'Today' Suggests Conservatives Softening on Hillary

Are you a conservative? Someone who historically has harbored, shall we say, a decided aversion to the former First Lady turned senator and presidential candidate? Do you find that in recent times your feelings toward Hillary have undergone a change? Do you perhaps see her in a more kindly light?

'Today' ran an unusual segment this morning suggesting that, indeed, conservatives may be "softening on Hillary." With David Gregory narrating, we were first treated to the bad old days. Hillary, as shown here, making her infamous "vast right wing conspiracy" accusation to Matt Lauer back in 1998. A clip from The Clinton Chronicles, which spun the darkest theories about the Clintons.

But then, as evidence of how things have changed, particularly on domestic issues, Gregory played a clip of Chris Ruddy of the conservative NewsMax.com stating that "there's a view now that not only was Bill Clinton not so bad, he was pretty good. [Conservatives] don't have the same level of anger toward her that they once had toward him." No sign of a global warming trend toward Hillary at NewsMax itself, by the way. The featured Special Report there this morning, by Dick Morris, is entitled "Hillary's Horrible Judgment."

Continued Gregory: "Some conservatives credit Mrs. Clinton for working to shed her liberal image dating back to her push for universal health care. They also note her stand on the Iraq war, which has made her a target for liberals, not conservatives."

Her campaign staff was, naturally, only too happy to reinforce the notion. Senior aide Howard Wolfson was shown stating "our country has looked at the Clinton years, they've looked at the Bush years, and they've found the Clinton years to be a whole lot better in many areas."

But some dissonant notes were sounded. Chuck Todd, NBC's newly-named political director, suggested that the anti-Hillary forces haven't gone away, "they're just hibernating." Legendary conservative fundraiser Richard Viguerie [shown here], analogizing to Samuel Johnson's observation that nothing so concentrates the mind like the prospect of a hanging, said that "conservatives would see the possibility of a President Hillary Clinton as an impending hanging and it would definitely focus our mind and attention."

So how about it? Has NBC spotted a trend, or is it simply trying to prepare the path for the next Clinton presidency?

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net