Clinton, Obama fight escalates
James Forsyth 12:13am
The Clinton-Obama fight is turning increasingly nasty and personal. In Washington, there is much talk about how the party can be put together again after the primaries. Tensions have been raised still further today with a prominent black supporter of the Clintons, the prominent entrepreneur Bob Johnson, appearing to raise both Obama’s youthful drug use and the question of how ‘black’ he is.
Johnson told an audience in South Carolina, which is a must-win state for Obama: Johnson also went off on a bizarre riff comparing Obama to Sidney Poitier in the movie Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, a film about a black man dating a white woman.
“I am frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that–- I won’t say what he was doing, but he said it in his book."
The Clinton campaign are doing damage control and sent out a statement from Johnson saying that he was only referring to Obama’s community work. But following Bill Shaheen’s speculation about whether Obama would be asked if he had ever dealt drugs and Hillary strategist Mark Penn dropping the word “cocaine” into an interview about Shaheen’s comments it is hard to give the Clinton campaign the benefit of the doubt on this. Ever since Obama entered the race, the Clintons have abided by the old campaign adage that your opponent can’t speak while they’ve got your fist in their mouth. This has been a huge strategic mistake. They would have been much better off hugging Obama to death. Hillary should have talked about how exciting a figure he was, how she hoped that he would play a crucial role in her administration and the like. That would have persuaded Democratic primary voters that, to borrow a phrase, they could buy one and get one free.
The split results in Iowa and New Hampshire suggest that Democrartic voters want both experience and inspiration. If Hillary had hinted that she saw Obama as the future of the party, she could have persuaded people that a vote for her would allow them to have both.
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Comments
Daleesp
January 14th, 2008 12:31amAs I get to know SOME background on Barack I am loosing faith in him. I am a minority and more importantly I am American. I have a problem with Barack Obama's church having a 10 point vision that includes: A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA. see http://www.tucc.org/about.htm I didn't realize how little I knew of Barack Obama.
paul
January 14th, 2008 2:58amIs there a support group for astroturfers Daleesp?
Simon
January 14th, 2008 8:42amVery good piece. It would be a great day if Obama prevailed.
Jamie Cooke
January 14th, 2008 12:48pmGood point about the 'hugging to death' - the Democrats are in danger of missing a golden opportunity to seal potentially the next 16 years in the White House, with President Clinton followed by President Obama. The consolation for the party is that the Republicans are so scattered just now that they may manage to win the election by default. It's going to take some damage control once the nomination is decided to get things back on track though.
David Lindsay
January 14th, 2008 4:43pmNeed Hillary Clinton worry? Unlike the Republicans these days, the Democrats still have superdelegates, party grandees who are ex officio full voting members of the Convention and free to align entirely as they please. From Bill Clinton himself down, these are overwhelmingly cogs in the Clinton machine. Both parties are looking at brokered Conventions this year. But on the Democratic side, Bill Clinton’s wife, notable for nothing else, would in that case be home and dry, regardless of the votes cast in caucuses and primaries. The only way of preventing this humiliating spectacle is by preventing a brokered Convention. In other words, by voting for John Edwards.