Lady MacBeth's Misstep

Roger L. Simon has a good point:

Hillary Clinton's move to join the anti-Alito filibuster is a dumb political move, as is this accompanying bit of bloviation:

"History will show that Judge Alito's nomination is the tipping point against constitutionally-based freedoms and protections we cherish as individuals and as a nation," Clinton wrote in a statement during a fundraising stop in Seattle.

Good thing she just wrote it down because saying something that inane out loud would provide a perfect soundbite for Republican commercials in years to come.

The pundit line, so far, is that Mrs. Clinton had no choice:

Analysts said Clinton had little choice but to back the filibuster, given Kerry's Thursday announcement that he was reviving the stop-Alito movement. For all the talk of Clinton's shift to the center on abortion, she can ill-afford to let a possible adversary outflank her on the left among liberals who favor abortion rights, according to Jennifer Duffy, who monitors the Senate for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

"It's an empty gesture," Duffy said of Clinton's announcement. "What Democratic primary voter is going to vote for her if she didn't do everything to oppose Alito? ... She had to join John Kerry."

With all due respect to Ms. Duffy, this is grade A horse manure. Mrs. Clinton's pro-abort bona fides are immpeccable. While the "Kos kids" may mouth-foam at her hawk status and her head-down domestic manuevering, the sensible secular-left among Reasonable democrats understand she is their best hope for uniting the party. Senator Kerry could not win the Presidency in 2004 when he faced a vulnerable President Bush in one of the highest turn-outs in American history. His efforts to court the Kos contigent notwithstanding, he'll find no warm embrace for a 2008 run. Mrs. Clinton's bow to the mouth-foaming Moloch Worshippers will undermine her effort to triangulate her political position. Remember: that's how President Clinton convinced the independents to support him in '92 and '96. If Mrs. Clinton can't appear "Moderate" to the swing voters, she's finished--and she already faces crushing opposition in the Mid-West and South.

Lady MacBeth threw in her lot with Senator Kerry at much cost for little gain. This kind of imprudent mistake will haunt her when she survives the '08 primary season. Color your humble Fool happy!