Hillary Loathe Fest Drives Obama Surge

If Hillary Clinton said that pedophiles should be barred from hanging out in front of elementary schools you can bet that some in the bash Hillary crowd would scream at her for violating the civil rights of molesters. This is not crass hyperbole. The pound Clinton obsession has gotten that silly. Any, and I mean any and every little nasty snippet of gossip, innuendo and rumor about Clinton is instant fodder for the legion of talking head commentators, analysts, pundits, professional Clinton loathers, and many progressives. They take rapturous delight in dredging up, mangling, twisting, and distorting every past and present statement, speech, and item in Clinton's voting record to tar her as a walking political disaster.

Here are her alleged sins. Like hubby Bill, she is a business friendly politician that has taken some dubious, even contradictory positions on everything from the Iraq war to health care reform, wheels and deals with fat cat lobbyists and union top cats, and is a mainline charter member of the centrist Democratic leadership. On a personal note the knock is she is stiff, programmed, standoffish, and didn't dump philandering Bill.

But her two greatest sins are that she's a woman playing the White House game which traditionally has been a game for the big boys, and she plays the game better than most men. The other one is that she can win. Both explain the visceral hatred for her from right to left on the political scale.

It also explains why Barack Obama has surged. No one has benefited more from the anybody-but-Clinton loathe fest than Obama. If she wasn't in the race and his opponents for the Democratic presidential nomination were three staid, centrist white male Democrats, Obama's color and background would make him a curiosity item, but in the end he'd be the just another name in the pack.

But the Bash Hillary mania is so deep and pernicious that it has done the unthinkable for Obama.

It has given him a momentary free pass from the media and much of the public from any of the standard negative racial stereotypes of young and not-so-young African-American males. It has shielded him from the knee jerk double standard nit pick, dirt dig, and doubting whispers about the competence and intelligence of prominent blacks. The Fox Network which has never been accused of biting its collective lip on any politician with the M (moderate) , or L (liberal) words in front of their Democrat tag to progressive publications which routinely slay politicians for their corporate pandering and shilling have applied the hands-off, kid glove treatment to Obama's record and policy faux paus's.

Obama quickly sniffed the stiff loathe Hillary political breeze and has picked at and niggled over every Clinton word and alleged political misdeed in the Democratic debates and on the campaign trail. He shrewdly turned the chase for the Democratic presidential nomination and the White House from a referendum on Bush's gross failures to a referendum on Clinton. When Clinton tried to hit back she was accused of being divisive, polarizing and duplicitous. When a campaign aide rashly and wrongly played dirty political pool and dragged out Obama's alleged use of drugs as a kid, Clinton was forced to do a mea culpa for his bumble and seek absolution from Obama. It meant nothing. She was pilloried in the press anyway. This over the top dose of media cheerleading and gloating wrapped Obama even tighter in the cloak of nobility, a man above the fray.

When Bill dared say that she is a change maker too that was sneered at as a cheap effort to snatch at Obama's self-designated label as the authentic agent of change. Even the most cursory glance at his voting record as an Illinois state legislator and his wafer thin voting record in the Senate shows the exact same penchant for corporate and lobbyist deal making, and reliance on big donor campaign handouts that Clinton is pounded for.

There's a method to the Hillary loathe fest. The tip off came when former Bush political massager Karl Rove dawned his best wolf in sheep's clothing garb and pretended to give sage advice to Obama on how to beat Clinton. He did it for a reason. The GOP strategists see Obama as the softest of soft targets for whoever emerges from the GOP presidential pack. They think that in a head to head contest, Obama will bomb badly in the South and the Red State belt from Texas to Montana. That's a potential loss of nearly 200 electoral votes for the Democrats before the first vote is even cast. And with a beaten, battered and spent Clinton out of the picture, the GOP's big mud slinging mean machine will quickly chisel away Obama's Teflon coat and the subtle race-tinged Obama beat down would kick in with a vengeance.

But first there's Hillary. She has to go and Obama is the chosen one to see that she does.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press)
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Comments

[myname]

Earl,

You are trying to give an easy explanation to a complex development just because things didn't go your way in spite of your unabated attack week after week on Obama. We tried to show you the light and taste the champagne long time ago and you stubbornly refused and continued to attack Obama even when a large spectrum of writers such as David Brooks and Andrew Sullivan on one side and Frank Rich on the other side gave testimony to Obama's brilliance - now you should admit that is a difficult thing to accomplish. But you didn't care.

Now, you want to make Hillary a weak victim rather than the "strong leader" you told us she was and not taking responsibility for her failure but assigning blame to others. Let's face it, there was little substance to her candidacy other than having a powerful last name the "inevitability" stuff shoved through our throat by the media. But the race has come to a stage showing the empress has no clothes.

[MsLiz]

I appreciate Earl pointing out the Hillary hate-fest. Limbaugh's recent comments about post-menopausal women hit a little too close to home for comfort, and I hope other women "of a certain age" will see that he is also derogating them as well as Hillary.

Sorry to note a spelling error, or maybe just a bad pun: "Karl Rove dawned his best wolf in sheep's clothing" should be "donned."

