He done it again

Newsmax ("Bill Praises McCain Again"), via Buzzflash:

For the second time in a week, Bill Clinton offered high praise for Republican presidential nominee John McCain — the candidate who could end up squaring off against Clinton’s wife Hillary.

At a stop in rural Pennsylvania on Thursday, Bill told the gathering that McCain is a “moderate” who “has given all you can give for this country without dying for it.”

He said McCain is on the right side in opposing the torture of enemy combatants and on the global warming issue, which “just about crosses the bridge for [Republicans].”

Clinton also told the audience that the race should not about the past, but about who is going to do more for the country in the future, ABC News reported. That person, he said, is Hillary.

One week ago Clinton expressed similar sentiments at a gathering in North Carolina, calling McCain a war hero who had demonstrated his love for his country.

Clinton noted that McCain supported campaign finance reform and “he doesn’t think global warming is a myth … so it is not going to be all that easy to beat him.”

At that same campaign stop, Clinton angered the Barack Obama campaign by saying that McCain and Hillary share a love of America — without mentioning Obama.

“I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country,” he said.

“And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics.”

By not mentioning Obama, he suggested to some observers that he believes Obama’s patriotism is lacking.

Each time it happpens, I become more and more convinced that the cynical theory might actually be true:

If Obama is the nominee, and beats McCain, Bill Clinton loses his position as the emeritus leader of the party, and Hillary doesn't have a chance to run again for eight years. By then, she's probably too old. So the Clintons want Obama to lose to McCain, so Bill is still in power and Hillary has a shot at the presidency in four years.

It gets worse: If Hillary loses the nomination, she might still have a chance to be on some sort of bipartisan "dream ticket" as VP - and campaign against Obama in the general election. McCain is just the kind of maverick who might do such a thing.

As cynical as the above sounds, it would explain Bill and Hillary giving repeated boosts to McCain. Any other explanation is hard to fathom.

For example, is Hillary associating herself with McCain hoping some of his supposed stature will rub off (in the public's mind's eye) on her? (She certainly takes advatage of her husband's stature.) But this doesn't make sense if she's trying to beat McCain. It only makes sense if she's trying to show how she's be a friendly running mate.

Is she trying to appeal to the moderate Republicans and independents? That can't be. Given a GE choice between McCain and McCain Lite, McCain wins. Factor in the sexism, and it's a slam dunk. Is it a short term tactic just to convince the Republican wing of her own party and win the nomination? Only if she thinks they're stupid and don't see the the impact in the general election.

Hillary's damaging the party, not Obama. She has to be pushed out by June, if not earlier. The way to do this is for Obama to beat the spread in PA, and simultaneously convince a large number of superdelegates to come out and endorse him.