So, since Thursday night’s seemingly valedictory moment, when it seemed Sen. Clinton might withdraw from the presidential contest with dignity intact, we’ve witnessed the ridiculous “shame on you” farce, her grotesquely unbecoming (and unpresidential) spate of unhinged sarcasm, further railing against Obama’s foreign policy (in part by comparing him to Dubya), some really desperate whining about the press coverage, and — arguably a new low — her staff’s apparent attempt to get the “closet Muslim” smear machine up and running again with the already-infamous Somali gear pic. (Here’s a quick summary of recent events.) Update: One of the more egregious spins of the day: Combining the biased-press and Somali-photo tacks, a Clinton aide is quoted as saying, ““Wouldn’t we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were [Clinton]?” Uh, no, because there’s obviously no whispering campaign arguing that Sen. Clinton is secretly Muslim. Really, what kind of idiots do you take us for?
It can only make you wonder what the next eight days will bring, and how much lower the Clinton campaign can possibly sink. I understand that they’re desperate now (See also Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro all but begging supers to back HRC), but they’ve really gone beyond the pale. At this point, I’m less outraged than I am just disgusted by Sen. Clinton, Mark Penn, and co. The self-immolation of the Clinton legacy is almost complete, and any goodwill they might’ve once enjoyed in progressive circles is well past exhausted. Let’s just hope the trail of slime they leave on their path to the exit doesn’t prove fertile ground for the Republicans in the general.
Update: Sen. Obama personally responds to the Somali pic flap: “Everybody knows that whether it’s me or Senator Clinton, or Bill Clinton, that when you travel to other countries they ask you to try on traditional garb that you have been given as a gift. The notion that the Clinton campaign would be trying to circulate this as a negative on the same day that Senator Clinton was giving a speech about how we repair our relationships around the world is sad. We are going to try to stay focused on what will make a difference in our foreign policy, including bringing the war in Iraq to an honorable end.” He then proceeded to twist the knife: “The notion that they would try to use this to imply in some way that I’m foreign, I think is, you know, unfortunate…These are the kinds of political tricks and silliness you start seeing at the end of campaigns.”
Update 2: The NYT surveys “what one Clinton aide called a ‘kitchen sink’ fusillade against Mr. Obama,” while the WP’s Dana Milbank reports on the efforts of the increasingly combative and bizarre Clinton spin room: “They are in the last throes, if you will…there was no mistaking a certain flailing, a lashing-out, as two Clinton advisers sat down for a bacon-and-eggs session yesterday at the St. Regis Hotel…[They offered] a fascinating tour of an alternate universe.”
Well, I guess I’ll subscribe to the idea that what doesn’t kill Obama, will only make him stronger (and better prepared to battle the Republicans after he has defeated Clinton).
True. We might as well get some of this stuff out of the way. Still, it’s more than a bit depressing to watch a fellow Democrat — and particularly Sen. Clinton — gnash and flail about like this.
Like I said, grotesquely unbecoming. And hard to watch.
Upon further reflection (and since I’m feeling really uncharitable right now towards the Clinton campaign), I’m reminded of Henrietta, Annie’s mother in Evil Dead 2, after the good guys have padlocked the basement. One minute (Thursday) it’s: “Hush now baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.” But turn your back for a second (Saturday, today) and it’s “Swallow your soul! I’ll swallow your soul!”
These are the kinds of political tricks and silliness you start seeing at the end of campaigns.
Daaamn. He good. I’m less and less worried about his ability to take on the GOP smear machine. The similar way in which he dismissed the lapel-pin ridiculousness was also impressive. I was afraid his unity message would make it hard for him to push back on this sort of stuff, but instead he’s just using it to change the terms and skip the idea of pushing back altogether. Engaging and arguing on this kind of crap only legitimizes it and keeps it in the media, so just imperiously dismissing it as beneath both him and us as a country like he has been doing looks better and better all the time. It’s rather unanswerable, and it makes other people want to be on the good side and dismiss it as well.