Ellington

The New York Times seems to be turning on the Democratic candidate they endorsed, saying she took the "low road to victory":

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it. Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead.

On the eve of this crucial primary, Mrs. Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad — torn right from Karl Rove's playbook — evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," the narrator intoned. [...]

It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind with they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box. Mrs. Clinton once had a big lead among the party elders, but has been steadily losing it, in large part because of her negative campaign. If she is ever to have a hope of persuading these most loyal of Democrats to come back to her side, let alone win over the larger body of voters, she has to call off the dogs.

Previous Comments

ID

118860

Comment

One republican commentator said Hillary is playing their (republican's) role so well. Someone suggested it's high time Obama attack President Cinton's negative record while he was president. I'm still hopeful Obama can pull it off without stooping too low at this point. As we all know if Obama wins the democratic side, he'll soon see low attacks like never before. Anyone cares to tell me how the republican party can operate from a such a low place yet enjoy such high regards among so many people? I see why Revern Wright said what he said. I still didn't see the ex-soul brother Bill Clinton any where around last night. I guess after he hit it, somebody soon told him he needs to quit it. He won't quit it though. The formerly hidden other man inside has taken over. Desperate times bring forth desperate measures.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-04-23T09:19:08-06:00

ID

118861

Comment

One problem for Obama seems to be that this prolonged fight with HRC has taken him off of his game. He and his campaign have had to be more negative in response to the endless baiting by the Clinton campaign and her media allies. This could be undercutting the hopeful persona he showed after Iowa, one that offered a change to a more enlightened and inclusive form of politics.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2008-04-23T10:05:08-06:00

ID

118862

Comment

I agree Jeff. It's too bad Obama had to do it this early. I said during Kerry's campaign against Bush that Kerry needed to get down in hole and slap the piss out of the republicans a time or two to keep them and others from calling weak and to let them know there was a new sheriff in town. Some trash has to be obliterated. There is no way around it. We need someone again with Bill Clinton's ability to run with the sharks without getting seduced or eaten by them. I aver this is our last good chance to keep more republican trash from destroying our country and the world. Reagan, Delay, Gingrish, Bush II, Rove, Cheney and the rest aren't accidental surprises that happened our way. They are born and bread devils sent our way with a contract on America and the entire world. I have seen the devil and they are it. While I'd like to see Obama take the high ground at all times, I know too well that he can't do it with the abominable kind he will soon be fighting across the aisle. At that point, I would engage the gunfighter and ex-soul brother Bill Clinton to show us how to drive the devil back in the hole. This is why I think Obama should not attack or estrange Bill Clinton yet or at all. We will need all sides of clinton - soul brother, good white man or human being, player or lover and the latent southern white man. We might even employ Clinton to put the moves on Carville's wife or Coulter so they can show up their ugly traps. As badly as Coulter talks about Bill Clinton I know she has some freaky desires to get with him. I've seen her type before.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-04-23T10:33:06-06:00

ID

118868

Comment

As the hair-triggered man told the mad and agreeable woman, "after that I think I need to get up out of here." In other words, I gotta leave town but before I go, let me thank God for sending us Americans, a Barack Obama. Yes, I mean the interracial, smart, and competent black man running for president who is making lots of folks look crazy right now. Many folks are having hard times finding new lies to explain why they won't vote for him. I bet some people thought they wouldn't ever have to work this hard trying to deceive anyone again. I especially like what Obama's rise is still saying about some old folks - males and females. And I like what it's saying about some uneducated or working class people. But didn't we already know the story beforhand. Most of all, though, I like what Obama's historic run says about the young people of all races. I see hope in them! I hope Obama wins it all, but if he doesn't I will hurriedly refuse to let any more liars in my face trying to tell me how much America has changed.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-04-23T11:33:20-06:00

ID

118869

Comment

I've said before that if Obama were to be the nominee, we'll see attacks against him that have never been so low. To the point to where the late Lee Atwater would spin in his grave. We've already heard it from right-wing talk show hosts such as Michael Savage and the one from WLW Cincinnati, as well as an Iowa representative, who all refer to Obama as a Muslim. Not as a term of endearment, but as a means to attack him (though he isn't Muslim) and to invoke fear into Americans. Put your helmets on because when the Republicans start hitting, we'll start to feel it.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2008-04-23T12:10:22-06:00

ID

118898

Comment

I think the whole "third term for George Bush or Second term for Jimmy Carter" line I heard someplace sums it up. Unless Hillary wins it all.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-04-24T11:06:13-06:00

ID

118899

Comment

This remind you of anyone, Iron? ;-) curmudgeon –noun a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person. [Origin: 1570–80; unexplained; perh. cur- repr. cur] —Synonyms grouch, crank, bear, sourpuss, crosspatch. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-04-24T11:24:10-06:00

ID

118904

Comment

I take it as a compliment, iTodd. :D

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-04-24T12:57:33-06:00

ID

118906

Comment

Believe me: the bear part fits perfectly. But he really isn't bad-tempered or difficult. I'll give you cantankerous. :)

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2008-04-24T13:54:32-06:00

ID

118910

Comment

Iron, how is Obama like Carter? I was still learning to tie my shoes when Carter was in office, so I don't quite remember what he was like. :-)

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-04-24T16:35:47-06:00

ID

118957

Comment

The highlights of Carter's Tenure: 21% inflation Gas Hikes Iranian Hostages (Current Iranian President was one of the Hostage-takers)... ...and given his history of appeasment of anyone who critizes the USA by agreeing with them... No. Never again. The man never met a crisis he couldn't mismanage.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-04-28T13:43:29-06:00

