Bill Clinton Makes Josh Marshall Uncomfortable
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Hillary
don’t expect Bill Clinton, who’s not a shrinking violet, to be neutral in his own wife’s nomination campaign. But I have to admit that the intensity of Bill Clinton’s attacks on Barack Obama really makes me uncomfortable. I know there are a lot of Democratic party insiders, mostly older than I am, who don’t like it either. But I wonder if there’s not some generational aspect to it for people my age. I was in my early 20s in 1992. And really throughout the 90s you couldn’t be a bigger Clinton guy than I was. So it’s hard to see that history (and it’s quite some history) leveraged to muscle this campaign.
For the record, and as a Democrat, Clinton’s attacks don’t make me uncomfortable…they make me furious. So much so that I would consider voting against Hillary in the general election. Yep. I’ve said it. It’s much more likely I’d simply sit it out, but as I follow the Hill and Bill show it makes me want to see that vicious style of politics lose, regardless of party affiliation.
Josh, one other thing to consider…it’s unprecedented for a former President to go after a PRIMARY candidate like this, and I don’t think that historic significance should be lost in this conversation. Especially since Barack and his message have stood up so well against the attacks.
So that begs the question: if Bill was removed from Hillary’s campaign, would she have a shot? I honestly don’t think so. He has been able to play bad cop and attack Barack’s integrity and you know that’s translated into votes for Hillary. If she had to play the heavy, I think voters would be really turned off by that because it just reinforces the already mediocre image they have of her.
And so it goes…
UPDATE:
Looks like Barack is going on the offensive against Bill in an interview on Monday’s Good Morning America.
Drudge gives us this nugget:
Bill ‘has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling. He continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts. Whether it’s about my record of opposition to the war in Iraq or our approach to organizing in Las Vegas. This has become a habit and one of the things that we’re gonnna have to do is to directly confront Bill Clinton when he’s making statements that are not factually accurate.’
So there you have it. Barack is obviously confident enough in his record to have this debate. He’s also more than ready to remind America that Bill Clinton has a problem with telling the truth.
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Hillary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:21 am
“For the record, and as a Democrat, Clinton’s attacks don’t make me uncomfortable…they make me furious. So much so that I would consider voting against Hillary in the general election. ”
That’s whats wrong with these elections these days, people voting on race, sympathy, emotion, and vengeance rather than the issues. tsk tsk.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:30 am
Oh Justin. I respect your view point and right to present it. But with the US Supreme Court hanging in the balance, with 4 ubber conservatives waiting for one more to join them to undo what has been accomplished in the past 40-50 years, how can you seriously consider sitting out the election or voting other than for the Democrat? I find that unacceptable in terms of our personal duty to our nation. I will not do a thing to aid the appointment of another Scalia or Alito to this court. Particularly with liberal Justice Stevens expected to retire soon it is absolutely critical that a Dem appoint the next Justice (or hopefully two). I cannot recall the last time the court hung in the balance like this. The next appointment will determine where this court goes for decades. The Dem nominee will have my support and enthusiasm and vote, no matter who it is. I believe Dr. King would have agreed with this philosophy.
Why do people get so upset over these things? Why do people who follow politics as a hobby get so upset over these things? If my hobby made me so upset I would find a new one. Its a political campaign. Hard fought. High stakes. Both sides are entitled to fight with all they have. Bill is entitled to have is say and his part in it. They are fighters and will not go away easily. Thats what I liked about Bill back in 1991. He knew how to fight, and how to win, and he knew if you didnt win, you couldnt accomplish a damn thing. So he says a few critical things about Obama. Big deal. Fight back. From your post it looks like he is. Good for him. End of story. No cause for rage or fury or statements about not voting unless your man wins. If Obama cannot overcome this he cannot possibly survive the coming Republican onslaught which will make the criticism of Obama by Clinton seem completely kind and tame.
I really do not understand why political junkies, of all people, cannot divorce themselves for their fondness for one candidate for the purpose of writing about politics, and simply let the campaign unfold and let them slug it out without expressing outrage over what one candidate or another does. If we dont all let our heads explode in the process, our nominee will be stronger for it. And if we get into a childish revenge thing: “I wont vote for the nominee so there” we will lose the Whitehouse, and the Supreme Court, and a lot of progressive people will have to ask themselves why they allowed that to happen because they allowed themselves to get into a snit. There, I said it.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:54 am
[...] “Barry” Obama (H/T — in part — to MemeOrandum): Talk Left; Liberal Values; Donklephant; Drudge [...]
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
The Transformational Dream…
Bill Clinton’s recent emergence as Hillary’s principal anti-Obama attack dog has left a lot of people somewhat uncomfortable. We’re not generally accustomed to seeing this sort of bare knuckled political brawling from a former preside…
February 5th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I, too, am a bleeding-heart liberal who supported Clinton throughout the 90’s. But the negativity shown by both Clintons during this campaign has disgusted me as well, and I seriously don’t know if I could vote for Hillary at this point.