Monica Crowley

Another New Yorker Bites the Dust

America can exhale.  The long-awaited news has just broken:  New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not run for president CLICK HERE.  There goes the pundits' favorite parlor game.

Early on, I think Bloomberg was seriously considering a run.  He looked at the sprawling field of candidates and thought, "What in the world are these clowns doing running for president?"  He saw the possibility of hyper-partisanship.  He saw the possibility of an all-New York race.  And he thought, with ego mightily intact, "I could wipe the floor with these guys (and lady)."

Then came the monkey wrench.  Republicans didn't nominate Bloomberg's nemesis, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.  Republicans didn't even go with their most partisan choice.  They went with the maverick, the guy who has transcended party labels and forged a most independent path.

Similarly, Democrats seem poised to nominate not their most partisan, divisive figure, but a guy whose message hangs on "unity" and "change" and "hope."

Not exactly the alternatives against which Bloomberg thought he could run.

McCain and Obama have the Bloomberg schtick down cold, even though McCain IS a conservative and Obama HAS been the most reliably liberal partisan in the Senate.  Both McCain and Obama have positioned themselves well as the guys who can "cross party lines," "work with the other side," "get stuff done."  Although McCain is the only one of the two who has actually done that.

But the fantasy of "post-partisanship" is overblown and actually contrary to how this country was supposed to operate.  We are supposed to have the clash of ideas, parties, styles, visions.  That clash generates new ideas and moves the nation forward.  "Post-partisanship" is a feel-good phrase that usually means we end up with mushy, unsatisfying compromise that doesn't accomplish much.

Since both McCain and Obama are sailing along on a confrontation-averse, "can't we all just get along" message, Bloomberg had no justification to run.  Would he take the Number Two job?  Possibly.  But McCain and Obama are going to have to sharpen their partisan attacks as the race goes forward, and neither one of them is going to want Mayor "Post-Partisan" riding shotgun.

William F. Buckley, Jr.

A hero and a friend of mine passed away today. Bill Buckley was 82.

Coming of political age during the Reagan administration, I was drawn instinctively to conservative ideas. Two people taught me why: Ronald Reagan showed me conservative principles in action. William F. Buckley, Jr. showed me their intellectual foundations. Reagan made it cool to be a conservative. Buckley made it hip to be conservative AND and cerebral.

Over the years, I had come to know him as "Bill." The first time I met him, I was so awestruck that I greeted him as "Mr. Buckley, sir." He laughed at its absurdity. "It's Bill, Monica," he said. "Just Bill."

I had the privilege of being his guest at numerous small dinners at his home, where we would toss about ideas and talk about the current state of the world. He never lost the intellectual curiosity for which he was famous. To the very end, he was writing a book about Reagan and complaining to me---with a big smile---about how long it was taking. He always wanted to know what the younger generations were thinking, how they viewed the world, where conservatism was going---and how best to keep it on track.

He told me once that he often listened to and enjoyed my radio show. That's when I knew I was doing my job well.

This weekend, I'll dedicate the show to his memory, and be profoundly sad that my audience will be without one very special listener.

Sybil

Since last Thursday, Hillary Clinton has shown four dramatically different personalities:

At Thursday night's Democratic debate, she was Hillary as Grace Kelly: "I am honored to be here."

Saturday, she was Hillary as Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction: "Shame on you, Barack Obama!"

Sunday, she was Hillary as Don Rickles: "The sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing..."

And yesterday, she was Hillary as Girl, Interrupted: "Whoa, ho, ho, no!"

She has alternated between calm composure, faux outrage, real outrage, biting sarcasm, wild laughter, and total denial. This woman, so often compared to Nurse Ratched, may need an actual Nurse Ratched.

Which should make tonight's Democratic debate all the more interesting. With nothing left to lose, which Hillary will be on display? Will it be Hillary the Professional Assassin? Or Hillary the Broken Candidate? Will she try to hide her scars, pretend they don't exist? Or will she bare them for the world in a last-ditch sympathy ploy?

Does Hillary as Victim have one more round in her?

I Know You Are...But What Am I?

From the Team that raised Projection to an art----that is, accusing your enemies of what you yourselves are guilty of----comes this gem.

Howard Wolfson, Hillary's attack dog, said this moments ago in a conference call with reporters:

"I think it is true that every time the Obama campaign in this campaign has attacked Senator Clinton in the worst kind of personal ways, attacked her veracity, attacked her credibility, said that she would say or do anything to get elected, the press has largely applauded him. When we have attempted to make contrasts with Senator Obama, we have been criticized for it.

"That is a fact of life that we labor under.

"And so I reject the notion that Senator Clinton has been engaged in this sort of seriatim attacks on Senator Obama. I think Senator Obama's entire campaign against Senator Clinton is negative. I think he has run against her as the status quo. He has essentially called her divisive. He has called her untruthful. He has quesitoned her credibility. He has said she will do or say anything to get elected. If that's not negative, I don't know what is."

Accusations of "personal attacks;" attacks on her "veracity" (Really?  She has "veracity?"  When have we seen this vaunted "veracity" in the last 15 years?); attacks that she's "divisive," "negative," "untruthful," "will do anything to get elected."

All of which is 100 percent true about her and her campaign.  She attacks Barack Obama for coming after her with what is true.  This routine worked for the Clintons for almost two decades, so it's no wonder they would use it again as the Titanic goes down.

There is also Hillary as Victim.  This saved her lyin' dawg of a husband's presidency, got her elected to the Senate, and saved her skin in New Hampshire.  So she's trotting it out again:  "I'm getting picked on by the mean guy.  It's not fair!"  Then they say it's a fact of life they "labor under." 

