BUSH 41 AIDE PROMISED CLINTON A PERSONAL DESTRUCTION CAMPAIGN IN '91

No More Mister Nice Blog brings our attention to a little-noticed passage from the Big Dog's memoir, in which Clinton recounts a July 1991 conversation he had with Roger Porter, a Bush domestic policy aide. Porter explicitly warns Clinton that Repugs will conduct a campaign of personal destruction on him if he runs for president in '92, but say they'll give him a pass if he waits until '96. An excerpt:

Here's how Washington works," he said. "The press has to have somebody in every election, and we're going to give them you." He went on to say the press were elitists who would believe any tales they were told about backwater Arkansas. "We'll spend whatever we have to spend to get whoever we have to get to say whatever they have to say to take you out. And we'll do it early."
I tried to stay calm, but I was mad. I told Roger that what he had just said showed what was wrong with the administration. They had been in power so long they thought they were entitled to it. I said, "You think those parking spaces off the West Wing are yours, but they belong to the American people, and you have to earn the right to use them." I told Roger that what he had said made me more likely to run. Roger said that was a nice sentiment, but he was calling me as a friend to give me fair warning. If I waited until 1996, I could win the presidency. If I ran in 1992, they would destroy me, and my political career would be over.

Nobody's surprised, are they? This is straight from the Bush family playbook. If you can't achieve, tear down the achievements of others. If you have something to hide, expose the other side's dark secrets (or make them up) to distract the media and the public from your own failings.

Feel ready to strike back? Read Silmarill's latest post below.