Crackpot meets ‘crankpot’

A senior advisor to Hillary Clinton has been frozen out of the campaign after calling Northern Ireland’s former First Minister David Trimble a “crankpot”. James Rubin, (left) who also served as an advisor to Bill Clinton during his presidency, made the claim on a Canadian news network while discussing allegations that Senator Clinton had exaggerated her role in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Responding to Trimble’s statement that Clinton had been “a wee bit silly” to say she had been instrumental in the peace talks, Rubin said that Trimble’s political views were derived from his religious beliefs. “He’s a protestant,” he said, “they traditionally go with the conservatives. David Trimble is a crankpot and what he said about her was demeaning.” Then to the female host, Rubin, who is married to the CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour, added: “As a woman I think you would recognise when somebody is trying to demean the activities of a woman.”

Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton’s communications director, denounced Rubin’s comments, and said: “It is not the campaign’s policy to attack leaders from other countries.” Trimble himself said that Rubin’s attacks were a sign of the Clinton camp’s desperation. "I usually regard it when somebody resorts simply to vulgar abuse that's a sign that they know they've a weak argument," he said.

Rubin joins a growing list of advisors who have been frozen out or even sacked by the Clinton and Obama camps in the long campaign for the Democratic nomination.

FIRST POSTED MARCH 28, 2008