Why Karl Touts Hillary
Karl Rove knew exactly what he was doing. In a round of interviews as he exited the White House, the man President Bush called the "architect" of his re-election was designing something else: a push for Hillary Clinton's nomination. "I think she's likely to be the nominee," he told Rush Limbaugh. "And I think she's fatally flawed." All observations that, coming from anyone else, might be considered routine punditry. But when Rove speaks, the political class pays attention—usually with good reason. And this time, Rove's eagerness to engage on the question of Clinton was no spontaneous event. Ever a helpful fellow, he's happy to drive Democrats into the arms of Hillary by taking her on.
All of which creates the oddest Rove and Clinton coupling. After all, her interests and his are perfectly aligned right now: He wants her to be the Democratic nominee (because he thinks she will lose). And she does, too (because she thinks she will win). So Rove happily promotes the idea that Clinton's nomination is "inevitable," a virtual done deal. And when Rove opines on Clinton in any way, she's just as thrilled to take him on. What better way to win over those liberal Democratic primary voters—skeptical about you because you voted for the Iraq war—than to remind them that the evil Rove is attacking you? "I don't think Karl Rove's going to endorse me," Clinton said at a recent Iowa debate, clearly relishing his attention, if not his affection. "That becomes more and more obvious. But I find it interesting he's so obsessed with me."
Just interesting? More likely, it's a political marriage of convenience—a circumstance not altogether uncomfortable for Clinton. Indeed, the efficient Clinton campaign went into overdrive responding to Rove's charges that "she's got a weakness" on the issue of healthcare, given the debacle of Hillary's foray into the national health insurance debate as first lady. "This woman's got one idea on healthcare, which is to let the government do it all, and she's voted against all these very positive reforms which would allow the doctor and the patient to be in charge of healthcare." Translation: This can be a two-fer. Help Clinton win the nomination. At the same time, excite the depressed GOP faithful by taking her on.
That's all fine by the Clinton campaign. And it's right; anyone who attacks her is doing her a favor, on lots of levels. When the critique comes from a Republican like Rove, she becomes the Democratic stalwart, the tough fighter, the candidate to fear—as she's the first to tell you. "You know, I have been fighting against these people [Republicans] for longer than anybody else up here," Clinton pointed out at the Iowa debate. "I've taken them on and we've beaten them...." Unspoken: No other Democrat—notably Barack Obama or John Edwards—can say that. An added plus for Hillary: As the object of GOP attacks, she even becomes more sympathetic—particularly to those single, lower-income, female Democratic primary voters she is working so hard to attract.
Opponents stagnate. And what about the attacks from Democrats? So far, they've been either predictable or weak, or both. Obama has pounded her on her war vote; she's punched back by criticizing his "naive" foreign policy views. She talks of her 35 years of invaluable experience; he calls for a change from the old-style Washington politics (aka Clinton-Bush) to a post-boomer mind-set. Yet while Obama's message resonates with a solid piece of the country sick of politics-as-usual, he hasn't managed to add to that base what he'll need to beat Hillary Clinton, at least according to recent polls. As for John Edwards, both he and his wife have been busy attacking Clinton's Washington connections and money, touting his "not for sale" candidacy—only to see his campaign lose altitude as his persona diminishes. (In one debate, Edwards took a dim view of the color of Hillary Clinton's blazer. Imagine what he would have said if she had been the one to get a $400 haircut.)
This is not to say, of course, that Hillary Clinton should be off limits. But she has proved herself to be a strong adversary—and a steady politician. Sure, Karl Rove has a point: Clinton enters this race with among the highest negative ratings of any candidate "in the history of the Gallup Poll," with nearly half of all voters viewing her unfavorably. And she's clearly the candidate he would like to run against. Now all Rove has to figure out is who can beat her.
This story appears in the September 3, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.