Olbermann: "Senator Clinton, this is not a campaign strategy, this is a suicide pact."
Clinton made a very big deal out of demanding that Barack Obama reject the endorsement of Farrakhan, going as far as to say that it was not enough for him to "denounce" Farrakhan's support, but that he must "reject" it also.
Clinton, at that point, set the bar rather high for how one was to condemn those who offered unwanted comments regarding either candidates campaign. It was therefore rather stunning when Clinton used such lukewarm terms as "regrettable" when denouncing Geraldine Ferraro's comments that Obama's campaign was an "equal opportunities stunt" or that he wouldn't be where he was were he not black.At a point when Clinton apparently saw an opportunity — when she said it was not enough for Obama to simply denounce Farrakhan; he needed to reject his support — Obama did not take the bait.
"I would reject and denounce," he said.
She has left herself wide open for Keith Olbermann's Special Comment contempt. She set the bar, but she failed to follow her own rules and to "reject and denounce" the comments made by Geraldine Ferraro. As Olbermann says, "This is not a campaign strategy, this is a suicide pact."
This has long been the point. Hillary's attacks on Obama have often crossed the boundaries of good taste, but when she failed to sufficiently condemn attacks that claimed Obama's only attribute is his colour and when the attacker then claimed she was being attacked for being white, Hillary should - by the very rules that she established early in the campaign - have spoken out instantly and harshly. She did not.Senator, their words, and your own, are now slowly killing the chances for any Democrat to become President.
In your tepid response to this Ferraro disaster, you may sincerely think you are disenthralling an enchanted media, and righting an unfair advance bestowed on Senator Obama.
You may think the matter has closed with Representative Ferraro’s bitter, almost threatening resignation.
But in fact, Senator, you are now campaigning, as if Barack Obama were the Democrat, and you… were the Republican.
And she did not because all Hillary cares about is winning at any cost. This is becoming more apparent the longer the campaign goes on, and it's becoming harder and harder to look at without wincing.
Hillary's campaign hit a special low with the Ferraro comments, and it was deserving of one of Keith's Special Comments.
6 comments:
I just listened to his comment on you tube. It was great. Now I am thinking that even the republicans will not reach this level of insidious racism reached by the desperate Clinton campaign. That's sad. Obama represents the America that wants to break with its racial past and Clinton is pulling it back.
Sophia,
I don't think McCain would dare play race the way that the Hillary camp has done. Nor is this the first time that they have done it. Bill brought up Jesse Jackson during the South Carolina election and it enrages me that Ferraro is continuing to portray herself as some kind of victim of Obama camp smears.
I have to admit Kel that I have seen these tactics in the past mainly from women and I am sad to say this because I am a woman.
This is non direct agressivity, and women excel at this; when attacked for a fault, most women are quick to turn the tables and portray themselves as victims.
I hope most women are slightly better at it than Ferraro is. She is blatantly trying to play the victim card when it's obvious to one and all that she is in the wrong here.
I run a blog that is aimed at the urban crowd and as a black man I'd like to go on record saying I don't think Geraldine Ferraro is racist at all. At least not in the way we generally think of a racist. She see Barack being black as an advantage and not a disadvantage. In a way she is right. His race does get him noticed but in all honesty it is not going to help him get elected at all. One of the other writers over at Highbrid Nation says Geraldine Ferraro is evil not racist, lol. He might not be too far off.
Mike, Thanks for that. I point out in another post further up the page that I don't actually think that Ferraro is racist, but rather when asked what makes Obama so popular she can't say he's experienced (as Hillary has grabbed that mantle for herself) and she can't even quote the man's rhetoric or ability to move crowds (as Hillary has already decided those are "just words") so she's left claiming he's popular because he's black.
There's no doubt that some people might respond to him because of his colour just as some women might want Hillary because they fancy seeing a woman in the White House, but to say that either candidate is where the are because of their colour or gender strikes me as simply dumb.
And whilst agreeing that Ferraro is not a racist, I do think she has introduced race into the campaign and we could all do without that.
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