My admiration and thanks to the numerous Obama supporters here

[ruggerson]

who have objected to the concern trolls "Hillary is unhinged and angry" talking point du jour.

I've seen numerous posts from the more rational and less hyper partisan Obama supporters who see that Hillary is playing normal hardball politics here, that there is nothing unusual or wrong about it and that this is how primary fights normally evolve.

Concurrently, I thought Obama's press conference was just the right tone - he was dismissive of her charges in a calm, forceful way. He understands what's going on, and he gets what Clinton is trying to do.

This is run of the mill, hard fought primary politics. Those of you that occasionally let your blood pressure interfere with your gray matter might do better to reflect on the fact that in the long run, we all want the same thing - a Democrat in the White House. (or at least most of us do.)

[tekisui]

1. She liken him to rove. That was a bit much.

[jgraz]

4. Well, at least she didn't compare him to Mark Penn

That would have been beyond the pale. At least Rove has gotten people elected.

[Metric System]

6. And he's called her status quo, divisive and polarizing. His hands are far from clean.

[tekisui]

10. The irony in your response is amusing.

Her rant today re-enforced those statements.

[Tom Rinaldo]

9. Not worse than when Edwards implied there was no difference

between corporate Democrats and corporate Republicans during a debate trying to equate Clinton with Bush through that rhetoric, or when Michelle Obama initially hesitated to say she would support Hillary if she were the nominee, or when Barack bragged that he could hold onto Clinton's support but it was doubtful she could hold onto his.

And none of it worse than Howard Dean (who I adore) saying in 2004 that if Wes Clark (who I adore) won the Democratic nomination the 2008 General Election would instead become a Republican primary.

This is a hard fought primary campaign.

[tekisui]

11. C'mon rove is the worst. He is the lowest.

[ruggerson]

19. His mention elicits a reaction

just like when Obama's campaign ran up the narrative that Bill Clinton's "fairytale" comment was racist - that was meant to elicit a reaction.

[blm]

2. True - but she also knows that accusing your opponent of exactly what you are doing is Rove101

and if anyone has been running like Bush this past year.........

[angie_love]

3. I like your post. I've always maintained that I like Hillary

that I've voted for her both times she was running for senate. And that she is smart and capable. I don't mind disagreements and criticisms, the one thing I mind is when ppl say they will vote for McCain if their candidate loses. That to me is an oxymoron. The majority of Hillary supporters and Obama supporters are good people. I hope we can come together come November.

[BeatleBoot]

5. Some are going to totally freak when the real stuff hits the fan....

It will be a month of this:

[Bicoastal]

7. Isn't it unusual, though, to hold a nationwide press conference on something like this?

Ending in "Shame on you, Barack Obama?"

When I first heard about this story, I thought--well, this has GOT to be something serious. These mailers must call Hillary a communist or a Klan member or something. But the offending passages in these mailers really aren't equivalent to her displayed outrage. If Barack didn't respond in this manner to the now-infamous "Obama doesn't respect a woman's right to choose" NH mailers, why is she responding in this way now?

I don't think she's "unhinged and angry"--I just don't think this is good strategy.

[whoneedstickets]

8. As an Obama supporter, i don't think she was hysterical or unhinged..

..but she was one thing that she has been for a while: tone deaf.

She can't tell a joke without it seeming canned and forced, and now she's shown she can't do outrage either. She's a monotonic policy wonk who might make a great adviser but doesn't inspire me enough to want her to be president.

[ruggerson]

15. She doesn't connect

which, despite all the endless analyses of why she didn't run away with it, is for me the bottom line. If she had connected, her strategy would be brilliant and Mark Penn would be a genius. She never constructed a convincing narrative to answer "hope and change."

I would have told her not to respond with "experience." But try "courage and toughness." In other words, she's courageous and tough enough to take on the Repukes and the special interests and force them to change. "courage" and "toughness" does not implicitly tie you to the past. "experience" does and is a bad alternative to "change." She's had pretty bad advice for someone who could have afforded a lot better.

[MadBadger]

12. This wasnt sudden anger, it was politics. These mailers have been around for awhile now

SHe is raising them now because she is down. All I saw today was calcuating politics. I dont think she was unhinged, however I think many in the public will view her that way.

