|
|
|
Conservatives have been worrying for years that Hillary Clinton would one day run for President and win. From the beginning of her political career, "Madame Hillary" has been hungry for power and has gradually worked her way up to a position of unprecedented influence within the Democratic Party by a combination of strategy and falsehood. The authors argue convincingly that Hillary exerts so much control over the Democratic Party because of her charisma and her ability to raise huge sums of money. Charisma might seem a strange word to apply to her, since for most of her career she has been viewed as the antithesis of charming. But she is tremendously popular among extreme liberals and women; furthermore, she has learned from past mistakes and has shown herself to be a disciplined senator, well liked by her colleagues: "She is infinitely more suave than the first lady whose temper tantrums and rudeness to her staff were staples of White House press coverage. . . ." She and her husband are also able to raise more "soft money" than anyone else in the Democratic Party. In 2003 Hillary even succeeded in diverting funds from the other Democratic candidates by asking her supporters not to contribute to their campaigns. Madame Hillary’s authors expose lie after lie in her recent autobiography, Living History, such as her claim that she knew nothing of her husband’s adulterous affairs and her insistence on her innocence during the Whitewater and Travelgate scandals. The latter part of the book deals with the former First Lady’s probable tactics in a presidential campaign. Not only will she energize her leftist fan base say the authors, but she will try to appeal to centrist voters by adapting her positions on national defense and foreign policy. In order to defeat her, the Republican candidate will have to stand for core Republican principles and call attention to Hillary’s numerous liabilities, such as her failed health care plan and the Clinton Administration’s foolish military deployments and failure to respond effectively to terrorist attacks on Americans abroad. Her opponent must highlight her extreme views on abortion and her vision of an America controlled by government programs and bureaucrats. Tyrrell’s biting, satirical style and Davis’s excellent research make Madame Hillary a highly entertaining and informative read. (Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2004, 231 pps, $27.95) |
Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House offers a detailed analysis of her rise to power (and her deceptions and possibly illegal activities along the way), her radical ideology, and her current career in the Senate. It predicts the tactics that Hillary will use in 2008, when she will almost certainly run for President, and the disaster that such a presidency would spell for America if she wins. The book finishes with an intelligent, common-sense strategy to defeat her.
