As someone who has not supported HRC in her primary campaign (full disclosure: I'm hoping for Gore, and, as it stands now, supporting Obama), I'm increasingly impressed by her campaign's professionalism. In particular, her quick response to attacks.
The latest comes from that empty suit Mitt Romney, who had this gem to say about Hillary (see below the fold for the priceless response):
"Hillary Clinton just gave a speech the other day about her view on the economy. She said we have been an on-your-own society. She said it's time to get rid of that and replace that with shared responsibility and we're-in-it-together society," Romney told the crowd. "That's out with Adam Smith and in with Karl Marx."
Of course, the truth is, Hillary actually touted the free markets in the very next line. Here's her full quote:
It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few and for the few, time to reject the idea of an "on your own" society and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity. I prefer a "we're all in it together" society.
Now, there is no greater force for economic growth than free markets, but markets work best with rules that promote our values, protect our workers and give all people a chance to succeed.
So, the facts are on her side and she could just point those out, right? If this were 2004 I'd expect some weak response from Kerry about how "this type of talk divides us" and that "he never actually said" what Romney accused him of saying, etc. That's the type of stuff I have come to expect from Democrats: defense when they should be on offense.
The Clinton campaign's response?
"Given how often Romney flip-flops, tomorrow he will be touting his membership in the Communist Party."
Zing. Pow. Done. I love it. With one sentence, they made Romney out to be the pandering flip-flopper he is, and at no time does her campaign try to go on defense or address the "substance" of his attack. Instead, it focuses right on Romney and his weakness. In one line, they basically say, "Romney is full of shit, so it doesn't matter what he says."
Again, I'm not supporting Hillary for now, but every day that passes I am increasingly impressed by the well-oiled machine that is her campaign. My biggest fear about her was always the pre-conceived negative baggage she'd carry into a general election. Her campaign would have to be strong in the extreme in order to overcome that. I'm gaining confidence by the day.
UPDATE: Some feel that responding to GOP attacks legitimizes them. Setting aside my hope that such a notion should have been lost years ago, let me clarify why I'm so impressed with this response:
It didn't legitimize Romney, it ridiculed him. Had she tried to respond to the "Marx" argument of his attack, that would have been a different story. But instead, she gave a dismissive attack that went to the heart of Mitt's greatest weakness. Now, who's going to want to keep this story alive from this point forward? Mitt's campaign? I think not - they want that flip-flopping thing gone.
Contrast this with the Edwards campaign and how they handled the hair-cut thing. On more than one occasion, they even brought up the hair-cuts themselves, which did nothing to get it out of the news or keep it alive as a meme. I'm not attacking Edwards personally, but as far as a strategic campaign move, it was a mistake. THAT legitimized GOP attacks, but Hillary's changes the conversation to Romney's flip-flopping.