Hillary: GOP mole? - Hillary Rodham Clinton; humor

National Review, Dec 19, 1994 by Joel C. Rosenberg

This memo, apparently written in September, was leaked to NATIONAL REVIEW prior to the elections. Memo to: Hillary Clinton From: Mr. X Subject: Post-Goldwater Strategy, Memo #39

Relax. I know you are jittery. But you have no cause for fear. Everything is going as planned.

Leaking Stan Greenberg's strategic memo to the New York Times--the memo warning Democratic candidates to steer clear of the President at all costs--is working like a charm. As expected, House Democrats used the crime bill to send the President a signal of their newfound independence. Those who remained loyal to him are now more terrified than ever, unsure which is worse--sticking by their President and their party, or going it alone. Intra-party sniping here on the Hill is at an all-time high. Expect more and more Democrats to peel away from the White House in the weeks ahead. By then, however, it will be too late. Even the most lackluster GOP candidates should have little problem devouring incumbent House Democrats.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are virtually gnawing off their own appendages to free themselves from any connection to your health-care proposals. Ignore Panetta and McLarty. Fire Gergen. Stay in the field, on television and in print. Keep demonizing the pharmaceutical industry, the insurance industry, and filthy, greedy paper-pushers. Find a way to attack big oil companies while you're at it. This will drive moderates ballistic.

A bit of warning. Don't criticize wavering Democrats, as tempting as that may be. Have the President assure reporters that while he understands these Democrats must publicly distance themselves from the White House, he is grateful that each privately vows to vote for universal coverage, and he looks forward to working with them in the 104th Congress. Praise these Democrats profusely, and watch them try desperately to shake you off.

Meanwhile, have the President send Jay Rockefeller a note congratulating him on his courage in the health-care battle, and particularly for telling the Associated Press: "We're going to push through healthcare reform regardless of the views of the American people." Then leak the note to the press.

As the campaigns heat up this fall, look for the really tight races. Jet in on Air Force One and campaign for wavering Democrats--unannounced. Watch the color drain from their faces. In particular, I recommend that you try to help out Mario Cuomo in New York, Ann Wynia in Minnesota, and Bob Carr in Michigan.

The battle isn't over. Republicans have a knack for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But we are so close I can taste it.

The attacks we have orchestrated on the religious Right are energizing heretofore slumbering conservative evangelicals, Jews, and Catholics. The attacks we have orchestrated on Rush Limbaugh are increasing his audience and influence. Meanwhile, your health-care strategy remains masterly. That bit about trying to shield your 500-plus-member healthcare advisory task force from public scrutiny--despite the "sunshine laws" requiring full and open disclosure--is brilliant. I only wish I had thought of it myself.

By the way, your concerns regarding Tony Coelho and the Democratic National Committee are understandable but unnecessary. This is simply a case of media overload. Over the past three decades, you have set so many traps, left so many seductive trails leading to all kinds of political and legal chicanery, that the press can only absorb so much at one time.

If the mainstream media don't uncover and rehash "the naked fact" that Coelho quit Congress "to avoid an official inquiry into his personal financial dealings with a wealthy S&L operator" (in the words of Brooks Jackson, author of Honest Graft), then surely the radio talk-show hosts will. This, together with Whitewater, Paula Jones, and the Rostenkowski indictments, will reinforce the rapidly emerging notion that Democrats are ethically challenged. As we discussed way back in memo #4, this is critical to achieving our aims. R member what I said in memo #37, which I passed on to you through Sung and Jimmy Carter. Putting Coelho in the DNC is not an atom bomb but a time bomb. Nukin the Democratic Party is too subverting it is far more effective.

It is hard to believe that we have gotten this far. But it is increasingly obvious that the conclusion we drew out of our experience with the Goldwater campaign was right: the Republicans would never be able to stop the Democratic Party's insatiable appetite for socialism. To derail the party of Roosevelt, Johnson, and Kennedy would take an inside job. And so it has.

When you are ready for another memo, change your hair style again.