The Politics Of Personal Destruction
Posted at 9:02am on Jan. 24, 2008 If You Ain't Cheatin', You Ain't Tryin'
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
I presume that the dishonesty speaks for itself:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign aired a new radio ad here Wednesday that repeated a discredited charge against Sen. Barack Obama, in what some Democrats said is part of an increasing pattern of hardball politics by her and former president Bill Clinton.
The ad takes one line from an Obama interview -- "The Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last 10, 15 years" -- and juxtaposes it with GOP policies that Obama has never advocated.
"Really?" a voice-over says. "Aren't those the ideas that got us into the economic mess we're in today? Ideas like special tax breaks for Wall Street. Running up a $9 trillion debt. Refusing to raise the minimum wage or deal with the housing crisis. Are those the ideas Barack Obama's talking about?"
The Clinton campaign argued that it was simply quoting Obama. But in the original context, Obama was describing the dominance of Republican ideas in the 1980s and 1990s, without saying he supported them, and asserting that those ideas are of no use today.
On the upside, I think that Ronald Reagan would be delighted that after all of these years, his Democratic opponents still don't know how to argue against him. He was a transformational figure (via Sullivan), and his methods do provide politicians with a model on how to create a working majority. Obama clearly realizes that and his realization poses a threat to the Clintons since he is working to put himself in a position to do what they may not be able to do.
Therefore, he must be stopped by any means necessary, as far as the Clintons are concerned. Thus these fights. Isn't it interesting that at long last, Democrats have come to realize that the Clintons aren't exactly the nicest or most honest folk to come down the pipeline?
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Posted at 8:27am on Jan. 23, 2008 Look! Mud!
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
I think it is impossible to deny anymore that the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination has gotten vicious:
Ex-President Bill Clinton, stumping in South Carolina Tuesday in his wife's stead while she campaigned in the West, suggested Democrats wringing their hands over the rancor should lighten up.
"I know you think it's crazy, but I kind of like to see Barack and Hillary fight," he said lightheartedly. "They're flesh-and- blood people and they have their differences - let 'em at it."
Obama told the Christian Broadcasting Network that Bill Clinton is "making stuff up" about his Iraq record.
Justifying his retaliation, Obama told a Palmetto State crowd: "I think its very clear that Sen. Clinton and President Clinton have been spending the last month attacking me in ways that are not accurate. At some point, it was important for us to address them."
Obama backer Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senate boss, whacked the ex-President yesterday for his "overt distortions," which he branded unpresidential and warned could "destroy the party."
Read on . . .
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Posted at 1:59am on Jan. 21, 2008 Wearing Out Their Welcome
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
People have just about had it with the Clintons, assuming of course, that Andrew Sullivan can be believed, and chances are that he can on this issue; there are plenty of other reports discussing the disillusionment people feel with the Clintons and their win-at-all-costs attitude. The question is whether this will translate into Democrats and independents staying home in the fall if Clinton is elected. I am sure that Democrats will generally patch their wounds, but if Obama decides that he doesn't want to make peace with the Clintons after having been the target of some incredibly unfair and disingenuous attacks, some Democrats may decide that the Clintons are not worth turning out for. As for the independents, I could easily see them doing what Sullivan anticipates--turning out for McCain and selecting him as the best hope for positive change in any race against the Clintons.
Meanwhile, Obama has decided to hit back against Bill Clinton. It's a good move and no one can blame him for being fed up. It is one thing for the former President to campaign for his wife; everyone knew that he would. But as many have pointed out, George Herbert Walker Bush did nothing to trash the Republican candidates who ran against his son for the nomination in 2000. The elder Bush did the right thing as a titular leader of the Republican Party. Too bad that Clinton has forgotten his responsibilities as a titular leader of the Democrats.
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