Letters to the Editor
-
"Overheated rhetoric and personal attacks on our opponents distract..."
Speaking of overheated rhetoric and personal attacks, Geraldine Ferraro has submitted her resignation from Her Imperial Majesty's campaign.
About time.
-
Great
McCain is smarter and classier than Clinton. God help the country if she gets the nomination.
-
Good for him
I'm glad to see McCain trying to inspire civility in his campaign. Whatever else he is guilty of, that at least is classy.
Maybe Clinton will be shamed into doing the same. Well, a man can dream. . .
-
I wish I could quit you, John McCain
Everytime I'm ready to write him off as another republican hack with the whitehouse in his eyes, he says something reasonable which makes me respect him again.
Of course tomorrow he may talk about blowing the bejeezus out of Syria and I'll know life is back to normal.
-
Wow. Maybe Clinton will get the message.
Just kidding. Of course she won't, and she's even in the same party as Obama!
Her primary interest now IMHO is to completely ruin any chance of an Obama win in the general election so that she's got a shot in 2012. She's read the writing on the wall that she hasn't a snowball's change in hell of getting the nomination, so she figures this is her best shot at getting the presidency before she turns 70.
Too bad she's burned so many Democratic bridges that she's going to have a hard time getting back our votes in 2012.
Oh and for the record, unlike 25% of Clinton voters, I will probably hold my nose and vote for whomever gets the Democratic nod, even though I'm an Obama supporter. Again, it's an easy thing for me to say because she won't be it, but still...
-
Two quick things...
I almost hate to say this, but McCain has done several things that show actual class and dignity befitting a national campaign, which a) makes me cynically wonder how long it will last and b) completely explains why Republicans hate him so much.
Second, how long until we can officially call this kind of attack "pulling a Ferraro?"
-
Good for McCain -- he's showing more discipline than Clinton!
John McCain might go negative down the line, but I am glad he's at least trying to make a show of staying legitimate. I am inclined to at least believe in McCain's sincerity that he wants to avoid racial divisiveness. For one thing, doing so is a sure way to lose ALL potential independent swing voters who aren't given to racism. For another thing, McCain was the target of one of Karl Rove's worst attacks -- the push-poll messages in (I forget which state....a Carolina?) where voters were given the impression that McCain had an illegitimate black baby.
It is a sad commentary when McCain's tactics are more dignified than Clinton's.
Speaking of which, Barack Obama had a terrific response to the Geraldino Ferraro comments just now. Obama said:
"Part of what I think Geraldine Ferraro is doing, and I respect the fact that she was a trailblazer, is to participate in the kind of slice and dice politics that's about race and about gender and about this and that, and that's what Americans are tired of because they recognize that when we divide ourselves in that way we can't solve problems."
This response is perfect. Obama calls Ferraro out with a precise description of the method and intent of her tactic. There is no way the Clinton campaign can respond to this directly, because it is unassailably true. That's why Obama deserves to win -- he's not escalating things, he's not counter-punching with the same methodology. He's taking the larger view of what's going on, showing things for what they are and then explaining why they're wrong. That's what the U.S. needs in its political discourse!
It's worth noting that Ferraro has been nothing but defensive over all this. Hillary Clinton, for her part, has distanced herself from the statements but not outright condemned them. There has been no discussion of whether Clinton will fire Ferraro from the campaign (which of course would hurt Clinton badly, given that Ferraro's symbolism to the feminist casue). Though people are right when they say this isn't equivalent to the "Hillary Clinton is a monster" gaffe of Samantha Power, I think people should consider what it means that Obama is willing to fire somebody who goes insultingly low and Clinton is not.
-
Speaking of surrogates
"Alex K
Since you're catching up on things that were temporarily on the back burner because of the Spitzer mess, might we expect to see a thread started on Geraldine Ferraro's comments?
In particular I'd like to know if Hillary Clinton has denounced, renounced, or rejected those comments.
Also, have those (three?) members of Congress who called for Samantha Power's firing also demanded that Ferraro be fired?
Thanks in advance for answering.
-- Brian Lupiani Wednesday, March 12, 2008 12:21 PM"
Since then, Ferraro has reportedly resigned, though you wouldn't know it in the War Room if it wasn't for pubius maximus' comment above. Thanks, pm.
Here's an excerpt from a pre-resignation AP article on Yahoo news:
""Part of what I think Geraldine Ferraro is doing, and I respect the fact that she was a trailblazer, is to participate in the kind of slice and dice politics that's about race and about gender and about this and that, and that's what Americans are tired of because they recognize that when we divide ourselves in that way we can't solve problems," Obama said on NBC's "Today" show.
Later, at a news conference in Chicago, Obama said he did not think Ferraro's comments were racist.
"I think that her comments were ridiculous. I think they were wrong-headed," he said. "The notion that it is a great advantage to me to be an African American named Barack Obama and pursue the presidency, I think, is not a view that has been commonly shared by the general public.""
Class act. Of course, some Hillary supporters will say he obviously doesn't have the balls to be more forceful and fight dirty like the GOP will - and other Hillary supporters will say he's just too mean and is again injecting race into the campaign and playing the victim.
-
That's nice
if it's true. I've learned to take what these people say with a grain of salt. Politics isn't necessarily about being honest, even when you're claiming you are.
Be that as it may, being nice when you're trying to get something out of someone isn't particularly impressive. My concern is not with whether McCain can avoid the foul language while he's on the campaign trail. It's whether he can restrain his violent impulses when he's actually the President. That's when it's going to count. He's reported to have a rather trigger-happy id, so I think I'll reserve judgment on his civility, thanks.