Saturday, February 23, 2008

Losing It

In every sense of the word...



So, was the conciliatory tone in Thursday's debate an act, or was this over-the-top outburst faux-outrage? As Hillary swings wildly from one strategy to the other, Obama just keeps gaining where he's behind, and burying her where he's ahead.

The mailer Hillary is so bent out of shape about is NOT new—so this reaction is clearly orchestrated. I guess she didn't get enough of a bump after offering an olive branch Thursday, so today she's swinging a club.

Before Super Tuesday, the Obama campaign mailed the same flyer out, and the Clinton campaign already (over)reacted...you might recall one of the Clinton spokesmorons saying it was "It is as outrageous as having Nazis march through Skokie."

Yeah. It's just like that.

Clearly Clinton and her advisors think there is something to be gained by sending the candidate herself out to have a meltdown while Ohio Governor Strickland stands there unsure whether to yell, "Testify!" or run the hell offstage. Hillary claims Obama is "using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove’s playbook!" That's a lie and she knows it. Karl Rove's playbook is in Mark Penn's briefcase covered in french fry grease.

During this press conference she decries Obama's tactics and behavior yet earlier today Clinton reiterated that Obama is not ready to be President, said he was another inexperienced candidate like George W. Bush and look how that worked out. Nice.

I'll be honest here. I wish Obama wasn't doing this. I didn't like the mailers the first time they came up. I think the mailers are beneath him and his campaign, and I'll agree with Hillary it speaks of a strategic dichotomy. But all of that said, the mailers are NOT "untrue" or "false," as Hillary claims—they are certainly NOT anywhere close to as misleading as the mailings her campaign has sent out (ie: the N.H. mailing that questioned Obama's pro-choice stance or the Iowa mailing on taxes that could have been written by Grover Norquist...)

And as for "behavior in the campaign"...

• Hillary wondered aloud if terrorists might test a new President with an attack on, yes, "Day One." And would Obama be ready, or need on-the-job training...

• Her campaign repeatedly made ridiculous drug-related remarks about Obama, once even asking if Obama ever sold cocaine...

• Her campaign actually brought up Obama's statements from kidergarten!

• Last week's preposterous plagiarism charges...

• The campaign email from just yesterday trying to link Obama to terrorists. This one is so fucking outrageous it needs it's own post.


And those are just the one's off the top of my head.

I liked you a lot more the other day, Hillary, now I wish you'd just go away already. You are making a spectacle of yourself.

--

Here is a longer clip of Hillary, that shows her start out by saying these mailers were just handed to her from the crowd (WTF?) and then includes a response from Obama.

More on Hillary's NAFTA tapdance

Factcheck.org on the Obama mailer, and Hillary's mailer.

4 comments:

Toast said...

So what do the mailers say?

Toast said...

Ah. Benen has it covered. That's pretty tame-sounding stuff.

Noah said...

Are you a hockey fan, Mr. F? If you, you know that part when the home team is down by 1, there 1:30 left in the game, they pulled their goalie and they're all crowded down in one end? You know all the cheap shots, hooks, elbows, rough checks, high-sticks and such that goes on in the last few seconds of the team's losing-by-1 death throes? It's Desperation Hockey.

Hillary's campaign is clearly in desperation hockey mode.

Anonymous said...

The two factcheck links include the complete texts, and the Obama one even has a pdf link. Check them out for yourself.