I've gotten a lot of feedback from readers over the last couple days over my RFK post, and over the issue Hillary's controversial "assassination" comment in general. Some of you have been incredulous that I actually think Hillary Clinton was suggesting that a good reason for her to stay in the race is that Barack Obama could be assassinated. To you, I direct this post.
The reason I think it's possible—not absolute, but possible—is that the Clintons have a highly documented history of thinking and speaking in bald, ugly political frames. Let's just go down that verbal history a bit.
When the Democrats lost the 1994 midterm elections in a landslide due to a cratering of support among white, working-class voters, Hillary Clinton was quoted stating the following: "Screw 'em," she told her husband. "You don't owe them a thing, Bill. They're doing nothing for you; you don't have to do anything for them."
In response to a question about Obama's "hope" fueled campaign, Sen. Clinton replied that "Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act," Clinton said. "It took a president to get it done."
While criticizing Barack Obama over what the former president considered his inconsistent position on the Iraq War, Bill Clinton said of the Obama insurgency, "Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen."
After Barack Obama won the South Carolina primary in a historic 28-point landslide, Bill Clinton offered that "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."
Following an episode where Sen. Obama had the temerity to claim that the poor and jobless were "bitter" about that situation, Sen. Clinton piled on: "Sen. Obama's remarks are elitist and out of touch," she said. "They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans, certainly not the Americans I know, not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York.
Following her campaign-killing landslide loss in North Carolina, and an effective tie in Indiana, Clinton clung to a report "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."
So, yes, I do believe both Clintons are quite capable of saying things like "I should stay in the race in case ANYTHING happens to change the present circumstances." This is how they talk; this is how they think. For a while now, Clinton staffers have been telling reporters she's likely staying in the race through the summer in case Obama "implodes". Politicians consider the worst scenarios that might help them all the time. They benefit from them, too (see Gov. David Paterson).
I honestly don't think that Sen. Clinton thought she was saying anything all that controversial. And that's the creepiest part of the whole thing.
5/26/2008 11:37 PM
EZ wrote:
For once, someone asked Hillary a question and without meaning to she said what was actually on her mind. It was a very odd political marker to reference. Wishful thinking on her part I would guess. Reply to this
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