Arthur Finkelstein

Last year I wrote a piece about “Hillary Haters,” a prime specimen of which was a group called StopHerNow.

So it was interesting to see an advertisement across the top of the Drudge Report today for StopHimNow, a Web site, from the same people, dedicated to portraying Barack Obama as naïve and unintelligent.

An example: A cartoon depicts an imagined meeting in the Oval Office between Obama and his "spiritual adviser," the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

"Is love black and white?" Obama asks.

"No, it is black," Wright screams.

"Really?" asks Obama.

"God damned right it is," screams Wright.

"That's what I'd thought you'd say," answers Obama, assured.

It’s an indication that what Clinton once called the "vast right-wing conspiracy" has already begun to shift its energies to Obama. (The fact that the URL is still stophernow seems to show just how much Obama's likely nomination caught them by surprise.)

The main man behind the Web site is Dick Collins, who I spent some time with in Texas and who was certain then, as most everyone was, that Clinton was going to be the nominee. When I had asked him at lunch why he was concentrating on Clinton, he said, "Because she is going to be the leader."  read more »

When Senator Hillary Clinton's image loops on the cable news these days, she's likely to be seen as  read more »

A Politicker correspondent who stopped in on Bill Clinton's Harlem press conference today reports that Clinton apparently shares our interest in the reports about Arthur Finkelstein, the gay Republican strategist and Pataki advisor who recently married his partner.

Clinton was asked about Finkelstein's "Stop Her Now" campaign against Hillary (which was reported here and, more recently, here).

We're told Clinton -- what an editor he would have been! -- coupled the two stories, and expressed sadness for Arthur because (and this is paraphrase) he is either totally without belief in his party and purely Machiavellian or, in David Brock style, full of self-loathing.

The whole thing makes Bill "sad."  read more »

On the other hand, Hillary's approval ratings among New York Republicans -- which he quotes from memory -- make Bill happy.

It's no secret that Governor George Pataki's third term has been an unmitigated disaster, as he and  read more »