Poor them.  Welcome to the Big Leagues. I think America's sympathy for the House of Clinton has just about run dry.

The (W)itch is Back

In early December, Hillary Clinton was feeling the pressure. Barack Obama had begun closing the gap with her in the early voting states and even in national polls. She still had a commanding lead, but it was shrinking. She was on the wrong side of the trends. Her reaction? Panic, dressed up as cool confidence: "Now," she said, "the fun part starts."

Meaning: clear the decks. No more Mrs. Nice Guy. This lamb Obama won't know what hit him. He'll be on the floor, crying for his mommy when I'm done with him.

Well, it didn't work out that way. She didn't have much to use against him, except his association with a Syrian immigrant, Tony Rezko, who is now sitting in jail awaiting a trial that begins next week. That could open windows of scandal to Obama, but it may be coming too late. Obama holds a million vote lead, plus a narrow lead in delegates. The math is against her. The odds are long.

Which is why the (w)itch is back. In the span of 36 hours, Hillary Clinton went from conciliatory toward Obama to phony outrage about some of his campaign fliers to withering sarcasm about his revivalist sanctimony to putting out a photo of him dressed in native Kenyan dress from two years ago (see it here: www.drudgereport.com). To suggest, what? That he's black? I'm pretty everybody already knows that. That he's of African descent? Pretty sure everyone knows that too. Ah, but there's an Arab flair to the clothes he's wearing in the picture. Could this be Hillary trying to remind everyone that he's not black African, he's Arab African? His middle name of "Hussein" and the "Obama" last name didn't come out of nowhere. That's what she's really trying to get across with this photo.

It may be too late. But she's got to do something because this is her last shot. She's got one week before Texas and Ohio. If she doesn't win---big---she's done. We know what a (w)itch she is when her back isn't up against the wall. And we've seen what a super(w)itch she can be when she's about to get relegated to the dustbin of history.

Now, the fun part starts.

And the Oscar Goes to...Anybody But an American

At tonight's Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actor went to a Spaniard, Javier Bardem.

Best Supporting Actress went to a Brit, Tilda Swinton.

Best Actress to a Frenchwoman, Marion Cotillard.

And Best Actor to an Irishman, Daniel Day-Lewis.

Each of these actors is brilliant at their craft. But it sure looks like Hollywood is bending over backwards to "apologize" to the rest of world for the Bush administration. "See? We're not so bad, world! Here's an Oscar!"

So Much for the High Road

At the Democratic debate last week, Hillary Clinton remarked that regardless of how the race ends, "we'll be fine." She said how very "honored" she was to be on the same stage as Obama, and then wistfully recounted a story of seeing hundreds of wounded soldiers at the opening of a veterans' hospital. A lot of people took those evocative comments to mean that she was signaling the beginning of her campaign's end. That she's seeing the writing on the wall. That she wants to go out gracefully.

We should know better. These are the Clintons. They cling to the chandeliers and go out feet first.

Yesterday afternoon, Hillary tossed the High Road right out the window. Grasping fliers about her health care and trade positions put out by the Obama campaign days, even weeks ago, she summoned fresh "outrage" about them. "Shame on you, Barack Obama," she cried. "It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign."

Obama's team fired back immediately, saying the fliers were "completely accurate" and wondered aloud---rhetorically---why she would pick a fight about them now, when they've been circulating for weeks.

The Clintons are street thugs. They fight with broken beer bottles and switchblades. Even though her debate crack about Obama's "change we can Xerox" bombed, she's at it again. Going nuclear over an ant.

This is the Clinton default position. They don't know how to fight gracefully. Calling out Obama for negative campaign tactics is certainly rich, coming from her. But it's also weak. She's down in the muck over some campaign fliers, when he's talking about changing the world.

The Clintons have lost their mojo. For a couple who dominated American politics for 15 years, they have gone tone deaf to what's happening.

Hillary knows this is slipping away from her, and she's got one final chance this week to try to bring him low. That means she will continue to go low. It's so 1990s. It's sad, in a way. And quaint.

The McLaughlin Group

Please tune in to The McLaughlin Group this weekend and every weekend. Check your local listings for time and channel, or visit www.mclaughlin.com for more information.

Sunset Boulevard

Two formerly powerful institutions are now fading into the sunset, and both are going out with Norma Desmond-like denial.

1. The New York Times. Sure, it's still got influence, but only because of the reflected glory of its past. Today, it's a mere organ for liberal propaganda. Their smear story on John McCain yesterday---a charge of an extramarital affair dressed up as a story about corruption---had no sourcing, no proof, no reliability, no credibility. They had held it for months---knowing it they couldn't back it up---and only went with it because another publication was going to out them. The Times got bombarded by letters and emails condemning their decision to run it. My guess is those emails didn't all come from conservatives. The true test of how solid this story is? Whether the Times prints a follow-up with some evidence of what they've charged. As of this morning, they haven't.

2. Hillary Clinton. During last night's Democratic debate, she grasped. She went to her fallback: the old-time Clintonian scorched earth technique. When asked if Barack Obama had used words not his own, she whined that that "wasn't change you can believe in, that's change you can Xerox." The audience groaned. That burning-down-the-barn approach worked for the Clintons for 20 years. It doesn't work anymore. She flinched too, when she delivered the line, because she even senses that it's gone. But it's the only thing she really knows. What you saw last night was the last gasp of the Clintonian legacy of total annihilation of the enemy. Today, the enemy isn't just still standing. He's thriving.

Goodbye to all that.

Imus in the Morning

I'll be a guest on Imus in the Morning tomorrow (Friday, February 22) at 7:30am Eastern Time. In the New York area, you can hear it on 770 WABC, or listen to it streamed live on www.wabcradio.com.