$600K aimed at Clinton

Sensing that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) will win the Democratic presidential nomination, Republican Party operatives are stepping up their political attacks on the former first lady but are wary of going too far with their criticisms because she is a woman.

As with the other Democratic White House hopefuls, GOP strategists are concerned that extremely aggressive rhetoric against Clinton could backfire. However, they point out that they are devoting significant resources to defeat her.

{mosads}Richard Collins, a wealthy Texas businessman and a leading organizer of Stop Her Now, a political committee devoted to opposing Clinton’s White House bid, told The Hill his group will spend $500,000 to $600,000 between now and February targeting her candidacy.

“We expect we’ll be much more intense in our efforts between now and Feb. 28,” said Collins.

Collins emphasized that his group’s strategy and tactics are more important than how much it plans to spend.  

Stop Her Now will use humor in its attacks against Clinton to make them more appealing to swing voters. Its website features anti-Clinton cartoons and jokes of the week. It also has posted a spoof of “The Tonight Show” in which an unflattering parody of Clinton plays the role of Johnny Carson.

Republican operative David Bossie, president of Citizens United, is producing a critical film documentary about Clinton that conservative financial backers hope will be as effective as the attacks of another group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, against former Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.).

Republicans must find novel ways to pan Clinton because she is a female and because many of the criticisms of her are already well-known, having been hashed out during the partisan battles of her husband’s administration.

“You can’t go after a woman candidate the way you can go after a guy,” said Paul Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation and an influential conservative leader. “It’s very, very difficult to campaign against a woman candidate.”

Weyrich said that fact, combined with what he described as Clinton’s willingness to “stop at nothing to win,” makes her the favorite to win the White House.

 “That’s why I think she will be elected president,” he said.

In 2000, former Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.) attracted widespread criticism after he walked over to Clinton’s podium during a televised debate to challenge her to sign a campaign pledge. Clinton easily defeated Lazio to win her Senate seat.

Phil Singer, Clinton’s spokesman, said increasing Republican attacks are spurred by fear.

 “She continues to show she is the strongest Democrat running for the nomination, and Republicans think she can win,” he said. “They’re nervous.”

The view that Clinton has the Democratic nomination locked up is spreading among Republicans. President Bush recently predicted that Clinton would win the nomination. Ed Rollins, President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign manager, wrote last week in Human Events that Clinton “is the strongest candidate in years and is not only going to be the Democratic nominee; she can be elected president.”

“Underestimating her appeal or her campaign team or over-focusing on her negatives is not smart,” he wrote. “I repeat, she can win and we better start working on ways to beat her.”

Clinton’s Democratic rivals have showed a reluctance to aggressively attack, evidenced at Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate in Hanover, N.H.

For example, earlier in the week an aide to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) issued a statement needling Clinton because of Bush’s prediction she would win the nomination.

“I can understand why the president would want Senator Clinton to be the nominee,” said Dodd spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan.

When moderator Tim Russert asked Dodd to explain the statement in more detail, the candidate dodged the question.
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), another rival, appeared to stumble when he criticized Clinton.

Biden predicted that Republicans would be less willing to compromise with Clinton if she were president because of “old stuff” associated with her husband’s administration. Biden softened his comments, however, by declaring that Clinton was not at fault and suggested that he did not intend to touch on the circumstances that triggered the House to impeach President Bill Clinton.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has showed less timidity. It zeroed in on Clinton the morning after the debate.

RNC Chairman Robert “Mike” Duncan issued a broad statement criticizing the Democratic front-runners. The next morning Clinton was the only candidate to draw two critical press releases from Republican Party headquarters, including a detailed research piece highlighting less-than-positive media assessments of her debate performance.

The RNC has accelerated its opposition research on Clinton since 2003.

“We looked into stuff when she was a potential vice presidential candidate in 2004,” said an RNC official. “We’ve been cranking on it since 2003 trying to figure out the inventory we have. We’re starting the drumbeat and doing the narrative on her.”

 “There’s plenty of information out there on her,” said another Republican official. “Her stances on issues, for example. She’s clearly a liberal, in favor of big government, higher taxes, and weak on defense. She has plenty of baggage.”

Danny Diaz, the RNC’s communications director, said despite growing anticipation for Clinton, the party is prepared to face any Democrat.

“The Republican National Committee is prepared to speak to the very real differences between the parties regardless of who Democrats nominate,” he said. “We look forward to informing the American people about Democrat plans to raise taxes, increase the size of government, and retreat from the War on Terror.”

Singer, Clinton’s spokesman, said Republican opposition research will prove ineffective.

“Sen. Clinton has faced off and beaten the Republican attack machine repeatedly,” he said. “She’ll beat them again.”