Archives for 2008

I see the new meme circulating in the Anti-Obama/Pro-Clinton blogosphere is that the Obama campaign “inflamed” the RFK remarks and created a media firestorm, which unfairly attacked our Lady of Inevitability:

But even as both sides tried to tamp down the flap, some Clinton supporters pointed out that the Obama campaign had responded quickly on Friday after the New York senator had made the remarks to an editorial board in South Dakota.

McAuliffe accused the Obama group of “inflaming” the issue by issuing that response and then the “hyped-up press” took her comments out of context.

Clinton’s supporters said Robert Kennedy’s son understood what she meant and her words were not about Obama.

“They had nothing to do with Senator Obama,” Clinton campaign adviser Howard Wolfson said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “And so there would be no reason for her to apologize to Senator Obama.”

Imagine that! Politics is being played! Surely we all remember this:

A political tempest over Barack Obama’s comments about bitter voters in small towns has given rival Hillary Rodham Clinton a new opening to court working class Democrats 10 days before Pennsylvanians hold a primary that she must win to keep her presidential campaign alive.

Obama tried to quell the furor Saturday, explaining his remarks while also conceding he had chosen his words poorly.

But the Clinton campaign fueled the controversy in every place and every way it could, hoping charges that Obama is elitist and arrogant will resonate with the swing voters the candidates are vying for not only in Pennsylvania, but in upcoming primaries in Indiana and North Carolina as well.

***

The Clinton campaign handed out “I’m not bitter” stickers in North Carolina, and held a conference call of Pennsylvania mayors to denounce the Illinois senator. In Indiana, Clinton did the work herself, telling plant workers in Indianapolis that Obama’s comments were “elitist and out of touch.”

Campaigning in Muncie, Ind., Obama addressed the issue at length. “I didn’t say it as well as I should have,” he said at Ball State University.

***

Clinton attacked Obama’s remarks much more harshly Saturday than she had the night before, calling them “demeaning.” Her aides feel Obama has given them a big opening, pulling the spotlight away from troublesome stories such as former President Clinton’s recent revisiting of his wife’s misstatements about an airport landing in Bosnia 10 years ago.

Obama is trying to focus attention narrowly on his remarks, arguing there’s no question that some working class families are anxious and bitter. The Clinton campaign is parsing every word, focusing on what Obama said about religion, guns, immigration and trade.

Clinton hit all those themes in lengthy comments to manufacturing workers in Indianapolis.

“I was raised with Midwestern values and an unshakable faith in America and its policies,” she said. “Now, Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it’s a matter of constitutional right. Americans who believe in God believe it’s a matter of personal faith.”

“I grew up in a churchgoing family…,” she continued. “The people of faith I know don’t ‘cling’ to religion because they’re bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich …

“I also disagree with Senator Obama’s assertion that people in this country ‘cling to guns’ and have certain attitudes about immigration or trade simply out of frustration,” she said.

If I use Hillary’s own words, will I be called a misogynist? I sure hope not:

“If you can’t stand the heat, don’t run for president because it’s a really hot kitchen in the White House, I’ll tell you that much,” she said.

No doubt. And if there are any Balloon Juice readers in Montana, South Dakota, or Puerto Rico, I sure would love one of those “I AM NOT AN ASSASSIN” bumperstickers or buttons the Obama campaign no doubt is handing out right now.

*** Update ***

Brutal.

The Fighter With A Glass JawPost + Comments (85)

Hillary, in the NY Daily News, always the victim:

This past Friday, during a meeting with a newspaper editorial board, I was asked about whether I was going to continue in the presidential race.

I made clear that I was – and that I thought the urgency to end the 2008 primary process was unprecedented. I pointed out, as I have before, that both my husband’s primary campaign, and Sen. Robert Kennedy’s, had continued into June.

Almost immediately, some took my comments entirely out of context and interpreted them to mean something completely different – and completely unthinkable.

I want to set the record straight: I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year’s primary contest is nothing unusual. Both the executive editor of the newspaper where I made the remarks, and Sen. Kennedy’s son, Bobby Kennedy Jr., put out statements confirming that this was the clear meaning of my remarks. Bobby stated, “I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.”

I realize that any reference to that traumatic moment for our nation can be deeply painful – particularly for members of the Kennedy family, who have been in my heart and prayers over this past week. And I expressed regret right away for any pain I caused.

But I was deeply dismayed and disturbed that my comment would be construed in a way that flies in the face of everything I stand for – and everything I am fighting for in this election.

Like I said the other day– “PS- In pure Clintonian fashion, expect her to play the victim tomorrow. Why, she just made an innocuous statement about the election timeline and all these Obama supporters are trying to push the little woman out.”

She is Hillary, she is the victim, and that really is all she has left. She has now turned her stupid and insensitive remarks into a speech why you SHOULD vote for her. Pathetic.

*** Update ***

Heh:

Barack Obama has just retired Hillary Clinton in the top half of the ninth inning of the seventh game of the American League Championship Series.

He’s the home team, and he’s leading 9-7, so he’s already won, not just the game, but also the series.

But Clinton is insisting on taking the field to play out the final meaningless frame. It’s never been done before in the history of baseball, but Obama, being a gentleman, is obliging.

Strangely, the umpires don’t do anything to stop the game from continuing, even though it’s completely under their control.

It gets funnier.

So PredictablePost + Comments (197)