The Low Road to Defeat

By BlackJack

Clinton and Republicans Join Forces In Attacking Obama?

The New York Times Wednesday edition features an editorial summation of the outcome, or aftermath, of the Pennsylvania primary vote. Senator Clinton's home state voice, which has previously endorsed Clinton as it's Democratic choice, now condemns her for the type of campaign she ran in the Keystone State.

The Low Road to Victory
New York Times - Published: April 23, 2008
It is past time for Senator Clinton to acknowledge that the campaign’s negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

We couldn't agree more. Sen. Clinton's scorched-earth campaign policy reached a level during the recent days that can only be damaging to the Democratic party and it's chances to regain the White House come this fall.

The editorial continues:

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.

If that was supposed to bolster Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she is the better prepared to be president in a dangerous world, she sent the opposite message on Tuesday morning by declaring in an interview on ABC News that if Iran attacked Israel while she were president: “We would be able to totally obliterate them.”

Where Senator Obama has run a campaign of hope and inclusiveness, Clinton's campaign has devolved into a campaign of selfish goals and divisiveness. As MSNBC's Tim Russert pointed out, Sen. Clinton seems to see herself as deserving of the Presidency and Sen. Obama is just in the way.

While it's easy for those of us active in the Democratic party to be angry with Clinton for possibly causing unrepairable damage to a once probable victory, it's also easy for us to be empathetic with many of her supporters. For many women, who have spent the better part of the last century struggling in the equal rights movement and dreaming of the day that a woman would be President, the reality seemed to be within their grasp. A year ago Hillary Clinton was the clear front runner and considered the obvious eventual candidate.

It's hard for Sen. Clinton's ardent supporters to just let go of that kind of lifelong dream - when speaking candidly some have admitted they resent Sen. Obama simply for getting in the way of Hillary's natural progression to the Presidency. Even now, when all mathematical possibility for a all-out victory is impossible, the Clinton campaign has sworn to press on.

To me this can only be described as a selfish, hard-headed policy that can do nothing but cause long-term divisions within the Democratic party. Many, including the New York Times, have noted the use of Karl Rove-like smear and fear tactics in a win-or-die campaign. In what may come to be a telling twist, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, owned by staunch conservative Republican Richard Mellon Scaife, endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton this morning.

Now, without a clear Democratic opponent, the Republican party has already begun to take advantage of the ongoing battles. A group of ultra-conservative insiders led by Floyd Brown, creator of the infamous Willie Horton ad that destroyed Michael Dukakis in 1988, announced they will launch a campaign against Barack Obama in the coming days. Brown and his group, the National Conservative Campaign Fund, hope to smear Obama's reputation among Republican and Independent voters.

It would seem to me that the Republicans are only responding to their own polling which shows their candidate, John McCain, has a much greater chance of defeating Clinton than Obama come November. They have decided to get involved in the Democratic primary by running the ads in North Carolina where Obama already leads Clinton. Essentially, by spending a little money running the ads to disrupt the Democratic process they can kill two Democratic campaigns with one stone.

Taken as a whole, while we have seen first-hand the benefits of a long primary campaign in energizing the party, recent negative campaigning and a quick look at the calendar tell us it's past time for Sen. Clinton to back away and let Sen. Obama begin his push towards November. Unfortunately, it seems Hillary is willing to be a polarizing figure within her own party and to take the low road to defeat for the Democrats this fall.