Aides for Hillary Clinton who worked her 2008 presidential campaign kept tight watch on her friends and foes, naming and maintaining a list of those in the party who were perceived to have betrayed her during her primary war with President Obama, a new book revealed.
Among those on the list: Then-Sen. John Kerry and the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. Also on the list: Sens. Jay Rockefeller, Bob Casey and Patrick Leahy, and Reps. Chris Van Hollen, Rob Andrews and Baron Hill, The Hill reported.
The list didn’t just include names, but also rankings. Those who were considered the worst traitors received seven, on a seven-point scale, The Hill said. Among the worst: Mr. Kerry, who succeeded Mrs. Clinton as secretary of state.
The book by Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen is called “HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton.”
And it details the inner despair and outrage that peppered Mrs. Clinton’s failed primary fight.
“Years later,” the authors wrote, The Hill reported, aides to the Clintons “would joke about the fates of folks who they felt had betrayed them. ’Bill Richardson: investigated; John Edwards: disgraced by scandal; Chris Dodd: stepped down,’ one said to another. ’Ted Kennedy,’ the aide continued, lowering his voice to a whisper for the punch line, ’dead.’ “
Mr. Kerry actively campaigned for Mr. Obama, lending his endorsement and making speeches that painted Mrs. Clinton in a poor light.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.