Hillary's Turn

The Republican candidates are not exactly models of consistency, as National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru points out:

"Mitt Romney is the most notorious flip-flopper in the field, and his most notorious flip-flop concerned abortion. He claims that a conversation with scientists about human cloning made him see how abortion had devalued human life. Nobody can prove that Romney isn't telling the truth, but nobody quites believe him, either . . .

"Rudy Giuliani presents himself as a man who respects conservatives too much to pander to them. Social conservatives, he argues, should trust him more since he doesn't alter his positions to suck up to them. But Giuliani has switched his positions on guns, partial-birth abortion, immigration, and civil unions, in each case moving rightward. He has been pretty consistent in his flip-flop methodology: He finds some detail that justifies the switch. The detail is usually bogus . . .

"When Al Gore flipped from pro-life to pro-choice during his first run for president, one of his aides told a reporter that his strategy for dealing with his past was to 'deny, deny, deny.' Fred Thompson seems to have copied his abortion strategy from the man whose Senate seat he took. The difference is that it's a pro-choice past that he denies having . . .

"John McCain's main flip-flop has been on taxes. He voted against Bush's tax cuts, but now he wants to keep them . . .

"I'd say that Thompson and Giuliani go about their flip-flopping with a bit more dishonesty than Romney and McCain. But if you want edification, look away from the whole field."

Every four years, without fail, some campaign engages in push-polling. You know, Do you support Candidate X? Would you feel differently if you knew he had a history of spousal abuse? A contributor to MyDD got such a call from a purported pollster:

"Which of the following is the most important reason not to support Hillary Clinton? 1) (can't remember, I think it was about her taking lobbyist money) 2) she would be a weak general election candidate, or 3) she won't bring the change we need. I answered number 2.

"Next question: which is the most important reason not to support John Edwards? 1) he is too liberal to win a general election, or 2) he chose to continue the presidential campaign instead of staying home with his wife who has cancer. I said I rejected the premise of this question and refused to answer.

"End of survey. I pressed her on who paid for the call, but all she would say was that Central Research was an independent firm."

Politico finds an Iowa resident with a similar experience: "There were 'lots of negatives on Romney,' said the recepient of the call in an e-mail, including mentions of his 'flip-flops,' hiring illegal immigrants as landscapers and extensive discussion of Mormonism. 'Statements were on baptizing the dead, the Book of Mormon being on the level of the Bible, and one about equating it to a cult,' said the Iowan, deeming them 'common criticisms of Mormonism.' "

CBS responds to Dan Rather's lawsuit, dismissing his charges as "bizarre allegations," "self-serving allegations" and "far-fetched allegations."