Forget Bill.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, the leader in the Democratic
presidential field, has become the Republican candidates'
favorite punching bag.
Mitt Romney
argues she would turn the United States into a ''big
government, big taxation welfare state.'' John McCain calls
the New York senator an irresponsible guardian of
taxpayer dollars. Rudy Giuliani claims she'd put the
country ''on defense against terrorism.'' And all
three lambaste her on Iraq.
At every turn,
the leading GOP contenders are criticizing Clinton even as
they are entangled in their own turbulent race for the
Republican nomination.
''They see her
not only as the clear Democratic front-runner but also as
the most formidable potential opponent,'' said Joseph
Marbach, a Seton Hall University political science
professor. Marbach and others say that each candidate
is trying to prove he is the strongest Republican to
challenge Clinton in November 2008--and damage her in
the process.
The two-term New
York senator leads the Democratic field but faces fierce
challenges from Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and ex-senator
John Edwards of North Carolina. GOP candidates have
harped on them too but to a lesser extent.
It's standard
campaign fare for Republicans to castigate Clinton's
husband and his administration--and they still do.
They also have assailed her sporadically since 1992.
Now she is a White House candidate in her own right
and as such is increasingly in the GOP candidates'
crosshairs--and for good reason, analysts say.
''This gives them
a way for their supporters to measure whether they're
tough enough to take her on in a general election,'' said Ed
Rollins, a Republican who was a White House political
director under President Reagan. Plus, Clinton-bashing
is a surefire way for Romney, McCain, and Giuliani to
energize the dispirited GOP base that votes in primaries, he
said.
''She is hated by
the core,'' Rollins said.
Polls show
Clinton is incredibly popular with Democrats but
extraordinarily unpopular with Republicans. Half the country
views her favorably and half unfavorably.
Beating up on
Clinton now also could pay dividends for Republicans come
next fall by driving up her already high negatives,
hampering her effort to win the primary, and leaving
her wounded for the general election--or perhaps
deprive her of the nomination altogether.
''They are trying
to weaken her at the outset knowing she's the one to
beat,'' said Donna Brazile, a Democrat who ran Al Gore's
campaign in 2000. She doubted Republicans would
succeed, adding that Clinton has proven time and again
''she can stand up to the right-wing slime machine.''
Clinton spokesman
Phil Singer dismissed the GOP onslaught, saying,
''Republicans are clearly nervous because they know that
Senator Clinton is the candidate with the strength and
experience to win the general election and become
president.''
The White House
got into the Clinton-criticizing act Thursday, making fun
of the couple for assailing Bush's decision to erase the
prison sentence of former aide I. Lewis ''Scooter''
Libby. Bill Clinton commuted the sentences of 36
people and pardoned 140 people, many of them
controversial, in the final hours of his presidency.
''I don't know
what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case
of it,'' said Tony Snow, the presidential spokesman.
Jabs at Hillary
Clinton from those looking to succeed Bush guarantee
applause from the party faithful.
In Los Angeles,
McCain criticized her for backing $150 million in
projects he considered wasteful and unnecessary in wartime.
Earlier, at a debate in Manchester, N.H., the Arizona
senator needled her on Iraq, intoning, ''When Senator
Clinton says this is Mr. Bush's war, President Bush's
war,'' she is wrong.
In Sioux City,
Iowa, Romney claimed that Clinton would push the country
off course economically, militarily, and socially, and he
cracked that her platform wouldn't get her elected in
France. ''Her view is the old classic European
caricature that we describe of big government, big
taxation, welfare state,'' said the former Massachusetts
governor.
In a debate in
Columbia, S.C., Giuliani argued that Clinton was an
apostle of big government. ''The leading Democratic
candidate for president of the United States has said
that the unfettered free market is the most disastrous
thing in modern America,'' the former New York mayor
said.
And the trio
piled on when Clinton voted against a war-funding bill.
Giuliani said she had ''gone from an antiwar position to an
antimilitary, antitroops position.'' McCain accused
her of embracing ''the policy of surrender,'' while
Romney claimed she ''abandons principle in favor of
political positioning.'' (Liz Sidoti, AP)
