HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton Read Online Free PDF Page A

coquette and just give it up.
    “The hottest places in hell are for those who declare neutrality in times of trouble. He was one of them,” one adviser recalled. “I’d rather have one of these guys come up to me and say, ‘I’m not for her. Fuck you.’ ”
    On the day before Thanksgiving 2008, after Bill and Hillaryhad campaigned for Obama successfully, Altmire approached the former president at the VIP reception before a fund-raiser for Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl. Bill was cordial but cold and minutes later turned downright icy. Taking the stage at the Steel City’s Omni William Penn,packed with more than four hundred people, Bill launched into a hearty endorsement of Ravenstahl and another local pol, Dan Onorato, both of whom had backed Hillary in the primary.
    Then, catching sight of Altmire at a table up front, he looked the congressman dead in the eye as he delivered the clincher: “And I am never going to forget the people who supported Hillary.”
    More than a year later, at the western Pennsylvania funeral of the legendary congressman John P. Murtha, Bill again gave Altmire a perfunctory greeting. Clinton would eventually get the chance to do more than turn a cold shoulder to Altmire or stare him down at a fund-raiser. The bill for Altmire’s neutrality would come due nearly four years later, to the day, in the 2012 Pennsylvania Democratic primary.
    While Hillary worked at the State Department, Bill used his influence, his fund-raising ability, and his campaign skills to tend to the family’s political network. He helped nearly every friend of his or Hillary’s when they needed assistance defeating an Obama acolyte—and even punished some who had remained neutral when the Clintons felt they were owed allegiance. Longtime party builders, the Clintons generally weren’t into helping Republicans beat Democrats—though Bill’s efforts resulted in a GOP win on at least one occasion. But no holds were barred in a primary. The message from the Clintons to the rest of the Democratic political world was clear: It’s better to be with us than against us. Over four years, Bill racked up some high-profile victories in races matching one Democrat against another. These were practical as well as punitive: every victory by a Clinton loyalist ensured that Hillary would have a more powerful team in place if she ran again. And the Mossad-style, get-you-when-you-least-expect-it payback politics would have a chillingeffect on politicians who thought about crossing her in the future. “They’re into loyalty,” one Clinton aide explained. “They’re used to loyalty.”
    It would be political malpractice for the Clintons not to keep track of their friends and enemies. Politicians do that everywhere. The difference is that the Clintons, because of their popularity and the positions they have held, retain more power to reward and punish than anyone else in modern politics. And while their aides have long and detailed memories, the sheer volume of the political figures they interact with makes a cheat sheet indispensable. “I wouldn’t, of course, call it an enemies list,” said one Clintonworld source. “I don’t want to make her sound like Nixon in a pantsuit.”
    Another one of Hillary’s longtime advisers also sought to soften the long-term relevance of the list. “I’m sure Doug does have some sort of fucking memo on his BlackBerry like the rest of us,” the adviser said, “but the notion that it is updated, circulated, disseminated, and relied upon is absurd.”
    In the summer of 2008, Hillary Clinton couldn’t have known whether or when she would run for president again. But she knew who was on her side and, name for name, who wasn’t.

TWO
“Be Gracious in Defeat”
    On June 6, three days after the last presidential primary, Hillary invited about two hundred campaign aides, advisers, and friends to the family’s$4 million–plus redbrick home on Whitehaven Street for a backyard get-together.