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Clinton wanted a bush win Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11255821%255E2703,00.htmlhttp://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11255821%255E2703,00.html
Why Hillary secretly hopes for a Bush win
Victory for John Kerry would kill Hillary Clinton's dream of returning to claim the White House, writes Sarah Baxter
02nov04
THE crowd stomped and cheered as Hillary Clinton arrived on stage. "Go Hillary 2008!" one woman yelled. There were a few startled giggles at this off-message cry, for this was a John Kerry rally.
For Hillary, as she is universally known, to stand next time, Kerry would have to lose tomorrow; it was officially unthinkable for Democrats.
In the audience at a community college in the battleground state of Pennsylvania last week were hundreds of Hillary fans who were making do with Kerry.
"Early on I wanted her to run but I've grown to like this guy," said psychologist Phyllis Shaken, 61. "I can't say I like him the way I like Hillary and Bill, but I admire the way he has withstood the pressure."
Hillary has been watching this election intently. Should Kerry win, her own presidential aspirations are toast. Barring some catastrophe, Kerry would seek re-election in four years' time.
By 2012, Hillary, who was 57 last week, will be 65. Theoretically there would be time for her to stand, but the US would have moved on.
Bill Clinton has made no secret of his desire to be the first "first gentleman" in US history. He longs to be back in the White House, with memories of the Monica Lewinsky hanky-panky erased by his wife's victory.
It would be the ultimate vindication of their highly political marriage, a mixture of true love and a confluence of interest.
However, right-wing pundits such as Fox News talkshow host Sean Hannity are already preparing a Hillary Watch, should George W.Bush win.
His campaign to stop her reaching the White House will begin the very next day.
One Pennsylvanian admirer said of Hillary last week: "The problem is she doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, and I like winning.
"She would get creamed in the Midwest. Too many people really hate her guts."
It was this calculation that led her to suspend her presidential ambitions for this year. She remained coolly on the sidelines, aware this election was Bush's to lose.
After seemingly successful military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, a Democrat president in 2004 was a long shot. Besides, Hillary had her work cut out as senator for New York. Her new job was an opportunity to persuade a sceptical public that she was more than just a political spouse.
Time was supposed to be on her side, until Kerry suddenly looked like the "good closer" his supporters have always boasted he was.
The Clintons were thus caught in a dilemma. Spending too much time boosting Kerry was clearly going to be counter-productive to their own interests. Cold-shouldering him would alienate the loyal Democrat Party grassroots.
The emergence of a heart problem and dramatic quadruple heart bypass removed Bill Clinton from the race at a very convenient moment.
The former president emerged to campaign only in the final week, giving himself maximum exposure and boosting Kerry -- without overdoing it.
"Chilly" Hilly does not have Bill's people skills. She also has to contend with a mountain of hostility towards what is perceived to be her ultra-feminist yet calculating political persona.
Yet the former first lady, who has proved herself adept at baking cookies and standing by her man, has adopted centrist policies in the past four years. Hillary not only authorised the President to go to war but, unlike Kerry, also voted for the contentious $US87 billion ($116 billion) in financial aid to support the troops in battle.
While she always sounds enthusiastically pro-Democrat, she is not quite so obviously gung-ho for Kerry. Yet she and her husband have helped his campaign, not least by loaning him two of their most savvy political advisers, Joe Lockhart and Mike McCurry.
So, should Kerry win, he will owe the Clintons. Yet it is not clear how he will reward them.
There are reports Bill would like to replace Kofi Annan as head of the United Nations, but that might give him too independent a platform.
As for Hillary, a lawyer by profession, conservatives are spreading the rumour that she will be elevated to the Supreme Court, where her pro-choice views on abortion would be appreciated by feminist Democrats. It seems, however, to be nothing more than an electoral scare tactic.
The truth is that the best personal political outcome for the Clintons remains a Bush victory.
The Sunday Times
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