Politics of personal destruction
The Republicans have been blamed, since the 1994 midterm elections, for the current political climate of “partisan bickering” and mudslinging. In some cases, that might be true, but the roots of this vile political battling are finally exposed this week – and the true culprit is uncovered. It’s Clintonian politics.
The feuding between Obama and Clinton has the Democrat Party worried according to the Washington Times;
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are increasingly going after each other, prompting top Democrats to warn they are muddying the party’s image in advance of the general election.
Of course, “muddying the party’s image” is like claiming that rain makes the ocean more wet. John Kerry, poor victim of republican attacks, has some thoughts (that someone wrote for him, I’m sure);
Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee whose campaign was hurt by Republican-funded “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” ads, yesterday told voters he will help Mr. Obama fend off attacks.
“The truth matters, but how you fight the lies matters even more. We must be determined never again to lose any election to a lie,” he said in an e-mail to supporters.
Even John Edwards looks like an adult compared to the Obama/Clinton duels;
The two sparred all evening, trading accusations about voting records and past statements, prompting former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina to scold them at one point for squabbling.
“You know, between all the allegations of Hillary serving on the Wal-Mart board and Senator Obama working for a slumlord, I was proud to represent the grown-up wing of the Democratic Party last night,” he said yesterday on the campaign trail.
But, you see, that’s what it’s like when you oppose a Clinton. Hillary has never faced an intra-party rivalry for a political race, and now we get to see who the real culprit is for dirty pool.
Dana Milbank at the Washington Post says Bill Clinton doesn’t see anything wrong with the bickering and mudslinging;
Bill Clinton seemed to like it that way. And he had an answer for Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), an influential figure in this state, who has urged Clinton to “chill a little bit” when it comes to criticizing his wife’s main opponent for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama.
“I’m pretty chilled out,” Clinton said, sipping hot coffee at a restaurant here, when asked about the congressman’s recommendation. Of his attacks on Obama — he’s used language such as “fairy tale” to describe various positions taken by Obama — Clinton said, “I think it was the right thing to do.”
But does anyone think that the media will point that out? That Democrats will own up to their roll in starting this rolling-around-in-the-mud style of politics? Will Democrats ever admit that maybe their hyperbole about Republicans wanting to poison the air, starving children, throw the elderly out in the street, burn Black churches, drag Blacks down the street from behind our pickup trucks might have been over the top…just a hair?
Nope, they’ll continue to use the term “swiftboating” out of context, they’ll blame Karl Rove instead of admitting that they created Karl Rove…and Ann Coulter…and Rush Limbaugh, and all of the rest who’ve turned the tables on them since 1992.
Category: Politics
