Monday, January 7th, 2008...4:49 pm
God, Now You Too
See, I just want to show y’all that I’m fair. This morning, I took a shot at Hillary Clinton for something silly that she said, now I’m taking a shot at someone for taking a stupid shot at Clinton.
John Edwards…cheeses, what were you thinking?
Edwards decided to take issue with Clinton’s emotional display during a meeting with voters. Allegedly, tears could be seen in her eyes. Some pundits have already been bringing up Ed Muskie’s name, but as it turns out, Muskie wasn’t actually crying either.
Be that as it may, Edwards’s statement disturbed me. Here he is, quoted by ABC news:
I think what we need in a commander-in-chief is strength and resolve, and presidential campaigns are tough business, but being president of the United States is also tough business.
Implying, of course, that someone with an emotion or two isn’t “tough” enough. Ya know, after watching Mitt Romney these last couple of months, someone who can express a feeling would be nice. But hey, who am I?
What else bothers me here is that Edwards is kicking Clinton while she is down. Being someone who has lost elections twice (and worked for far more people who have lost), I can tell you that it sucks. She is looking at something that she has worked for for the past year possibly slipping away (and a rejection that is easy to take personally), she gets a bit moist-eyed. Why take her down for that? I’ve lost a lot of respect for him here.
Of course, the pundits who have been savaging her as some sort of robot for the last couple of decades are now criticizing her for showing emotion. It’s like that old joke: if she ever walked on water, they’d write that she can’t swim.
A buddy of mine that worked in the main office of the Wesley Clark campaign told me the story about the day he dropped out of the race. Instead of the usual self congratulatory speech, he read a list of the soldiers that died in Iraq the day before, and with tears in his eyes told his assembled staff that there are reasons why he ran for office and that its was their job now to remember the people on that list. You know, I’d like more folks who get emotional that way to be in high office.
NB - Todd Gitlin has a bit about this at TPM Cafe.
3 Comments
January 7th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I honestly do not think that you can compare the tears of an army general reading the names of fallen soldiers to Hillary’s little breakdown in a New Hampshire restaurant.
One day Hillary is the pit bull on the attack. She is the one with 35 years of experience. She is the real agent of change, blah blah blah. Obama is all words and no action, blah blah blah.
That doesn’t seem to work so now she must show she is human. So she spills her guts to strangers in a New Hampshire restaurant while the camera rolls. No Oscar should be given for that performance. It was really bad acting.
January 7th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I think you mayhave jumped the gun with your criticism of Edwards. According to the report I heard on POTUS08 on XM radio, Edwards was not aware of what Hillary said and did when he made his comments
January 8th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
There is an AP video today of Bill Clinton going very negative against Obama before some group of voters in New Hampshire. Bill’s voice is almost gone. I’m kind of amazed because Bill has always been known for his charm.
What is so obvious at this point is the tremendous sense of entitlement that the Clintons have. They actually believe that this presidency BELONGS to them because, by God, they’ve worked for it. How dare these young people and independents question the ability of the Clintons to rule? It’s really a pretty twisted mentality.
Well, half the country votes on Feb 5, so that is really the day of reckoning. Hillary could certainly still win, but I hope not.
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