[ruggerson]

17. Calculating politics is not a bad thing

Obama engages in it as much as she. The entire narrative of bottoms up, empowering people, hope and change is calculated politics. This is how you get elected. By being the better calculator.

[Blue State Bandit]

13. Cheers to the voices of moderation!

The "DU for Obama" crowd extends the olive branch.

"We are not all A%@holes, not all enemies, just patriots who differ."

[NastyRiffraff]

14. Mine, too

I try to respond with thanks to sane Obama supporters when they post; I may well have missed a few. But I do appreciate them as much as I'm disgusted at the many who post their faux outrage and demands for Hillary's dropping out.

[Forkboy]

16. My thanks to the few voices of sanity left on either side.

They must feel like Sisyphus. :)

[woolldog]

18. What's odd is not the attacks

But the swings in tone and mood from one day to the next. It's like she has no idea who she is or what her campaign is about and so that changes on a daily basis.

That's what's so odd, not attacking one's opponent.

[Armstead]

20. I have to be honest and say I was really bugged when I saw her performance

I am probably one of those who seemed to be Obama concern trolls today.

But I had a viscerally negative reaction when I saw her performance today. It isn't just that I favor Obama.

Her attack was offensive and bizarre on a number of levels that I couldn't just overlook as "hardball" politics as usual. It was screwball politics. Beanball politics. Foul ball politics.

For one it was patently phony. She may have been angered by what she might perceive as mischaracterization. But that has been addressed before, and she didn't have to pull out all of the emotional stops to make her point.

For another, her "outburst" maybe might have perhaps been appropriate for a General Election against a Republican. But she was so over the top in trying to muddy up Obama that is was inexcusable in a primary at this stage....BTW, she pissed me off when she attacked Edward's talk about status quo politicians by claiming he was engaged in Rive style mudslinging too. That was far in excess of Edwards criticisms.

And finally, she just wasn't any good at it. You could see the wheels turning. Is that kind of ineffectual performance how you really want the Democrats to fight McCain? With phony outrage badly carried off?

[ruggerson]

21. I think one's preconceived feelings about a candidate play into this

I saw a genuinely angry, passionate woman. I didn't see one ounce of phoniness in it. Conversely, there are Obama supporters who react to him as authentic and inspiring and then there are those who don't like him who see virtually every remark as arrogant and phony. The problem with Hillary is that the rightwing long ago tagged her as inauthentic and calculating, so it was relatively easy for her primary opponents to pick up on the narrative: it was already fully formed.

[Armstead]

23. They probably do, but I give myself some credit.

I don't allow the right-wing to shape my perceptions.

My impression of both Clintons is shaped by my own observations of them over the years.

I will even acknowledge that she probably had a point in terms of feeling that Obama's leaflet misrepresented her. However she could have made that point without the emotional pyrotechnics.

Also, IMO, she gave up any right to complain about misrepresentation after her total misrepresentation of Obama's comments about Reagan and the South Carolina radio ad that painted him as a Republican,

[ruggerson]

25. I didn't see emotional pyrotechnics at all

I saw a politician who was passionate, but firmly in control. The rap against her is that she's a robot - then when she shows anything human she suddenly becomes a phony. She's screwed either way.

[TwilightGardener]

22. Sorry, I thought the ginned-up outrage and the "Shame on you, Barack Obama!" was

one of the worst moments in politics I've seen recently. There was a cognitive dissonance there between the fact that those mailers weren't new, and yet she acted like she had just noticed them and was outraged! OUTRAGED, I tell ya! Sent little shivers up my spine. Between the touching Hallmark Moment of the debate, and the huffy self-righteousness and indignation less than two full days later, it was like watching someone with emerging multiple personalities. And you never, ever "shame" your opponent--that's pompous and ridiculous. It was not a good day for her.

[Bucky]

24. I'm an irrational and hyper partisan Obama supporter, but I can't dislike Clinton

She's fought hard for many Democratic causes. I'm not a liberal McCarthyist, so I don't expect the lockstep discipline on voting issues the way Republicans do. If she beats my guy, I support her. Anything less is positively "un-Democratic".