The new argument is that Senator Clinton needs to stay in the nomination race because someone might assassinate Senator Obama.
She’ll deny that’s what she meant, but the implication seems pretty damn clear.
The Mahablog
Politics. Society. Group Therapy.
Well, we all remember what happened to Vince Foster. 🙂
There are many ways for a campaign to collapse, and bringing this one up rather than leaving it as a hypothetical was profoundly tacky.
A pity. She was a viable backup candidate before this particular comment, at least in the sense of doing very well in primaries in Appalachia.
I have to admit I watched the inerview with HRC, and didn’t think that was what she meant (waiting for Obama to get shot). But I can’t for the life of me figure out what the fuck she was talking about? I think she is starting to breakdown, it must be tough to be such a disappointment, didn’t her father always tell her she was not good enough? He must have been a real winner! Maybe she has some issues that are starting to creep out!
First her campaign said that the assasination tie is “absurd”.
Now she says she has had Teddy Kennedy on her mind alot lately.
I quess I could understand that, a fellow senator is dying of cancer and the first thing she thinks of is her own losing campaign, but maybe if her opponent is gunned down like Teddy’s brother was she still has a chance and should not bow out of the race. That sounds like the Clintons to me.
Wow.. That was a dumb thing to say. It does make you wonder if she’s using the power of suggestion to spur some of her racist supporters. The prospect of having to ride at the back of the bus for some salt of the earth redneck once Obama gets elected can be frightening.
I just saw the story on the local news. I was stunned. She’s absolutely insane.
It is my guess that she was refering to the fact that Bobby Kennedy was campaigning in June. However the Clinton haters – including the Mahablog – are ready to seize on everything and put their own twist to whatever she says. If she says “good morning” they are going to think that she is losing her mind – how on earth could it be a good morning since she has not quit the race. Frankly I am tired of all this nitpicking – and assumption by everyone who comments upon the democratic campaign that there are evil motives behind everything a candidate does – Obama and Clinton – and once the democratic nomination is sewed up – it will be on to nitpicking the Republican candidate too. This is NOT the way to select the next president of the US.
Shut up all of you
I would think that, if in fact Teddy Kennedy has been on her mind lately, that she’d have the decency to refrain from using another one of that family’s tragedies to make a case for her political ambition. But that would be because I would expect her to have compassion in proportion to her ambition. My mistake, apparently.
Using June 1968 to make a case for staying in the race in June 2008 only works if you ignore the fact that the California primary was in June that year, not FEBRUARY as this year. Bobby was still in the race because it wasn’t OVER YET.
This year the primary calendar is so out of whack that we have two states who are in limbo for going even earlier than they were supposed to. In relationship to the New Hampshire primary, June 2008 is equivalent to something like mid-July 1968, not that such a comparison sensible enough to make, considering the massive differences in the political situation!
So, it’s not only insensitive and tacky, it insults the intelligence of the listener.
And her ‘apology’ makes it worse.
I think Obama missed another opportunity to take the high road. He should have just recognized that she was just giving examples of primaries going into June and doubted she meant anything else. There is no earthly reason why he had to spin it as anything more. His whole shtick depends on avoiding negative politics, and he needs to take every chance to elevate the debate above “spin as usual” . Every time that happens Obama loses credibility with me.
Hillary, of course has no credibility in that area.
A long vacation at some monastic spa with hot mud baths, massages, no internet, TV, radio or phones, and a six-month vow of silence … that’s what I wish for Ms. Clinton.
Keith on Countdown did a special comment on it, and captured the outrage a lot of folks experienced with Hillary’s statement. It does not matter what she ‘meant’ to say…..she is tone deaf at the least, and bottom line destructive whatever she ‘meant’ to say.
I for one am so tired of having watched the whole country repeatedly try to explain or downplay GWB’s many stupidities, I surely don’t want to have to witness the same with another repeat offender.
Peter Pitchford:
I think Obama missed another opportunity to take the high road. He should have just recognized that she was just giving examples of primaries going into June and doubted she meant anything else. There is no earthly reason why he had to spin it as anything more. His whole shtick depends on avoiding negative politics, and he needs to take every chance to elevate the debate above “spin as usual†. Every time that happens Obama loses credibility with me.
