In 1992, candidate Bill Clinton criticized Pres. Bush over China:
"Candidate Clinton was pretty tough on President Bush for his handling of China.
He "coddled" a communist government that used deadly force to break up peaceful protests, the candidate said.
The president had been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy toward China.
"I would be firm," Clinton said.
The United States should tell China to "observe human rights" in the future.
"If we can stand up for our economics, we ought to be able to preserve the democratic interests of the people of China."
That was Oct. 11, 1992, the candidate was Bill Clinton and the president George H.W. Bush, just three years after the massacre in Tiananmen Square.
Either consciously or unconsciously Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday tried to emulate the moment, blasting George W. Bush for coddling China amid the violent crackdown on protests in Tibet and calling on him to skip the Summer Olympics in Beijing in August to make a point.
This Bush administration, she said, "has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China."
The fact that Hillary Clinton would adopt the same tough line toward China during her presidential campaign as Bill Clinton did 16 years earlier would be less of a surprise were it not for her husband's intervening presidency.
Bill Clinton abandoned his firm stance on China after taking office.
The day after the debate where he accused the first Bush of coddling China, his campaign put out a statement blasting the "butchers of Beijing" and faulting the president for deciding "that we should give Most Favored Nation Status to Chinese communists who deny their people's basic rights."
Soon after taking office, Clinton too was giving Most Favored Nation status to the Chinese communists and in 1998 became the first president to visit the "butchers of Beijing" since Tiananmen Square, even participating in a welcoming ceremony on the square.
Two years later, he pushed through legislation making China's Most Favored Nation status permanent instead of requiring annual renewal." (Bush, Clinton and China)
What can we learn from this?
1) The Clintons are about telling people what they want to hear. Believe the Clintons at your own risk.
2) Campaigns and governing are two different things. Things always look different in the Oval Office! Just ask Bill Clinton about the Kyoto Treaty!
In this campaign, we have seen Hillary Clinton reverse herself on NAFTA, the Iraq War and just about everything that her husband stood for.
What will this woman say to win the presidency? Frankly, anything!
Again, believe the Clintons at your own risk!
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