Clinton Plays Kerry Like a Ten-Cent Flute

Here’s something I should have caught a few days ago.

According to Newsmax:

Panicked presidential candidate John Kerry had every reason to believe that the conversation he had with ex-president Bill Clinton on Saturday – where the two discussed how to rescue his flagging campaign – would be kept confidential.”But that expectation went up in smoke on Monday when Kerry and his campaign aides found explicit details from the Clinton strategy session splashed all over the New York Times and other media.

Among the most damaging details to surface: Clinton's strong recommendation that Kerry abandon the crown jewel of his presidential campaign – his service in Vietnam.
Kerry himself was plainly mortified over the leak, desperately trying to downplay the significance of the Clinton call by describing the ensuing press coverage as "the most overblown thing."

Doesn’t this just illustrate all over again how Kerry’s towering ego is getting in the way of sound campaign judgment? Here I was actually giving Lurch credit for listening to about the best advice he could get from what passes for the elder statesman of his party, and he didn’t want word of it to get out.

But then, I guess it’s not as though he’s taking that advice very much, judging by his continued poor campaigning so far this week.

The Newsmax story continues:

So, who was responsible for the loose lips?

The Times cited only "officials with knowledge of the Clinton conversation."

The Washington Post was no more helpful, sourcing ‘those familiar with the conversation.’

What is known is that ‘those familiar with the conversation’ include just three individuals: Clinton, Kerry and former Clinton press aide Joe Lockhart. And Lockhart later told reporters he wouldn't comment.

But somebody commented – and whoever it was certainly didn't seem to have Senator Kerry's best interests at heart.

While we don't pretend to know exactly who it was who spilled the beans, one tidbit that crossed our desk last week offers a clue.

The day before Mr. Clinton entered the hospital for heart bypass surgery, the Associated Press reported:

"With the national political conventions out of the way, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton embarks Friday on a two-day swing with her husband, the former president, that has the trappings of a personal campaign kickoff.

"Senator Clinton is gearing up for a 2006 re-election bid seen by many as a prelude to a run for president in 2008 should John Kerry fail in his bid for the White House this year."

Perhaps Senator Kerry ought to think twice about answering the phone next time Mr. Clinton calls with fresh advice on how to save his campaign.

Could Kerry really be so smothered in his own self-delusions of grandeur that he has never been aware of who still runs the Democrat Party and increasingly, his own campaign?

Yes, I believe he is.

And if this fact, so obvious to the rest of us, just dawned on him last Saturday, well, no wonder he was “mortified.” Because he now knows his appointed role in this campaign, and it isn’t the one he’s spent his entire adult life dreaming of. Indeed, that could explain why he’s taken off in the exact opposite direction from the one Mr. Bill recommended.

Almost makes Clinton’s phone call sound like reverse psychology, doesn’t it?