It's Impossible to be Proud of the Way Hillary Has Run This Campaign
posted by Cenk 04/15/2008 12:37:09 PM EST
I feel like asking the same question about elitists that
Jim Mora once famously asked about the playoffs. Elitists?! Elitists?! We're talking about elitists?!
The Clinton and McCain families both have over $100 million. Barack Obama has a father from Kenya and mother from Kansas. Who are they kidding about elitism?
I don't think money is necessarily the determinative factor in whether you're an elitist or not. And I think the Clintons did work their way up in this world. But to claim that a guy like Obama who built his success completely on his own and from the bottom up is an elitist is beyond ridiculous. In fact, it's worse; it's Republican.
Republicans charge Democrats with being elitists every campaign cycle as they themselves are dripping with money, status and privilege. And they get away with it every time. George W. Bush's grandfather was a senator, his father was president, he went to Andover, Yale and Harvard - and he claimed the Democrats were elitists and he was the regular guy you could have a beer with (ignoring the fact that he is an alcoholic).
And the media lets them get away with this insane shell game. You can say Obama went to Harvard, too. But one thing is for sure -- his daddy didn't get him in. There is all the difference in the world between having your family name get you into Harvard and earning your way in. One makes you privileged and upper class; the other makes you an American success story.
One more thing about Obama. When he got out of Harvard Law, he could have made a lot of money in private industry. Instead, he went to work for disadvantaged communities in Chicago. This guy spent his life helping the poor when he could have been stinking rich instead. And now they call him elitist and the media mindlessly goes along with it.
Meanwhile, McCain wants to give away billions of dollars in tax breaks to the richest people in America. And he has the nerve to bring up elitism? He married a woman who is a multi-millionaire. He is from the party that stands up for multi-millionaires. And he is going to accuse a guy who came up from nothing and helped others struggling to do the same of being an elitist? How can the media not see through this mind-numbingly obvious political hackery?
Now, Hillary is playing this game, too. And this is what pisses me off about her the most. She buys into everything Republicans say about Democrats. She has now resorted to using GOP Politics 101 against Obama. Not only is this damaging to our eventual candidate (every dollar she spends now is a dollar in McCain's pocket), not only is it infuriating because it has absolutely no validity but it is also ultimately self-defeating.
Once she accepts the Republican framing, she has done their job for them. Even in the wildly implausible scenario that she becomes the Democratic candidate, she is signing her own political death warrant by agreeing to all of the Republican attacks against Democrats.
If she wants to be the candidate who is reflexively pro-gun, accuses others of not being sufficiently religious and charges Democrats of being elitists when they're trying to stand up for the little guy, she can piss off and become a Republican already.
Seriously, who is still proud to say they are a Hillary Clinton supporter? Are you proud of this campaign? Has she inspired you? Has she made you proud to be a Democrat?
If you're a Clinton supporter at this point and you're honest with yourself, you know she's running a Republican campaign against him. You might trick yourself into thinking she is just being tough and doing what's necessary. But she certainly isn't the one fighting for our world-view and our vision of what makes this country great. You might think she has to win by any means necessary, but you're certainly not proud of her.
Let's elect a Democrat who doesn't actually mind being a Democrat.
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