"A Difference on Iran?"

Ben Smith gives Hillary some political advice:

The Washington Post editorial board today gave Clinton some real ammunition against Obama, an editorial describing his attempt to stretch her words around Iran diplomacy and his around summitry into a broader contrast as "irresponsible" in content and "naive" in the hope that he'd get away with it.

But Ben's commentors don't agree and one refers to Howard Fineman for support:

The search is dividing the party and generating sparks among the top presidential contenders. Last spring, Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Chris Dodd supported a measure for economic sanctions against Iran and asked the State Department to brand the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (the Iranian Army) a "terrorist organization." That wasn't enough for anti-Iran hawks, who insisted Congress take the unprecedented step of making the "terrorist" designation itself. And so the Senate did. Clinton—but not Biden, Dodd or Obama—joined 29 other Democrats in voting "aye." The aim, she said, was to "put some teeth into all this talk about dealing with Iran."

By nature, and now as a front runner, Clinton would rather issue diplomatic communiqués than take one side. Iran may be her toughest challenge. She figured she had her bases covered. Last February—before Webb introduced his bill —she gave a speech in which she conceded the Iranian threat. She also warned Bush not to view earlier congressional votes empowering him to fight terrorism (after 9/11 and before the war in Iraq) as inherent authority to attack Iran.

But her vote on the Revolutionary Guard measure—sponsored by the Senate's hawkish, sort-of Democrat, Joe Lieberman—has given scholars and bloggers in the antiwar netroots fodder; labeling the Iranian Army a terrorist organization, they say, gives Bush the excuse he needs to attack. "It could be read as tantamount to a declaration of war," says Webb. Among the 3.3 million members of Moveon.org, Iran last week replaced Iraq as the top issue, says its president, Eli Pariser. Win Without War, the leading Iraq antiwar coalition, is planning to shift focus to Iran.

Clinton's foes used her vote as an opportunity to berate her. "I have no intention of giving George Bush the authority to take the first step on the road to war in Iran," said former senator John Edwards, staring at her as he spoke at the Democrats' recent debate at Dartmouth. "I'm ashamed of you, Hillary," growled former senator Mike Gravel. In response, she smiled her imperturbable smile, but her staff swung into action. Within days she'd decided to partner with Webb, whether he knew it or not.

In this case the medium was the message: she put out the word first on the Internet.

Howie P.S.: I am disappointed to see Ben, my Facebook friend, triangulating for The Triangulator-in-Chief. On the other hand, maybe I am just shooting the messenger.