husband's third term or President Obama's third term," Clinton told voters in Davenport, Iowa Tuesday, repeating a common theme from her campaign speeches. "I'm running for my first term."
Last week, Clinton called for a no-fly zone over Syria, in direct contrast with the administration’s current policy.
COMMENT: If she didn't have a reputation as a conniver, this would be standard politics. There's a certain amount of weaving in an election campaign that we'll always have. The difference between others and Hillary doing this is the difference between an ordinary guy looking over a bank, and John Dillinger looking over a bank. You know that Johnny has something in mind.
October 8, 2015 |