E.J. Dionne: Clinton's Depressing Assault on Obama

[elizm]

Does anyone doubt that if Hillary Clinton wins the nomination, she will need the votes of the young people and African-Americans who have rallied to Obama -- and that what she's doing now will make it harder to energize them? Doesn't calling in Bill Clinton as the lead attacker merely underscore Obama's central theme, that it's time to "turn the page" on our Bush-Clinton-Bush political past?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/bill_clinton_credited_reagan_i.html

[joeybee12]

1. Doesn't Obama know he needs the votes of people who support

Hilary if he gets the nomination, and his comments like, "they'll say and do anything" his constant playing of the race card, his homophobia is turning people off?????

[MH1]

4. "They'll say and do anything" is a truthful statement that only was made after it was proven.

As for "his homophobia", do you know that GLBT activists need the support of a large chunk of the rest of the country to achieve their goals, and if they constantly played the mega-hype "guilt by association" card like it is played at DU, they would get NOWHERE.

[flpoljunkie]

5. It is Bill Clinton who is playing the race card. He did it again yesterday in S.C.

In the AP article titled "Clinton Makes Race an Issue" it makes a very interesting statement. "Bill Clinton says race shouldn't be an issue in the Democrat campaign. Well, then perhaps he should stop talking about it."

In another AP article titled "Bill Clinton: Race, gender key in S.C.", Bill Clintons shows his hand on the narrative that the Clinton campaign will spout off if they lose to Obama in South Carolina. It states "Bill Clinton said Wednesday he expects blacks to vote for Barack Obama and women to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the dynamic may cause his wife to lose the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary Saturday.

The comments by the former president -- who also lashed out at Obama and the news media -- mark one of the starkest commentaries yet on the possible role of race, although it has been a subtext of the Obama-Clinton rivalry for months. The comments also furthered the Clintons' bid to play down Senator Clinton's chances of winning in a state where Obama seems to be ahead."

http://mydd.com/story/2008/1/23/23544/2384

[neutron]

14. CNN is playing the Race card

not Clinton.

[flpoljunkie]

16. Perhaps ill-advised, but what Obama said was true, unlike Hillary's untrue smear.

[neutron]

19. Smear? Is that why the Sun Times told him to "Come Clean"?

And speaking of smears, Obama operatives have been in the liberal blogs
smearing Clinton since summer.
If you dish it out, don't whine and simper when it comes back on you.

[flpoljunkie]

20. The Chicago "Sun Times" right wing rag, you mean? This is their nightly prayer.

[flordehinojos]

7. obama leaves much to be desired ... he portrays himself as a full and whole human being ...

he is not. obama has much to face about himself before he can become a complete being . there is more fullness to hillary and her humanity and obama knows that, therefore, he plays the race card so as to place the focus on the emotionality of the subject rather than have the spotlight on the merits, or lack thereof, of his accomplishments.

[Inuca]

11. He is not " a full and whole human being"?!?!?

:wtf:

[Windy]

9. His homophobia? Gee, I seem to remember the anacronym DOMA....

And I don't recall the clintons going into black churchs and telling the congregations UP FRONT and IN THEIR FACE, to stop being homophobic...

You've go the wrong candidate and you know it. Its a wedge jab, nothing more, and its based on distorion.. Something the Clinton's are very good at!

[MH1]

2. Dionne is right on. nt

[janetblond]

3. The Assault was shocking and UNBECOMING ...

I was an avid Hillary fan.
I'd made up my mind months ago, hands down, Hillary was the right (wo)man for the job. I was unwavering in my support of Hillary.
But, after the way both she and her husband have behaved, very UNPRESIDENTIAL ... I will vote for Romney or Obama, if he's the nominee.
I'm very disappointed in the Clinton's behavior.
There's clearly a lot of bitterness coming to the surface.
It saddened me deeply to watch that "cat-fight" among the Dems.
The Repubs were very careful last nite to watch their behavior towards eachother.
THEY knew what Hillary did to Obama looked bad.

[rox63]

10. Romney? WTF?

Why would you ever consider voting for that asshole?

[robbedvoter]

17. Avid Hillary fan voting Romney? And I was a flying nun, now Miss Universe.

Thanks for playing. A bit much there at the end.

[jasmine621]

6. "assault" "attack" The MSM is good at reving up the hype.

HC can say little or do nothing in anyway to defend herself or point out her opponents' record, especially Obama. This way the MSM and Obama supporters and HC haters try to keep her message from getting out effectively. It is really shameful. Hardly anything is said about the Obama attacks and when anything is said it is always about his "campaign" little is ever attributed directly to him.

[flordehinojos]

8. by the way, i don't give two cents worth for dionne's opinion.

[Inuca]

12. Your loss

he is usually very good.

[Inuca]

13. This article almost

made me feel sorry for the Clinton(s). I mean it. Not election-related, but on a purely human level.

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. As usual I find Dionne to be thoughtful, and as ususal...

I find the snippet taken from the story to not capture the the whole story well.

This is an important aspect left out by the snippet:

"Obama's not particularly original insight was a central premise of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. Clinton argued over and over that Democrats could not win without new ideas of their own. To reread Clinton's "New Covenant" speeches from back then is to be reminded of how electrifying it was to hear a politician who was willing to break new ground.

That's why the Clintons' assault on Obama is so depressing. In many ways, Obama is running the 2008 version of the 1992 Clinton campaign. You have the feeling that if Bill Clinton did not have another candidate in this contest, he'd be advising Obama and cheering him on.

Let's grant the Clintons their claims: The press is tougher on Hillary Clinton than it is on Barack Obama; the old, irrational Clinton hatred is alive and well in certain parts of the media; Hillary Clinton gets hit harder when she criticizes Obama than Obama does when he goes after her.

Let's further stipulate that Obama's formulation -- he said Reagan "changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not" -- was guaranteed to enrage the former president. In Democratic circles, associating someone with Nixon is akin to a Roman comparing an emperor with Caligula."

What is being ignored by both Clinton and Obama supporters is that Obama is running the same type of campaign in 2008 that Bill Clinton ran in 1992. You can like that or hate it. You can say that insight can now be used to help Hillary and hurt Barack or vice versa. But the core of Obama's "new" forward looking campaign approach is a repackaged version of Bill Clinton's 1992 back to the future campaign approach."

It can cut either way but I am always aware of the irony of so many Obama supporters wanting to put the 90's behind us while the candidate they support actively emulates the 90's approach pursued by Bill Clinton.

[robbedvoter]

18. Sounds different now, right? Like that "fairy tale" "attack"