"Clinton's Blessing is her curse"

Biden summed it up well last nite.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-clinton28sep28,0,4341628.story?coll=la-politics-campaign

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination often deliver oblique criticisms of her role in the turbulent administration of her husband, labeling her a Washington insider and calling on voters to "turn the page" on an era of political polarization.

But as Wednesday night's New Hampshire primary debate showed, Clinton's rivals are moving closer to translating that innuendo into full-bore attacks on some of the more unpleasant memories of the Clinton years, with its failed healthcare plan, impeachment and frequent showdowns with the GOP.

"The old stuff," as one rival, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, put it during one memorable moment in the debate.

Clinton's campaign has largely benefited from her years as first lady, which have given her the imprimatur of experience while tapping into Democratic voters' nostalgia. But Wednesday's encounter showed that, as her front-runner status solidifies in polls, Clinton faces an unusual balancing act of absorbing the popular parts of her family legacy while deflecting the unpopular.

But Biden went on to hint gingerly that voters should be wary of maintaining a partisan cycle. As Russert noted, a Clinton nomination in 2008 would mean a Bush or Clinton had been on the national ticket for every election since 1980.

"The special interests, with regard to Hillary, they feed on this, you know, this Clinton-Bush thing," Biden said. "It's not Hillary's fault. But the fact of the matter is, it's much more difficult to go out and convince a group of Republicans, I would argue, getting something done that is of a major consequence."

......
A Biden strategist said Thursday that the senator did not regret his reference to the turbulence of the Clinton years. Democrats who seek to overtake her must remind voters of the downside to restaging old battles, the strategist said.

"Every policy issue during the Clinton administration, beginning with healthcare, became embroiled in partisan bickering," said Larry Rasky, Biden's communications director. "You've got to remember: Bill Clinton never got 50% of the vote. It's not like the Republicans have a mild dislike of the Clintons. There's genuine contempt."

Clinton won the presidency with 43% of the vote in 1992 and with 49% in 1996, both years in which Ross Perot was a third-party candidate.

Taking on the Clinton legacy is a risk for Democratic candidates. Surveys show the former president's favorability ratings among Democrats have grown since he left office, from 77% in the summer of 2001 to 89% in December 2006, according to surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Even among Republicans, Clinton's favorability has doubled in that time, to 31%, perhaps partly because of his well-noted friendship with former President George H.W. Bush.
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Analysts say Clinton may actually benefit from her rivals' drawing attention to her earlier work on healthcare. Clinton often cites her healthcare work as evidence that she is battle-tested. Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll, said preliminary results from a survey being conducted this week showed that Democratic voters overwhelmingly favored her over her rivals on that issue.

"She should just smile and shut up, because it's a plus for her," Newport said.

Some of the candidates, perhaps wary of alienating the potential nominee, are evidently uneasy about challenging Clinton too harshly on her past.

Obama evaded a question from Russert on whether his campaign theme of "turning the page" referred to moving beyond the Bushes or the Clintons.

And Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, who recently accused Clinton of "terribly" mismanaging healthcare in the 1990s, backed off when Russert asked him to elaborate on his campaign's suggestion that Republicans want Clinton to be the Democratic nominee.

"I was being somewhat facetious, Tim," he said.

read the entire article at the link.

See how easy is that is.

she does come with baggage as a result of the previous Clinton administration. He hastened to assure her he was just referring to policy.

I'm not aware of the policies to which he refers, but there have to be some questionable ones in an eight-year administration.

Knowing how the despicable R's launch vicious attacks, I have no doubt that if they feel she's threatening their candidate they will dust off some dirt and use it. And magnify it. And spin it. Baggage.

I think Biden's statement is, as always, an astute, valid observation of the reality of the situation. And also, as always, he doesn't beat around the bush.

My esteem for him continues to grow.

everything else.