"The enemy of the enemy is my friend" seems the mantra insofar as Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton are concerned. As Obama continues to consolidate support in the wake an improbable Super Tuesday performance and an eight-state surge, McCain and Clinton find themselves in troubled waters. Whereas Clinton trails Obama by roughly one-hundred and forty pledged delegates and 690,000 votes, polls show McCain ahead of Clinton but as many as 8 points behind Obama. While most expected that McCain and Clinton would find common challenges in Obama, I suspect that few could have anticipated McCain and Clinton paddling upstream in the same swiftboat.
In recent days, McCain and Clinton have launched a synchronized, two-front assault on Obama. Following Clinton’s thumping in the Potomac Primaries, McCain accused Obama of offering "empty promises" and "rhetoric rather than sound and proven ideas." In El Paso, Clinton parroted McCain’s charges. "My opponent is in the promises business," she said, "We need real results, not more rhetoric."
Of course, if Clinton’s record is indicative of the "real results" she will deliver as President, I would just as soon vote for "more rhetoric." Clinton, like McCain, gave President Bush a blank check to invade Iraq, voted to declare Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, supported NAFTA as First Lady and in the U.S. Senate and backed Most Favored Nation status for China in spite of China’s egregious human rights record.
While Democratic voters admire and appreciate the first President Clinton, they are not interested in a President Clinton who walks and talks like John McCain.