Some examples of how she put own ambition before the party, just from one year on one issue (Iraq):
She muscled her way into getting her name on landmark Iraqi redeployment legislation that she contributed nothing to, and in doing so shredded a long standing rule against presidential candidates co-sponsoring such bills.
According to a Senate aide, Reid told Feinstein, “It’s not good to have presidential aspirants have their names appear” as original sponsors of the amendment, “even if it is viewed as a consensus” resolution. Politics complicate policymaking, and presidential politics complicate it even more so.
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Two days later, he introduced it on the floor of the Senate. He was followed by Jack Reed, who said, “I join with my colleague, Senator Levin, and Senators Feinstein and Salazar, to offer this amendment.” Suddenly, Clinton showed up on the Senate floor, wanting to speak as soon as possible. Normally, the speakers go in the order of seniority, with the bill’s original sponsors getting the privilege to speak first. Waiting her turn to speak was one of the sponsors, Senator Feinstein. Senator Levin, who controlled the allocation of floor time for the Democrats, appeared flummoxed, a Senate aide recalled. But he agreed to Clinton’s surprise request to take the floor as the next Democratic speaker.
Clinton’s first words took some insiders by surprise: “I rise in support of the Levin amendment of which I am proud to be an original co-sponsor.”
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Clinton had “intervened personally” with Harry Reid and “forced her way in.” With Clinton’s inclusion, the rule of banning candidates was shredded. And “once you do one,” a Senate aide said, “the dam is broken.” Soon, other future presidential contenders, including Barack Obama of Illinois, signed on. Reid would not comment for this article. But according to another Senate aide, Reid couldn’t say no, because to her colleagues, Clinton was “first among equals.”
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What Clinton had accomplished was symbolic and important, even if it went unnoticed by reporters. Clinton could take credit for a compromise that garnered 39 votes, one independent and one Republican in addition to 37 Democrats. Still later, as the war worsened, she could argue that she had long backed some kind of withdrawal. She could also showcase on her campaign Web site her role as a “leader” in the Senate on national security.
At a hearing meant to showcase the problems with the Iraq war, she showed up and pushed her hawkish agenda, diluting the party's message and giving Republicans political ammo, and right before a campaign.
Later that September, at a Democratic hearing on Iraq designed to showcase military criticism of the Bush administration, Clinton arrived late but made a big splash.
The hearing featured three recently retired senior military officers. Before Clinton’s arrival, they blasted Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s management of the war. But when she asked them what would happen if the United States withdrew from Iraq under a fixed deadline, they all said the consequences would be disastrous. One witness said, “The result would be a civil war of some magnitude, which will turn into a regional mess.” The hearing was ended shortly afterward by the Democratic chairman of the committee.
Clinton’s Senate Web site later noted the criticisms of Bush at the hearing but omitted her back and forth with the officers. According to the senior Senate official, her provocative questions prompted grumbling among some Democrats in the Senate, who wanted to keep the party’s message straightforward and simple. Republicans, on the other hand, were gleeful and swiftly tried to use the exchange to their advantage. On a Sunday talk show, Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio emphasized the testimony and Clinton’s role in eliciting it.