By Tommy Christopher

Jun 11th 2008 11:38AM

 

Filed Under:eHillary Clinton, Democrats, 2008 President, Media, Bill Clinton

 

Bill and Hillary Clinton, and their supporters, are compiling and maintaining an "enemies list," according to a report by the NY Times' MARK LEIBOVICH:

 

Doug Band, chief gatekeeper to former President Bill Clinton...keeps close track of the past allies and beneficiaries of the Clintons who supported Mr. Obama's campaign, three Clinton associates and campaign officials said.

 

... As the Obama bandwagon has swelled, so have the lists of people Clinton loyalists regard as some variation of "ingrate," "traitor" or "enemy,"

 

 

Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe admits to the existence of the list, but swears it's not for revenge.

 

Of particular interest was this passage:

 

The news media have already focused on some list entries, ... Matt Drudge , ...Todd S. Purdum of Vanity Fair (the author of a recent profile of Mr. Clinton) and the cable network MSNBC (whose hosts Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann are charter list members, Clinton associates said).

 

Keeping an "enemies list" might seem like an exercise in futility when you consider that everyone on it is also on the President's "friends list." Let's set that aside and take a look at who might be on the list, and whether or not they deserve it.

 

The term "Enemies List" is very clear political shorthand for a revenge list, referencing a Nixon-era list that then-White House counsel John Dean explained was for the purpose of "us(ing) the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies."

 

Here's hoping that the Clintons' list (actually a loose consortium of lists) is a good bit less sinister in its execution.

 

 

Name: Bill Richardson

 

Designation: Traitor/Ingrate

 

Deserving: Totally. Bill Richardson was Hillary's trump card with Hispanic voters, and has benefited greatly from his relationship with the Clintons. I would argue in Richardson's favor if he had made the endorsement in enough time to actually help Obama, but by waiting until after Obama had lost California made the whole thing smack of opportunism.

 

 

Name: Senator Claire McCaskill

 

Designation: Traitor

 

Deserving: No. Although, as a female politician, she owes Hillary a debt of gratitude for being a trailblazer for women, her support for Obama has been coupled with a respect for Hillary Clinton.

 

Name: Matt Drudge

 

Designation: Enemy

 

Deserving: Yes and no. Drudge made his bones on the Clintons' misery, but then Hillary's campaign tried to court a relationship with him, only to have it backfire. They should have never taken him off that list.

 

Name: Iowa

 

Designation: Ingrate

 

Deserving: Yes. They get to vote first no matter what, wielding disproportionate influence over our elections. That's enough for me.

 

Name: MSNBC

 

Designation: Enemy

 

Deserving: No. While Chris Matthews, and others individually, may have deserved some Clinton ire, on balance the coverage on MSNBC was fair.

 

Name: Todd Purdum

 

Designation: Enemy

 

Deserving: Yes. His recent Vanity Fair article, "The Comeback Id," may have contained some useful information, but it was swimming in a sauce of smears and innuendo.

 

Name: Black People

 

Designation: Ingrates

 

Deserving: No. Even if you accept the premise that Bill Clinton did more for black people than any other president in US history, that's a pretty thin ledger.

 

Name: Ted Kennedy

 

Designation: Traitor

 

Deserving: Yes. It wasn't so much his endorsement of Barack Obama, but rather his mean-spirited lobbying against the Dream Ticket, that did it for me.

 

Unless she is elected to the Vice Presidency, Hillary's political clout might render this list more of an amusing parlor game than a reason to quake and tremble. But as Hillary is quick to remind us, don't ever count her out.

 

Others said to be on the list:

 

Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina

 

Members of the DNC rules committee

 

Anthony Lake, former national security adviser

 

Susan Rice, former White House and State Department official

 

Joe Andrew, SuperDelegate and former chairman of the DNC

 

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

 

Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona and

 

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas

 

Caucus States

 

Arithmetic

 

Youtube

 

Sinbad