She'll act just like any other politician

Richard Cohen has a spacey column in today's Washington Post. It asks Who are you Hillary?

I know a businessman who says that if the answer to a question is not about money, the question has to be restated. If that applied to politics, the answer to the question of who the Democratic presidential nominee will be in 2008 would be simple: Hillary Clinton. She has far and away the most money.

But politics is not just about money -- not quite yet, anyway -- if only because ideology and principles are not yet "products." That being the case (I hope), then Hillary Clinton's vast lead in fundraising -- she now has more than $20 million in the bank -- will be offset by growing questions about her principles and ideology. In other words, who is this woman who wants to be the next president of the United States? Is she the wife of Bill Clinton, who we were once led to believe was more liberal than he was, or is she actually far more conservative? The answer, at the moment, is something I cannot provide.

The latest reason for my perplexity is Clinton's agreement to have Rupert Murdoch host a fundraiser for her this summer. Murdoch is the very personification of the contemporary conservative movement. He is the proprietor of both the New York Post and Fox News, both of which are ideologically biased, sometimes blatantly so. No doubt Murdoch can raise lots of money. That's not the question. The question is: What will it buy?

Murdoch is ideologically biased and you aren't Mr. Cohen? Bullwinkle points out the same for goes for the Washington Post. I'll grant that with a caveat, the Post is no New York Times.

I think Richard Cohen has spent too many years inside the beltway. There is more.

Murdoch has always used his media properties to advance his business interests. In that regard, he is without ideology. Conservatives may loathe the communist Chinese regime, but when Murdoch wanted to do business in China, he kowtowed to the government and ejected BBC television from his Star satellite service. Earlier, when he ran into some business problems here, he went from being an Australian to an American citizen -- not exactly the reason school kids donated pennies to build a base for the Statue of Liberty.

When Clinton gets into the room with Murdoch and his band of merry millionaires, will she emphasize her liberal credentials? Will she say she's pro-choice and favors a government role in health insurance? Will she revive talk of the "vast right-wing conspiracy" that she correctly said had managed to impeach her husband? Beats me. There's no telling what she'll say anymore.

Hillary will tell these people what they want to hear. Plain and simple.

What is the difference between Hillary and Murdoch? Other than politics I mean. In order to do business, everyone businessmen included do deals with people you don't like or disagree with.

Politicians are just another breed of businessmen. They mostly do what is best for their self-interest. Hillary Clinton is no different than any of the other 534 members of House and Senate.

All these inside the beltway mechinations will matter little in 2008. Most of the voting public and in particular the 'swing vote' group will find other issues more important than how Hillary raised campaign funds in 2006.

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