« First Take: The Debate Belongs To Obama, But The Best (And) Last Moment Belongs To Hillary | Main | A Final Thought On Tonight's Debate » Clinton Campaign Touts Final Answer21 Feb 2008 09:56 pm From spokesman Howard Wolfson: "What we saw in the final moments in that debate is why Hillary Clinton is the next President of the United States. Her strength, her life experience, her compassion. She's tested and ready. It was the moment she retook the reins of this race and showed women and men why she is the best choice." Comments (30)
It was a great moment. But I agree that the "whatever happens" remark really suggested, intentionally or no, "I know Obama's going to win." And I suspect that's how it will get spun by the networks, too. 
Josh Marshall says this: "9:46 PM ... That was an interesting final moment to end on for Hillary. Candy Crowley is on CNN now saying how it was a good connect moment for HIllary, which I suspect it may have been. But we all do remember that those words were borrowed from Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign, right?" Anybody knows what he is referring to ?
Glad Josh noticed that. About how the knocks he has taken are nothing compared to what the American people has taken. Hillary: Ready on Day 1 to xerox.
she tagged him for plagiarism, but didn't Romney or Huckabee say much the same thing at the end of a republican debate? Does anyone else remember? I would love figure out who and see if it can be found on youtube. As It also played well in that debate.
Apparently, part of that closing was remarkably similar to some JRE lines. The hypocrisy!
Who cares where she got them - they were nice words. And appropriate, since Barack Obama will be the nexy President of the United States.
Who cares where she got them - they were nice words. And appropriate, since Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States.
How to spoil a good moment for your candidate. Way to go, Howard!
Romney was right. She's never even run a corner store. Come to think of it, neither of these clowns is remotely capable of running anything. Hillary has co-opted the good but not the considerable bad of Bill, and Obama is even less experienced. Funny how he said the biggest "crisis" he's dealt with was learning that he needed to be self-reliant. Imagine if all democrats took that position toward their dependent base? How hypocritical of him.
Strangest to me was her very last line of all: You know, whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that's what this election should be about Does anyone else remember John Edwards using a very very similar line several times during the debates? I can prove he used it at least once, in his concession speech: "I want to say this to everyone: with Elizabeth, with my family, with my friends, with all of you and all of your support, this son of a millworker's gonna be just fine. Our job now is to make certain that America will be fine." Ordinarily I wouldn't care at all that she said this, but to do this not 60 minutes after trying to use the "change you can xerox" line... Did she really make that mistake? Could she possibly have really done that?
Who cares where she got them - they were nice words. And appropriate, since Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. Most important exchange: Cuba. Obama found a politically palatable way to give the correct answer, which is that the embargo on Cuba is stupid and counterproductive and we should find a way to re-engage Cuba, whoever their leaders may be, before Hugo Chavez or Vladimir Putin can poison their next 45 years (and us along with them). Meanwhile, Clinton was more concerned with pandering to the Cuban diaspora's undying hatred than she was with giving an honest answer as to the best policy for America.
No, Howard, it was the moment she tacitly admitted that this race is over. I give her props for that and for her smarts. But then she pulls silly, lame crap like the Xerox "zinger," give me a break. I am sure assorted teevee pundits will eat it up but I doubt anything she said tonight will change people's minds.
(sorry for the multiple posts above - my computer has tourette's syndrome)
Plagiarism Update: I find another Edwards use of that quote from the December 13th debate:
She was standing right next to him when he said this. He used this line several times, and then used it again in his monumental and iconic concession speech. How could she not know she was stealing? And unlike Deval Partick, John is hardly one of her senior advisors...
It was a great psuedo-concessionarry moment that just got ruined by the crass and craven attempt by Howard Wolfson to exploit it. People are starting to give her the sympathy deserving of someone who is gracefully bowing out, but then Wolfson goes and says that they are going to exploit this for political gain. Well, if they are going to do that, then they shouldn't be surprised that her emotional moment will be played as a John Edwards rip-off. God, a lot of the party, even us critics, would like to see HIllary lose with dignity...but it looks she and the goons that advise her are setermined not to let that happen.
They're both socialist hacks that need to get off the public tit and get a real job.
Edwards October 30th: "This is not about lobbyists. As a matter of fact, it's not about any of us. The truth is, when this election is over, I'm going to be fine. Senator Clinton is going to be fine. Senator Obama's going to be fine. The question is: Will America be fine? And will we ensure -- and I think this is the great moral test of our generation -- will we ensure that our children have a better life than we have had? That's the responsibility we have."
Hey Steve M, every Republican politician out there is just as much on the "social tit" as either of these two. Unless what you meant to say was "only rich people should have any say in our politics". But neither point has much to do with tonight's debate.
So Clinton's campaign is pushing her "concession" moment as a reason she should be president? Man, at what point do people's brains explode at the gall that takes. The point of conceding gracefully is that you then get the hell out of the race. Instead, she's trying to - yet again- play on people's sympathy for votes.
When I was listening to Hillary's last comments I was thinking "where have I heard that before?" Surely she didn't think she'd get away with that. Talk about lifting whole passages!
John Edwards: "What's not at stake are any of us. All of us are going to be just fine no matter what happens in this election. But what's at stake is whether America is going to be fine." [Democratic Debate, 12/13/07] John Edwards: "I want to say this to everyone: with Elizabeth, with my family, with my friends, with all of you and all of your support, this son of a millworker's gonna be just fine. Our job now is to make certain that America will be fine." [Edwards Speech, 1/30/08]
Peep the original version to Hill's xeroxed remark about taking some tough hits, which was taken from Primary Colors: http://cyberhillbilly.blogspot.com/2008/02/xeroxed-clinton-hillary-channels.html
Bill Clinton, 92: "The hits that I took in this election are nothing compared to the hits the people of this state and this country have been taking for a long time." Hillary Clinton, tonight: "You know, the hits I’ve taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country."
I love that her most ' genuine' moment was as phony as everything else about her. ....fits a pattern with her.
Did anyone recognize Hilary's lines "The hits I'm taking are nothing compared to the hits average folks are taking out there..." (or something very close to that) Those are lines are straight out of 'Primary Colors' Uttered by Jack Stanton/Bill Clinton. Not that I particularly care that she rips off Joe Klein, but if she's going use the "Xerox" line...
Congratulations, Hillary, for your best moment being built on stolen lines from Edwards.
Earth to Howard Wolfson:
I may be the only one here who thinks this, but watching the debate, my reaction was that she'd just done everything that she could do to get back in the race. The comparison in the two answers was instructive. Obama admitted that he'd never been faced with a real crisis in his short and charmed life. Hillary led with her chin, with a forced smile, but it looked to me like the forced smile hid more than a bit of real emotion. (I'm a cynic about the Clintons, so who knows what's real--I'm just describing what I thought I saw.) And then she moved from that real crisis, one that lots of people can understand, right to a very gracious tribute to those people--including the Republican nominee--who have faced far worse. And then she showed what looked like real modesty. I think that the campaign should stop talking about her answer, and pay to show the world the two answers, right up to the (probably entirely unrelated) standing ovation that followed hers.
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Nice try Howard. The last moment in the debate was when she conceded. She showed she can bow out gracefully. That's good news for the party.
Posted by Elrod | February 21, 2008 10:04 PM