Hillary shamelessly won't let it go

[Life Long Dem]

Hillary shamelessly won't let it go

April 18, 2008

BY MARY MITCHELL

Now I'm bitter. After 15 months of listening to Hillary Clinton tell the American public that Barack Obama's positive words don't matter, Clinton is now trying to derail her rival by exploiting negative sound bites.

She's had a field day.

First, it was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Now, it's comments Obama made during a fund-raiser in which he characterized small-town voters as being "bitter" and "clinging" to their "guns" and "religion."

Even ABC's Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopolous couldn't resist this gossipy topic during Wednesday's televised debate.

"Do you understand that some people in this state find that patronizing and think that you said actually what you meant?" Gibson asked.

Obama has already apologized for his poor choice of words. There is no reason for journalists to keep bringing this subject up except to generate more negative sound bites.

Maybe that's where the news business is headed. Everything from train wrecks to politics is entertainment.

Still, the sniping is getting old. In fact, some people are so fed up with Hillary's negative campaigning style, they said they wouldn't vote for her even if she lands the nomination -- by miracle or trickery.

Behind the scenes, the Clinton campaign -- a leg up in Pennsylvania because the largest demographic is white and working-class (the group that the state's governor has already said would not vote for a black man) -- is still trying to milk the "bitter" comment.

Clinton is engaging in the very behavior Obama has railed against, but voters aren't supposed to notice.

"he problem that we have in our politics . . . is that you take one person's statement, if it's not properly phrased, and you just beat it to death," Obama said, adding that is what Clinton has been doing for four days.

Pundits are now trying to tie Obama to dishonorable Vietnam-era history by linking him to William Ayers, a former member of the Weather Underground, a '60s terrorist group.

And on Wednesday, Clinton didn't miss the opportunity to remind voters that Obama was also friends with Wright, and Wright, God forbid, is friends with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Although Obama was a child when Ayers was a violent anti-war protester, that didn't stop Stephanopoulos from asking Obama to justify being "friends" with Ayers.

"The notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make sense," Obama responded.

Unfortunately, it does make sense.

Having failed to sway the voters with exaggerations about her 35 years of experience, Hillary has resorted to an attack that exploits lingering stereotypes about blacks and patriotism.

But we don't care.

So, if the media resurrects the image of a wild-eyed Ayers setting off bombs and links that image to Obama . . . oh well.

Too few of us care that this kind of political coverage doesn't give voters credit for having a bit of common sense.

Bitter? Hell, yeah.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/902194,CST-EDT-mitch18.article

[stray cat]

1. Is she wearing flag ear rings, necklaces and bracelets?

[meow mix]

2. must have flag panties

we just cant see the flag

[nxylas]

4. She supported a flag-burning amendment

Isn't that enough to show what a Real American she is?

[marmar]

3. I just recall the times Dems stepped in to defend the Clintons against unscrupulous Repug attacks..

.... Only to watch them degenerate into unscrupulous Repug-like attackers of a fellow Democrat. It's sad and upsetting. ...... Or perhaps maybe they never were what we thought they were.

[Life Long Dem]

5. Hillary should be sitting on the side lines.