I saw the headline, I read the quotes, and still I didn't believe it. Finally I saw the video and I am still struggling with it.
When do we stop calling the Clintons great politicians? HClinton just mentioned the assassination of Bobby Kennedy as a reason that she should stay in the race.
She's officially a moron.
5 comments:
I know what she meant - that in 1968 the race went till June, so what's the big deal?
But, it SOUNDS like she was actually implying that she should stay in the race just in case Obama is assassinated, a thought which is definitely on people's minds, which is somewhere between morbid and abhorrent. And what with Teddy's recent diagnosis... Oh my.
From PJM:
This is the gaffe of gaffes, the Mother of all campaign faux pas. There’s no taking it back at this point. The statement is out there, hanging like a rapidly decomposing side of beef in the hot sun.
She apologized -- to the Kennedys, not to Obama. Shameless.
If nothing else, it'll effectively end any talk of a Hillary VP ticket.
We all know what she meant. I didn't ask when we should stop calling them motivated or smart or whatever. I asked then we should stop calling them great politicians. This was a bad, bad mistake It's not going to seem quite as bad because Obama doesn't need to bury her with it. But he could have buried her with it if he'd needed to.
Mondale was smarter than this.
I don't know that anybody ever called Hillary a great politician. Seriously, Bill's the one famous for his charisma and oratory and savvy; Hillary has never won a seriously contested election, and has a real workmanlike image.
But you are right -- this should end any mythology of her being a great politician, were there a serious narrative of that sort out there.
I wonder, five years from now, how much these six months will be viewed as sullying Bill's legacy?
Not surprising that there is a "controversy" around this comment, but I hate hate hate (and think it is a great disservice to political discourse, the election, and the electorate) labeling things like this "gaffes," and pretending that it makes a candidate "unfit." Rev. Wright meant that 9/11 should make Americans look in their own hearts before looking for revenge, and Hillary meant that the race ain't over til it's over. No mildly thoughtful or attentive listener could come away with any more sinister interpretation of either statement.
It's only a gaffe because we've been told to treat it that way, not because of the actual content of her thought or speech.
James, this is exactly my complaint about the McCain 100 years. Critics hopped on the "100" part of the quote, because if they'd used the "million" part, it would have been impossible to maintain the fiction that the critics misunderstood his intent.
Post a Comment