Clinton's peace dividend

By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist  |  April 5, 2007

WHAT'S NEXT? Is Hillary Clinton going to pull out her hippie bell-bottoms and start singing, "All we are saying, is give peace a chance"?

The presidential candidate who refused to apologize for voting to authorize the Iraq war is unapologetically courting the anti war vote. It's an obvious effort to undercut rival Barack Obama's appeal to Iraq war opponents.

This week, Clinton criticized President Bush for pledging to veto any measure setting a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. "This is vetoing the will of the American people. It is time for us to get them out of the middle of this civil war," she said.

The senator from New York was capitalizing on a related stumble by the senator from Illinois. Obama was sharply criticized by liberal bloggers when he said he doubted "we can muster at this point a majority of Senate Democrats or Republicans to vote for a cutoff of funding."

Until Obama, Clinton opposed setting a timetable for ending the war. Meanwhile, exactly what ending the war means to Clinton is confusing. In a March 14 interview with The New York Times, she said she foresees a "remaining military as well as a political mission" in Iraq. She told the Times that if elected president, she would keep a scaled-down military force in Iraq to fight Al Qaeda, deter Iranian aggression, protect the Kurds, and perhaps support the Iraqi military. However, under a Clinton presidency, the United States would no longer try to protect Iraqis from sectarian violence.

Clinton's shift on the war is paying off. US Representative James P. McGovern of Massachusetts, a leading voice against the war in Congress, endorsed her campaign last week. While the McGovern endorsement is just one small piece of a larger strategy to neutralize Obama on the war, it carries its fair share of positive political symbolism. "The one issue that Hillary Clinton has to strengthen her connection with the Democratic primary base is the war, " said Democratic fundraiser and Clinton supporter Steven Grossman. "Having Jim McGovern passionately on her side this early is a tremendous asset."

Philip Johnston, outgoing chairman of the Democratic state committee and an Obama supporter, said he was "stunned" by McGovern's endorsement, given the congressman's early and passionate anti war stance. "He was the first person in Congress to say, 'defund' the war," said Johnston. He explains McGovern's presidential pick in terms of personal loyalty to the Clintons -- Bill and Hillary Clinton are longtime McGovern backers.

McGovern, however, said he is convinced Hillary Clinton knows how to end the war, and will do so, if she is elected president and it is still ongoing. Her vote for the war resolution and refusal to apologize for it do not bother McGovern. "I'm not into therapy, I'm into results," he said. It doesn't bother him, either, that she doesn't support legislation he refiled in January; it calls for troop withdrawal within six months of enactment and funding to be cut off completely after that. "I value my conviction. I take pride in what I believe in. Has she voted the way I wanted her to? No. Quite frankly, nobody has," said McGovern, referring to the Democratic presidential field.

In the voting record lies some real ammunition against Obama. He was not a US senator when the 2002 war resolution was taken up, so he did not cast a vote. He spoke out against the war as a Senate candidate and continues to do so as a presidential candidate. However, a review of votes by the website TPMCafe .com recently reported that Clinton and Obama have virtually identical voting records on Iraq. They diverged once, when Obama voted to confirm General George Casey as Army chief of staff and Clinton voted against the confirmation.

It will be up to primary voters to decide the importance of rhetoric versus actual votes in Congress.

In Clinton's case, the rhetoric changes dramatically. A Feb. 14 article in Salon.com traces Clinton's evolving statements on Iraq and includes this excerpt from a September 2006 television interview: "I've taken a lot of heat from my friends who have said, 'Please, just, you know, throw in the towel and say let's get out by a date certain.' I don't think that's responsible, either." Now, Clinton said she believes the president should listen to the people and get out of Iraq by a date set by Congress.

Peace, and pass the love beads.

Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.