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This post, written by Cenk Uygur, originally appeared on News Bloggers
I was at the Take Back America conference where Hillary Clinton got booed again for her stance on Iraq. We were broadcasting at the time, so I didn't get to see the speech in person. But Jill Pike went to report from the speech live for us and her observations were backed up many other people I spoke to at the conference and the tape when I watched it for myself. There is some chance Senator Clinton wanted to get booed.
She is a very smart person and she couldn't have thought that blaming the Iraqi government for the mess in Iraq was going to play with that audience. It is an educated crowd and one that is very disaffected by our government's handling of the occupation. A conservative audience might cheer at, "it was the Iraqis' fault" line, but certainly a smart, progressive audience wouldn't.
She is already in hostile territory because she has equivocated on Iraq for her whole tenure in the Senate while Baghdad has burned. She had to know she was throwing a match on the pyre.
By the way, I understand some conservatives are arguing that the crowd booed because she made some comments in favor of the troops. That is beyond ridiculous. First, it doesn't match the facts at all, you can watch the tape here and see for yourself (the audience clearly gets agigated when she mentions the Iraqi government has failed). Second of all, there aren't three people in the country who don't support the troops. You'd have to be brain dead to believe that tired, old, stupid Republican talking point that hippy liberals are against the troops.
The whole reason progressives, moderates, centrists and a great majority of the American population is arguing for withdrawal is because we care so much about the troops. We don't want them dying for this senseless mission of George W. Bush. They didn't ask to be put in the middle fo a civil war. Bush put them there without any plan for winning or getting out. That's what we are ALL against.
So, why would Senator Clinton want to be booed? She is at a liberal conference and she would love to turn around and play the centrist by saying, "See, those crazy liberals don't like me because I am too reasonable and centrist." She must feel pretty damn comfortable with her lead in the primaries. I wouldn't be so cocky if I was her. Plus, she's wrong. It's not the liberal base that thinks we should get out of Iraq and that the real responsibility for the failure in Iraq lies with the Bush administration-- it is an overwhelming majority of the country.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already signaled on several occasions that the Republicans in Congress will be switching directions in the fall. If Senator Clinton believes the winning strategy in the primaries or the general election is to be to the right of Mitch McConnell, I wish her a lot of luck, because I think that is foolishly wrong. Plus, I don't mean it, I don't wish her a lot of luck.
I'm so tired of her political act. I dread the idea of having to unenthusiastically support the Democratic candidate just because the Republican one is a thousand times more heinous. Did someone say Bloomberg?
Tagged as: clinton, take back america, election08
Cenk Uygur is co-host of The Young Turks, the new morning show for Air America Radio, 6-9AM ET.
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