BETTER TO HANG BACK THAN HANG TOGETHER:

Hillary Clinton hangs back in the Senate filibuster fight: Presidential aspirations for '08 may be the reason (BENNETT ROTH, 5/21/05, Houston Chronicle)

When Democrats marched down the Capitol steps earlier this week in support of judicial filibusters, the star of the political party, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, was only a follower.

The former first lady slipped on her sunglasses and stood near the back as congressional leaders took turns blasting Republicans for allegedly eroding minority party rights in their attempt to do away with Senate filibusters on judicial nominations.

Despite her national prominence, Clinton is keeping a low profile on filibusters, an intensely partisan issue that overshadowed other Senate business this week. [...]

[W]hen the media spotlight was almost solely on the filibuster fight this week, Clinton, a senator from New York, was practically invisible.

She declined to speak on the Senate floor during three days of debate over Owen's nomination and stayed away from her Democratic colleagues' daily press conferences to decry what they claimed were Owen's anti-abortion opinions.

Nor has Clinton been involved in the talks among moderates of both parties, led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, who are seeking a compromise to avoid the confrontation over the filibuster.

In her biggest piece of official business for the week, Clinton announced that she was co-sponsoring legislation to benefit children of veterans.

That she needs to be seen as keeping her distance from the Party on this issue in order to preserve her presidential viability tells you all you need to know about this fight.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 21, 2005 9:32 PM