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Contributors
Gordon
Cucullu- Contributor
Former Green
Beret lieutenant colonel, Gordon Cucullu is now an editorialist,
author and a popular speaker. Born into a military
family, he lived and served for more than thirteen years in East
Asia, including eight years in Korea. For his Special Forces
service in Vietnam he was awarded a Bronze Star, Vietnamese Cross
of Gallantry, and the Presidential Unit Commendation. After separation
from the Army, he worked on Korea and East Asian affairs at both
the Pentagon and Department of State as well as an executive
for General Electric in Korea. His first major non-fiction work,
Separated
at Birth: How North Korea became the Evil Twin, is
based in large part on his extensive experience in
Korea and East Asia as a governmental insider and businessman.
[website]
[go to Cucullu index]
 Where
Have All the Clintons Gone?
Noticeably
scarce...
[Gordon Cucullu] 10/21/04
Those of
us whose memories span back to the Sixties recall the popular
anti-war folk song of the period ‘Where Have
all the Flowers Gone?’ It was catchy, easy to sing, and
typical of the sappy genre of that time. As we come to the
final electoral sprint of this ultra-marathon called a presidential
race one can almost hear a flower-bedecked, long-faced John
Kerry mournfully strumming the tune, ‘Where Have all
the Clintons Gone?’ ‘Cause, Sportsfans, they sure
ain’t here, where the candidate needs them.
‘Gone into a deep hole, both of ‘em’ might
be the refrain. It’s probably too conspiratorial even fore
the most seasoned Clinton bashers to believe that he timed his
bypass surgery for this time, but if it had to happen the timing
was definitely fortuitous. Regardless of the ultimate excuse
used, it was necessary that the Clintons, especially Bill, did
not campaign vigorously for John Kerry. After all, the last thing
that they want to do is help him win the office. So a plan had
to be drawn up for the Clinton Party leaders to excuse themselves
from the fray, while, if possible, shaping the campaign.
Bill had made a few
desultory appearances prior to the heart crisis. For the record,
we are delighted to see that he seems
to have come through in good shape. But no one is terribly surprised
that six weeks post-op he is reported by friends to look ‘wan’ and
become ‘exhausted’ after his daily recuperative mile-long
walk. Clinton tells visitors that he would ‘sure like to
be out on the campaign trail,’ but just isn’t strong
enough. Certainly it is only fair to give him the benefit of
the doubt, but judging by his absence earlier in the race it
is clear that his heart isn’t in a presidential run. Clarification:
his heart is not in John F. Kerry’s presidential run.
Similarly, Hillary
Clinton appears rarely, usually with the mien of a self-appointed ‘truth squad leader’ on
a mission to keep Republicans honest. She beats her drum with
a consistent bash-Bush rhythm while staking out a centrist position
on key issues like the war. Ostensibly a good foot soldier for
the Democrat Party, Hillary Clinton (with her husband’s
assistance) runs a guerrilla campaign that would be the envy
of Che Guevara. She places herself strategically in the public
eye but distant enough from the upcoming Kerry-Edwards nuclear
meltdown that she won’t become radioactive. She’s
walking a fine line because she has to sabotage both Kerry and Edwards without appearing to betray either.
Senator Clinton coquettishly
fields questions about a possible HRC candidacy that her advance
people have planted firmly in
the minds of the fawning press that she makes certain surrounds
her infrequent appearances. Her media sycophants then breathlessly
report the same answer that she has given hundreds of times as
if it is breaking news. Her vigorous denials – spurred
on by a ‘you-go-girl!’ press corps - are a constant
reminder to the Clinton Party base that they could have had a
real contender instead of the ineffective, pompous wax manikin
that was their post-Howard Dean default option. Such damp-eyed
wistfulness keeps HRC front and center among the faithful who
are going to be on a tear to retake their party after the Kennedy-Kerry-Edwards
debacle of 2004.
The Democrat Party
is today at war with itself. Far left Deaniacs are grumbling
at their exclusion, and the New Democrat, triangulatory
Clinton faction is fighting for its life against the upstart
Massachusetts-based Kennedy-Kerry radicals. The only hope for
a political life for John Edwards, who would have been booted
out of the Senate had he run again, is to stay hooked onto the
K-K bandwagon, hope that he can survive the train wreck, and
be party nominee in 2008. But as James Carville and the Clinton
crowd would say, ‘that dog won’t hunt, boy.’ Edwards,
even more than Kerry, has the Clinton snipers drawing a tight
bead on his political future. As you read this triggers are being
squeezed.
For a brief moment
it looked as if Kerry would actually surge in popularity with
most Democrats and become the legitimate party
leader. Had he succeeded he would then control of the most vital
cog in the Democrat money machine, the Democratic National Committee.
And the DNC controls the money. Since the Clintons have succeeded
in keeping their nasty attack dog Terry MacAuliff in charge means
that Kerry’s tenure as leader is a short-term lease not
a buy. He is about to be served eviction papers.
In a further series
of panic-induced personnel shifts, taken after Bush got the
poll bump from his convention that Kerry missed
in his, ex-Clinton staffers began to move into key campaign slots.
Virtually all of the available Clintonistas were hired to ‘fix’ the
sinking Democrat campaign. That’s like inviting the pirates
aboard to help trim sails. Judging from the increasing frequency
of hateful, personal, smarmy and over-the-top stupid statements
emanating from the Kerry-Edwards campaign the Clinton strategy
of implosion seems to be working.
The addition of MacAuliff
and Carville along Joe Lockhart, Paul Begala, Lanny Davis and
others of their ilk signals that the
fix is in. In out years a dazed Kerry will be overheard while
windsurfing off the Vineyard mumbling ‘I coulda been a
contender,’ just coming to the realization that the Clintons
planned for him to dive into the tank all along. Guess who, for
example, planted the ‘suggestion’ that both Kerry
and Edwards drag Mary Cheney’s sexual orientation into
the debate, virtually guaranteeing public revulsion. And how
about all that ‘wrong war, wrong place…’ stuff?
Some of these messages may play well with the base but are guaranteed
to alienate the vital center, which was always terrain that Bill
Clinton was careful to stake out as his own.
Analyst Dick Morris
has noted throughout that Kerry put himself in a difficult
position. He had to retain support of the Deaniacs,
keeping them from drifting to Nader or remaining home on Election
Day out of pique, while moving to the broad center. Instead of
triangulating a position like Clinton did successfully in 1992
and 1996, Kerry chose to occupy both positions. That’s
why he sends the ‘flip-flop’ message to voters. Once
the Clintons identified this weakness they moved with incredible
political skill and acumen to exploit it. Watch for ‘Hillary ’08’ lawn
signs to appear on November 3. CRO
copyright
Gordon Cucullu 2004
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