Walter Shapiro's analysis omits one important aspect of the Clinton vulnerability: her vulnerability to "Swift Boating" on W. Clinton's scandalous pardons in the last days of his Presidency. What did she know and when did she know it?

There are two words which sum up the issue: Mark Rich. To be expansive I might add two more: and Denise. He was a multi-millionaire scoundrel who fled the United States one step ahead of an FBI posse and bunkered down in Switzerland.

On February 28, 2007, the Boston Globe reported on the Bill Clinton pardons as an issue and summarized the Mark Rich pardon as follows:

“Before Rich received the pardon in January 2001, his former wife, Denise Rich, contributed $70,000 to a fund supporting Hillary Clinton's Senate bid, and also made a large contribution to the Clinton presidential library.”

It also quoted NYU prof Stephen Gillers:

"It is a legitimate campaign issue," said Stephen Gillers, professor of legal ethics at New York University School of Law. He said that Hillary Clinton should answer questions about her brothers' and her own involvement in the pardons because "the stench of the Marc Rich pardon still stinks and it has never been adequately explained.”

The stench from this issue is so strong that I expect the reason it hasn’t surfaced in the primaries is that among Democrats it is simply beyond the pall. But I am sure that the Republican attack dogs are at the ready.

I am among those who belive that thye nation is ready for a run of people oriented, populist politics and on those people issue we can draw support from a significant portion of the evangelical community whose memebrs are hurting.

I have actually interacted on a more than “hello” basis with two of the Democratic candidates (H. Clinton and Richardson ) and one of the Republican: R. Giuliani. Of the three: Hillary is the most gifted, Richardson the most loyal (not necessarily a compliment) and Giuliani the most scary. I will vote for any of the Democratic candidates, especially Edwards and certainly Kunnich who is most right on the issues rather than any of the Republicans (including Joe Lieberman :)). Other members of my family are attached to Obama.

But I am really afraid that after the press and the Republicans and their Swift Boaters revisit the pardon issues, my vote will be in vain. The questions are legitimate. What did she know and when did she know it? To paraphrase Professor Gillers: It really does stink.

JCK

http://johnklotz.blogspot.com

Last night the debate competed with the NFL playoffs. That Washington (lost) may be an omen. But, I think one football analogy may be appropriate.

There are coaches who know the game and all of its intricacies in great detail and who can draw remarkable plays on a blackboard using "X" and "O" representing players. But they fail to inspire and lose. They are often called X's and O's coaches which is a code term for lack of the ability to stir tye emotions of the team.

I think Hillary is the ultimate Xs and Os candidate. She is an extremely impressive discussing the details and fine points of policy. But the Presidency is more than Xs and Os. The successful Presidents are those who go beyond the details and inspire - and surround themselves with able advisors.

Some presidnetial examples examples are Reagan, JFK, FDR and Lincoln.

Reagan did not inspire me, but he certainly inspired the Right. FDR surrounded himself with able men and women, but what lifted America were his words. The same was true of JFK.

Frankly, I'm more into Edwards than Obama but the one thing that Obama said that was dead-on was that "words count." More than his military strategy, Lincoln won the war and defined America by his words. The Gettysburg address and the Declaration of Independence are burned into our national psyche and they are nothing but words.

Hillary is a brilliant woman, but she is so lost in the details of policy that she never developed the ability to inspire through words.

Given the national doldrums we are in, we need a President who can, first of all, inspire.

JCK

http://johnklotz.blogspot.com