Has anyone noticed that Hillary is methodically displaying the very stereotypes the right wing has attributed to her all these years? She seems dedicated to prove they were on target all along. Hillary is using the same slash and polarize tactics against someone in her own party that she previously reserved for outside opponents. Wasn't that blatant political blasphemy to proclaim that McCain is more qualified to be president than Obama? It's a knife in the back that the Party won't be able to extract very easily if Obama becomes the eventual candidate. The Republicans will have a scar they can rub sore with glee. A voter in Mississippi said it simply and directly: "You cannot treat your party members like they are your enemies." At least you can't if you have a modicum of grace and balance in your politics.
And what about Geraldine Ferraro's similar comment that Obama is an unqualified contender, only able to be in the race because of his skin color? This must be the first time in U.S history that someone has said that an individual has the upper hand in running for president because he's black. Her observation should go into the Guiness Book of Records. I don't know whether the stupidity of the idea or its viciousness is more remarkable. Ferraro was a high level operative in the Clinton campaign and was not reprimanded for sullying the debate, receiving only a gentle "I don't agree" slap on the wrist. Her continued vitriolic outbursts and the reactions to them led her to finally resign, apparently on her own volition. Hillary was virtually silent on the issues throughout this rancor-generating display by a member of her team.
To manipulate perceptions of the campaign, Hillary has appointed herself The Decider, anointed to establish which states are important and which are insignificant. Can you guess what she decided? The important ones are the few "big" states where she won the primaries. The others are merely "boutique" states (tell that to the people of Maryland, Illinois, and Minnesota). Now let's get this straight. Blue states that she won, like New York, California, and New Jersey, which regularly vote Democratic anyway, should count toward boosting her candidacy. But the many conservative Red states that Obama carried and could bring over to the Democratic side of the ledger in the election should count against boosting the Obama candidacy. This contorted, hocus-pocus reasoning is typical of the cynical Clinton campaign style. So is using fear, victimization, scolding, the gender card, the "how would I know if Obama is a Muslim?"card, the "finding my voice" card--and changing the inflection every day. Hillary, it seems, has come up with an inventive election strategy-driving up her negatives.
In case there's a feminist out there glaring at me, I'm not critical of Hillary because she's a woman, it's because she's Hillary. It's not her gender but her divisive, take-no-prisoners approach to politics that gets to me. I don't discriminate here. I feel exactly the same about husband Bill. And the thought of having them both back in the White House conducting business in the same manner as before is a bad dream. The kitchen sink, and surrounding equipment, should be fixtures in the White House, not weapons of political warfare. That style of politics wasn't good for the country when the Clintons lived there and will only bring gridlock and acrimony in the future.
It's true that the Clinton campaign has gotten some traction in recent weeks through a barrage of negatives. They've clobbered Obama above the belt and below. Some people think that's working. But in my view, Obama's quiet, intelligent, consistent decency will, over the long run, come through and win over a wide swath of the American public. And Hillary's caustic, unpalatable tactics, I'm convinced, will turn people off over time and backfire on her. I'm not starry-eyed in saying this. I believe, at this time in history, people are desperately looking for an upgraded political process, a change in tone that will foster civil dialogue and produce legislative results.
Let's get back to the famous right wing conspiracy. That cabal, or whatever they are, should be grateful to Hillary. She's given them a load of new ammunition they can use to bad mouth her and the Democrats if she chances to be the Party's candidate. Last week my friend phoned his wife who is away doing business in another city and she was gung ho over Hillary. This week when he phoned, the same woman couldn't believe the vicious tactics Hillary was using and said they were "appalling." The "conspiracy" guys would probably sneer, "I told you so." They would love to have her in their sights for the election so a bloody slugging match takes place, with conservatives, right wingers, and ordinary Republicans coming out in droves to vote against her and her party. The rest of us should be hoping for a different kind of candidate and a different kind of campaign.