Would Clinton Have Been A More "Conservative" President?

Bruce Bartlett says yes:

[C]onservatives should have shifted their support to Hillary Clinton in 2008, when it became reasonably clear that it was going to be a Democratic year. Refusing to consider that option gave us Obama, and much more liberal policies than we probably would have gotten under a President Hillary Clinton.

Chait responds:

[A]ny significant adversity would probably have caused [Clinton] to retreat. In the wake of Scott Brown's victory, her chief political strategist, Mark Penn, urged Democrats to abandon health care reform. ("Break it down and start with the easy stuff like electronic medical records first and work up to the harder parts year after year.") That's probably the sort of strategy Clinton would have followed if she had won.

I think Bruce needs a qualifier: "ideological conservatives."

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