AP's Fournier, at Long Last, Lists Dem Groups Unhappy with the Clintons

February 13th, 2008 10:53 PM

After the Beltway primaries on Tuesday, the Associated Press's Ron Fournier compiled a different kind of Clinton Enemies List.

No, not the people and groups Bill and Hillary consider to be their enemies.

Instead, in "Chickens Come Home to Roost," Fournier listed the types of Democratic Convention superdelegates who have been unhappy with the Clintons for as many as 16 years:

..... they are not all super fans of the Clintons.

Some are labor leaders still angry that Bill Clinton championed the North American Free Trade Agreement as part of his centrist agenda.

Some are social activists who lobbied unsuccessfully to get him to veto welfare reform legislation, a talking point for his 1996 re-election campaign.

Some served in Congress when the Clintons dismissed their advice on health care reform in 1993. Some called her a bully at the time.

Some are DNC members who saw the party committee weakened under the Clintons and watched President Bush use the White House to build up the Republican National Committee.

Some are senators who had to defend Clinton for lying to the country about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Some are allies of former Vice President Al Gore who still believe the Lewinsky scandal cost him the presidency in 2000.

Fournier goes on to list still others, ultimately leading to a question he never asked -- Is there anyone left who actually likes them?

Old Media reporters never seem to have a problem finding a disgruntled or dissident Republican when the need to find one arises.

So the obvious question for AP, Fournier, and the rest of Old Media is this: Why have we been conditioned to see the Clintons as Democratic royalty all these years, while rarely, if ever, hearing anything from the dissidents?

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.