At times, it seemed Clinton was all but accusing Obama of being an empty suit. She warned voters not to be swayed by speeches that left them thinking, "That was beautiful, but what did it mean?"
Defending her provocative television ad suggesting he was not up to the challenge of answering the White House phone at 3 a.m. in a crisis, she told reporters at a news conference Monday in Toledo:
"I have a lifetime of experience I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain [the presumptive Republican nominee] has a lifetime of experience he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he made in 2002 -- a reference to the address in which Obama, before being elected to the Senate, had publicly opposed the Iraq invasion that she and McCain had voted to authorize.
It's a tough primary fight. I get that. But while Republicans are coming together and preparing for the general election, we shouldn't see leading Democratic candidates suggesting John McCain is preferable to the Democratic frontrunner. It's divisive and unhelpful.
On MSNBC last night, Keith Olbermann read a report that got the quote slightly wrong, but got the gist of the story. From a Nexis transcript:
OLBERMANN: Let me throw something out, (INAUDIBLE) I'd just saw on the Net, that is a couple of days old from Fort Worth, Texas. It's a CBS blog from a campaign when the eight million campaign stops. This is Senator Clinton saying, I only read it, I got to read about it in the computer, "I think you'd be able to imagine many things Senator McCain will be able to stay', she's talking about the campaign against him, "He's never been the president but will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience. Senator Obama will put forth a speech he made in 2002."
Is it unfair to say that she just ranked Obama third on this topic behind the Republican that she and the Democrats are supposed to be blood oath sworn to defeat?
MADDOW: That's what you say when you want to be John McCain's vice presidential choice, that's not what you say when you're trying to become the Democratic nominee for president.
OLBERMANN: Unbelievable.
There were points in the fall when Obama was accused -- in some instances, fairly -- of using conservative frames to make his case, which led some to suggest Obama was running against the party while seeking its nomination.
But as far as I can tell, he never argued publicly that a leading Republican candidate brought a better background to the table than a leading Democratic candidate.
Clinton's comments were, to put it mildly, disappointing. At a certain point, which I believe we're at right now, the Democratic Party's general-election interests have to be taken into consideration by the candidates.
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As I sit here today like most Americans, waiting for the election results to be made known, I am extremely dejected for Democrats everywhere. While I know some Hillary fans are likely cheering her resurgence in the polls in anticipation of pulling out wins today in key states, to many of us it matters HOW one wins, not just the fact one does.
The evidence is in, and one Democratic candidate apparently will use whatever means necessary to fulfill a lifelong held dream of ascension to the White House even if it means using the oppositions presumptive nominee to make the case for her own bonafides.
Its disgusting and reprehensible to imply that the Republican candidate is superior to your own party's leading vote getter regardless of circumstances. Hillary is poisoning the waters across the Democratic ocean and making it impossible that even her resurgence will lead to anything but more divisive, personal attack-driven politics likely up until the convention in late summer.
For me, this is absolutely, positively the last straw. I would not cross the street to support nor offer Hillary my precious vote, especially when her entire campaign is built on destroying the energetic coalition of voters assembled by Barack Obama that she has no chance of competing with fairly and on germane issues instead of contrived attacks and value judgments.
Hillary Clinton is bent on destroying the Democratic Party and unless the voters making their choices known today blunt her attacks, what once was a promising environment will turn as toxic to Democrats as her campaign of demonization of the most charismatic politican to capture America's restless hope for changing our future within the last two generations.
Posted by tonyroma at 2008-03-04 09:47 AM | Reply | Flag: Flag: (Choose)FunnyNewsworthyOffensiveAbusive
I'd suggest she just shot herself in the foot with undecided voters. There were a lot of ways you could take some of her previous comments, and it was usually possible she meant no harm - was just trying to be funny, likable, folksy, whatever. This one seems unambiguous; extremely contemptuous, negative, bitter and - huge understatement - unhelpful.
Maybe she's seen some different polls than her star-crazed supporters, and knows this is the end of the line for the Second Clinton Ascendancy. I devoutly hope it is, and anyone still loopy enough to vote for her must be living in a Hillary echo chamber. Mean-spirited, at best. Oh, and about that, "whatever happens, we're going to be just fine", Hillary? Forget that.
www.thecarpetbaggerreport.comhttp://www.drudge.com/news/104967/hillary-unglued-praises-mccain