Hillary Clinton Has A Detailed Political Hit List
In the piece, Allen and Parnes offer a glimpse at the extensive spreadsheet Clinton and her aides have kept on endorsements from the 2008 election.
People on the list are graded on a one to seven scale, with one being "most helpful" and seven being "most treacherous."
For instance, Sen. Claire McCaskill has a score of seven after the Clintons campaigned hard for her in 2006, but she then endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama in the primary.
The piece reports that Clinton aides took pleasure in fact when their enemies fell:
Years later, they would joke among themselves in harsh terms about the fates of folks 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."
Kennedy earned his spot on Hillary's hit list for not just endorsing Obama, but doing so right before Super Tuesday when it inflicted maximum damage. Bill Clinton even asked Kennedy to hold off on his endorsement, but he refused to do so.
Some on the list receive leniency for their special ties to the president - such as the Congressional Black Caucus or Illinois members. This is what sets Hillary's list apart. Many politicians keep track of who has helped them in the past and who has burned them. But Hillary's list is more detailed and specific, including information on who "went the extra mile" or who understandably didn't endorse her.
Along with McCaskill, Sens. Patrick Leahy, Jay Rockefeller and Rep. Chris Van Hollen earned scores of seven as well.