[Psbro]

Thank you for your commentary. You are right on the money with this. Obama will lead us straight to defeat & we will have only ourselves to blame. He has become the Pied Piper for the Repugs & it is all about ego.

The question everyone needs to consider is this: What's going to happen if he wins the primary? They & most of the blog world won't have Hillary to drop kick. It will go back to the good ole white boys, hopefully big & beefy (for Matthews sake).
Do you think people will stick with Obama? Do you think FOX news will coddle him,MSM continue to breastfeed him? Even Romney is totally fascinated by this.
My prediction is, if Obama wins the primary Repugs retain the WH. In fact he could win the GE & Repugs would retain the WH. Hello folks, this guy will compromise every progessive principle away. Hate Hillary at your own peril.

[MartiP]

If the resumes of Obama and Hillary were switched, and a woman with a couple of terms in the state legislature were running against a man with 35 years in Washington politics including a second term as US Senator, and extensive global respect and contacts?

The woman would be laughed out of the race, if the resumes were switched. Gender bias does still exist in this country, bigtime, and Obama is benefitting from it.

[Sand73]

I must admit a certain amount of incredulity to the ascertainment that Senator Obama can’t win in the Red States. Let me assure you as a Democrat living in the reddest part of the Republican belt: Idaho, that the only Democratic candidate that has a chance of winning here is Mr. Obama. There is a vehement dislike of Senator Clinton in the Republican camp that is only over shadowed by the Republican disgust of her husband. The one thing that will stir most of my Republican neighbors into a voting booth next year will be a chance to vote against the good Senator from New York. The others of my neighbors that are more politically involved that do not have a tilted stance one way or the other that are already inclined to vote have all said that they would rather vote for Senator Obama than any one else running (this includes the lack luster Republican field). The reason given most often: Senator Obama may not agree with the Republicans but he will at least listen and consider. Imagine the United States of America being united once more. Is it a pipe dream? Probably, but I’ll take a pipe dream that goes awry over four to eight more years of stubborn get nothing done because of a blind undeserved hatred between two groups that each just want in the end to raise a family in a free society. If Mrs. Clinton could unite the whole nation behind her: Republican, Independent, and Democratic she would have my vote, but you know just as I know she can’t and hence won’t even make the attempt; leaving the only reason to nominate her as our chance to stick it to the Republicans, like they stuck it to us with Bush Jr. further perpetuating the cycle.

[Jude2004]

Besides being annoying, Hillary has no significant experience. Neither does Obama. Neither does Edwards. Keep looking down the list--maybe you'll find someone who does.

[cheforacle]

I have believed and continue to believe that Obama has a much better chance (as does Edwards)to beat the GOP nominee than Hillary. I think Hillary would be a decent President not a great one. She lacks her husband's communication skills. Meanwhile, Obama has received more scrutiny than Biden, Dodd, Kucinich and Richardson though less than Clinton. One of the problems with a Clinton candidacy or Presidency is that there is a built-in hatred of Clinton (on the right) which is so pathological it is not going to subside. This is distinguished from the dislike of Hillary on the left which derives (a) from her perceived centrism (ironic as people on the right believe she's a Communist) and (b) from the fear she has less of a chance to win which appears to be supported by polls showing how she, Edwards and Obama would do against potential GOP candidates.

[SometimesCrass]

Hillary is just a republican in sheep's clothing, as are Lieberman and Feinstein. The Clintons brought us NAFTA and the "free trade" rules, which have driven the US into subservience in many ways. More of the same is what Hillary represents...more of the shame, more of the lame, more of the same name and same old game. No freaking thanks...not while I still (seem to) have a vote.

[LizM]

Here's a little something for y'all to carefully consider:

December 17, 2007
Press Release

BIDEN Issues Statement Following Conversation with Musharraf


Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today after speaking by phone with Pakistan’s President Pervaiz Musharraf:

“This morning I spoke again with President Musharraf of Pakistan. I expressed my support for his recent decisions to retire from the military and to end the State of Emergency which he had imposed on November 3. I told President Musharraf that these steps were necessary but far from sufficient. I urged him to fully return Pakistan to the democratic path, in particular by lifting restrictions on the press, restoring an independent judiciary and ensuring that the January 8 elections are free, fair and transparent.

“Immediately following the imposition of the State of Emergency, the Bush Administration placed all U.S. aid to Pakistan under review. That review apparently came up empty: the Administration has lobbied hard against placing any conditions of aid that has exceeded $10 billion since 9/11. As I told President Musharraf, it is unlikely that Congress will be similarly inactive.

“The fate of democracy in Pakistan and America's future are joined – we have a profound stake in helping Pakistan succeed. Last month I unveiled a comprehensive plan for a new approach to Pakistan that would move from engagement with one man to engagement with a whole nation. The plan would provide considerable new resources, both economic and political. It would lay the foundation for a new era of cooperation, and strengthen the national security of both of our nations. But the first step must be a genuine return to the democratic path.”

[sonofloud]

Yes I agree, there is no way Obama can win.
Hillary is by far the best candidate and all Democrats need to rally around and support each other.
Focus your attacks on Bush and the Republicans.
Force the Republican candidates to distance themselves from Bush, that will further alienate the religious right. That, in addition to their own infighting between the differant Christian sects should cause the Republicans to lose.