ID

118960

Comment

Inflation, gas hikes - kinda sounds like now.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2008-04-28T14:10:31-06:00

ID

118962

Comment

Talk about your concise histories, Iron. Following your lead, then here are the highlights to Reagan's Tenure: - ERA Failed - Recession in both the early 80s and late 80s - Challenger Explosion and NASA's mismanagement - Iran-Contra Scandal Sounds fair, right? ... Maybe a trip to wikipedia could pump some air into this 2-D portrait you've painted? First of all, some context -- OPEC began limiting global oil supplies in 1973, under Nixon, who was otherwise engaged. Then, Dick Chaney and Don Rumsfeld made their first appearances on stage in the otherwise brilliant presidency of Gerald Ford. From 1973-77, oil prices drove inflation. Monetary policy targeted interest rates in the mid 70s, which didn't work; eventually interest rates were raised (the prime rate was eventually over 20%) and money *supply* was controlled. That helped with "stagflation" but lead to the early 80s recession. Meanwhile, Carter also presided over the Camp David Accords, Panama Canal treaties and spent considerable time on Salt II. He created the Department of Energy and created a national energy policy -- something that subsequent presidents might have done well to pay better attention to. And he created the Department of Education. He also signed the most comprehensive Civil Service Reform to limit the size of bureacracy...something he was known for as governor of Georgia. Oh...and he legalized home-brewing (craft beer drinkers nationwide thank him) and signed blanket amnesty for Vietnam draft dodgers. And this, by the way, is not to say I defend Carter as a particularly effective president. I think history judges him as hampered by his inability to deal with Congress and the bureaucracy. But he was given a rather broken country to try and heal, and he gave us some good legacies to build on. Likewise, he's done some amazing work in his post-president years.

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-04-28T14:41:21-06:00

ID

118963

Comment

More interesting reading...why did Carter have trouble with Tip O'Neill? Because he wanted fewer "pork barrel" projects coming from Congress, and said he'd veto them if they arrived.

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-04-28T14:44:17-06:00

ID

118972

Comment

L.W. mentioned that what Ironghost is referring to as the economic challenges of the 1970s sounds like now. That's true -- and it makes a good point. If Bush's economic policies continue to spiral us into an inflationary recession, then it'll be worth remembering that it's not automatically Obama's fault when he takes office in 2009. It would be just like blaming the economy during Carter's four years (1977-81) exclusively on Carter, which is what Iron appears to be doing. But that skips over a few other culprits -- Johnson and Nixon. In 1965, Johnson began deficit spending to support an expansion of the Vietnam War, which was the beginning of a 15 year inflationary cycle. Like the Iraq War today, the Vietnam War was a "guns AND butter" war...it was elective, and so the president couldn't rally the country to pay for it with belt-tightening and taxes. (Johnson didn't actually *cut* taxes to encourage his base to go along with him like Bush did...we'll see how that stroke of brilliance plays out in our economy over the next decade.) So, start by blaming Johnson and Vietnam. Then, in the late 60s and 1970, Nixon faced very troubling inflation as the deficit spending continues and his Fed wouldn't allow interest rates to rise. Oh...and we were going off the gold standard, which mean volatility to the value of the dollar (and more freedom for the Fed to mess with money supply, which proved a very temporary fix to inflation). It got so bad that Nixon pretty much flabbergasting everyone by deciding to impose wage and price controls in 1971. They, ultimately, didn't help. http://www.econreview.com/events/wageprice1971b.htm Then the 1973 oil crisis hit. (We're still talking Nixon, not Carter.) Gas is rationed according to whether your license plate has an even or odd number. Plus, Nixon's administration institutes price controls that allowed for lower prices on "old oil" (oil that was already found) than on "new oil," which resulting in oil companies artificially limiting the supply of old oil. :-( Remember the 55 MPH speed limit? Guess which president signed it...as part of the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act. (Starts with an "N". Famously said: "I am not a crook.") Seriously...Nixon might have gone to China, but his economic policies were his real legacy. By the mid-1970s the economy was in crisis due to inflation. With oil prices rising precipitously, inflation climbs again to get out of control as businesses (a.) tried to recoup profits lost to transportation and (b.) raised their prices because they were hearing all this talk about inflation. Likewise, the Fed of the mid-70s was doing the wrong stuff -- it had tried to keep control of interest rates and had increased money supply (after the gold standard revocation) in order to keep unemployment down and to try and control prices. Unfortunately, having more money (that was worth less per unit) encouraged businesses to raise prices...thus increasing inflation. With a dollar buying less and less, "stagflation" -- rising prices AND rising unemployment -- set in. So, in 1979, Carter nominates Paul Volcker to the Fed; with new leadership, the Fed releases its stranglehold on interest rates and they soar to +20% prime -- in an attempt to *make* the economy retract jobs, which would force labor to make fewer wage demands and businesses to lower prices to stay in business. The recession of 1982 is the result...after that recession, Volcker releases the money supply and those Seven Years that Reaganites love to talk about happen to the economy. But they were a long time coming. And here's a fun factoid for the Reagan revisionist in all of us -- Carter began much of the deregulation that Reagan continued -- people forget that Carter deregulated airlines, trucking, railroads, etc. Indeed, many of the items remembered as Reagan's de-reg legacy actually happened on Carter's watch. (Deregulation of the airlines was a Carter campaign promise, no less.) WaPo 1978 story Rethinking Carter

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2008-04-28T17:29:39-06:00