Excuse me? I haven’t seen Senator Obama respond to Senator Clinton’s statements at all, much less “spin” them. You sound like a concern troll.
David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, was on Hardball this afternoon and he very generously said he didn’t believe Clinton was hoping for something bad to happen to Obama.
I hate trolls.
Peter Pitchford, Obama and his campaign did take the high road, and did nothing to ‘spin’ it otherwise. What source do you have to back up what you said?? Nothing.
Only a misogynist would assume that’s what Hillary meant by her RFK comment 😛
What an incredibly stupid thing to say, although part of me thinks there are elements in American society who will resort to violence to prevent a black man from becoming president.
Fedup.. It might seem like nitpicking to you,but keep in mind that Hillary crafted and tried to perpetrate a lie with her Bosnia sniper episode She has also employed intentionally divisive rhetoric with racial undertones to try and secure the nomination. So now, every word she utters warrants scrutiny because she’s proved by example that whatever she says might not be grounded in honesty, sincerity, truth, or goodwill.
In short, treat her like you would a cornered animal because in her desperation to seize the nomination she’s capable of anything.
the implication seems pretty damn clear.
The implication does seem pretty clear, but it clearly doesn’t say what you think it does. I saw the quote in its full context and it comes off really obviously to me as Clinton saying, “Look, historically, campaigns have often lasted into June–you don’t even have to look this up; we all vividly remember the day RFK was killed; that happened in June, and the primary race was nowhere near over.”
When I first heard people expressing shock at her for uttering this perfectly unremarkable factual statement earlier today, I thought it was just republican-style faux-outrage, and thought it unseemly for our side to be engaging in that kind of crapola. I’ve read and talked to enough people now that I genuinely do believe people were offended… but really, I don’t think there’s any need to be.
(I am a strong Obama supporter and Clinton critic, by the way. Just not criticizing her about this.)
Talking with a friend today–when I told him rumors had Clinton being Obama’s VP, he said:
“Obama better get a food taster.”
That was before this latest absolutely insane statement by HRC.
You know what else was great about 1968? The Democratic Party being fractured led to 38 years of Republican dominance! Maybe that’s what she was trying to say.
This is the first response from the Obama Camp.
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/ny-usclin0524,0,7579178.story
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said, “Senator Clinton’s statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign.”
It was all over the news and I think its disingenuous to pretend that this was not an attempt to spin Clinton’s remark as something besides an example of a primaries going into June. I think David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, was smarter than
Burton when he gave Hillary the benefit of the doubt. Axelrod would probably agree with me that Burton’s statement was not very smart. I attribute the mistake to Obama because when his spokespeople say anything, thats his message.
Any mention of assassination is probably not a good idea, even in a well intentioned context- but if that was thier point, I think that if they want to have an issue based, non negative campaign, then Obama and his people should avoid making such criticisms. There’s no points to be scored other than to just generally slime your opponent.
This was an example of an opportunity to elevate the tone of the debate and I’m not convinced that Obama entirely understands that. Obama and his spokespersons should stick to the main issues. The media are perfectly capable of blowing such side issues out of proportion all by themselves.
I enjoy your writing. I you can’t fathom that some people disagree with you and aren’t just being trolls then you need a vacation or something.
Peter Pitchford,
This is the first response from the Obama Camp.
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/ny-usclin0524,0,7579178.story
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said, “Senator Clinton’s statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign.â€
That’s IT? That’s not even spin. That’s a simple statement of fact. It WAS an unfortunate remark. It has no place in the campaign.
I think that if they want to have an issue based, non negative campaign, then Obama and his people should avoid making such criticisms. There’s no points to be scored other than to just generally slime your opponent.
So exactly how much is the Clinton campaign paying you to troll blogs? Because, dude, no reasonable person would have called what Burton said “slime.”
Fedup:
“shut up all of you”
I think the whole point of people posting to this or any other blog is that we have a chance to express our opinion and others can either react to it or choose to ignore it. Telling posters on blog sites to shut up seems a little beside the point don’t you think?
I tend to believe she was trying to spin the real truth as she often does. She says bubba didn’t secure the nomination until june “92”. Maybe so but he was the presumptive nominee, he just didn’t go over the magic number until june, so her comments are disingenuous at best, but I tend to think they are just like everything else she says: calculated and purposeful!