Getting Nastier in the Democratic Primary
April 21st, 2008 at 09:34am Mark Noonan
Mud being flung at a rapid clip:
Capping a frenzied final weekend of campaigning in Pennsylvania, the Democratic presidential candidates escalated their attacks on each other in speeches and in a last-minute barrage of advertisements on Sunday, aiming at voters who are still undecided just two days before the state’s marathon primary battle culminates.
The Clinton campaign released an ad accused Senator Barack Obama of taking money from lobbyists over the last 10 years, while the Obama campaign fired back in its own commercial, describing the Clinton ad as misleading and complaining of “11th-hour smears.” The back and forth came as Mr. Obama on Saturday called Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton a “slash-and-burn” game player who will do anything to win.
I’m trying to figure out if Obama was dumb enough to not know Clinton is a slash and burn politician, or is he just whining now that the slashing and burning is directed at him? This is the way the Clintons’ operate, Obama - mean, nasty, knee-to-groin, pour-salt-in-the-wound politics…and that is when they’re being nice. They are also relentlessly dishonest…though, Senator, you seem to have a problem with the truth, as well.
Anyways…
The big question: can the growing divisions be healed by the eventual nominee in time for the fall campaign? Remember, the Democratic convention doesn’t start until August 25th. If this doesn’t get resolved until the convention, then the Democratic candidate will have only about 10 weeks to put humpty-dumpty back together again AND reach out enough to independents to beat McCain. I know Democrats who won’t vote for Obama and vice versa…positions are hardening; some people in Democratic ranks are viewing Obama as a wimp, others are viewing Hillary as a soul-destroying emissary of the nether regions (which isn’t strictly true). Meanwhile, except for hardened, Bush-hating, fanatic lefties, McCain comes across as a reasonable alternative.
It may get very interesting come October…
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Democrats
17 Comments
1. Joe | April 21st, 2008 at 10:18 am
That damn main stream media is always talking such bad things about this Democratic campaign. I wish they would just report the GOOD things!!
2. Democratic » Gettin&hellip | April 21st, 2008 at 11:42 am
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today on Getting Nastier in the Democratic PrimaryHere’s a quick excerptMud being flung at a rapid clip: Capping a frenzied final weekend of campaigning in Pennsylvania, the Democratic presidential candidates escalated their attacks on each other in speeches and in a last-minute barrage of advertisements on … […]
3. phnx | April 21st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
The MSM is reporting that almost 200,000 republicans have switch over the dem party in PA. The buzz is that these are disaffected Republicans who will vote for Obama. because they want change. Some probably do, or are simply captivated by the cult of personlaity that is Obamania.
I personally know about a dozen who have switch party affiliation…but not because they will vote for a dem in the Novemeber.
Only one more day before we can vote in Operation Chaos. heh heh heh
We want to see the soap opera continue to the convention in Denver. The dems are sooo entertaining.
4. OhioOrrin | April 21st, 2008 at 1:37 pm
phnx - exactly what I & many I know did in Ohio & from what I read, Texas also.
the pundits r totally missing this phenom.
5. sam | April 21st, 2008 at 3:06 pm
hahaha…wow, you talk about the democrats as if they have been the ones in power during the past 8 disastrous years in America…..
I can’t wait til the election, the dems will win by a landslide…..youll see..
6. OperationChaos | April 21st, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Ya know sammie-jo, the dems haven’t been in power during the past 8 years, but they have been in power the past two, and what has occurred?
Let’s see: an economic slowdown, mortgage crisis, astronomic rise in both gas and food prices.
Of course, sammie-jo, in your warped world, it’s all Bush’s fault, because in your warped world, he’s the one in charge. Civics lesson, sammie-jo: There are three separate branches of government, independent of one another.
Can you even name them, sammie-jo?
7. OperationChaos | April 21st, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Earbama’s a big baby: “Boo-hoo,” cries Earbama, “They’re picking on me! They ask me tough questions! I’m the messiah; don’t they know?”
8. Riothouse | April 21st, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Deleted - slanderous attack on an American hero.
9. ViralNexus | April 21st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Chaos, you’re an idiot. For one thing, the Dems haven’t held their one seat majority for two years yet. Secondly the issues that you pointed to and infered that the Dems are to blame for are BS. No you can’t blame one solitary person for all that has occured and is occuring. Though you can definitely point to bad policy and find the links. Economic slowdown and mortgage crisis are a monster all their own headed by a greedy few and this culture of debt that we so cherish. It’s a no brainer that when most people have far more debt than assets and 70% of our GDP is based on consumer spending- there is going to be problems. Not only do we accumulate massive amounts of debt but then we turn around and invest in bad debt- that has to change.
An astronomic rise in both food and gas prices however can be attributed directly to your boy. Anyone who even tries to rationalize that two wars in the region with the largest output of crude oil does not cause gas prices to rise is inept at best and a moron at worse. Then add the profit motivations of a handful of corporate petroleum companies and you have a masive rise is in fuel prices. The rise in food is directly attributed to Bush’s plans to increase the output of Ethanol. That one threw me for a loop when Bush pushed legislation for the production of corn and grain ethanol. We are horribly dependent on both as a food source as well as live stock feed. Now we have allocated a large portion of that to inefficient fuel production as well and this has caused our food prices to rise dramatically.
As far as this post is concerned- I think Mark horribly underestimated the average Americans disdain for the performance of this President, his cabinet, and his party. You can yell “That’s not true” however you have to look at the two leading contenders for the Democratic nomination. Do you honestly believe that either of these politicians would have been taken seriously had this been a successful administration? Grow up. Democrats may say at this point that they will not vote for the winner if they were initially against them to begin with, but in the end they WILL NOT vote for a Republican, period. And I also like how you guys are admitting that you are trying to rig the election by having Republicans vote as democrats so that they can switch back to vote for their party. That’s real classy. If you were really as confident about your party as you say you are then you would not have a need to cheat.
10. Timothy Horrigan | April 21st, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Hillary said one thing Mark must have liked… she not only admitted that our armed forces can obliterate Iran… she said she was willing to do it!
However, she made this promise contingent on Iran attacking Israel first. So as long as Iran doesn’t actually attack anyone, she will just sit back and let them be…
If we obliterated Iran NOW, we would no longer have to be worried about being attacked… at least we wouldn’t have to be worried about being attacked by Iran.
11. ViralNexus | April 21st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
TH- I hope you aren’t being serious.
12. dickvee | April 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 am
Past midnight in PA…..behold Operation Chaos!!! Clinton smashes Obamama….prolongs the agony of honesty agenda! Gives America more weeks of watching dishonesty, emptiness of thought, and a little bit of forced patriotism. More drinking and gun shooting from the fakers!! Too funny. Trudge on Hilbama.
13. Kahn | April 22nd, 2008 at 1:45 am
Joe, getting to know the real Hillary and Obama IS good.
14. OperationChaos | April 22nd, 2008 at 5:54 am
If you were really as confident about your party as you say you are then you would not have a need to cheat.
What a joke, from a joke. A kool-aid addict. VN, your sorry-arse party has the market cornered on election fraud. OC is not cheating; it is strategy.
Also, VN, if your party had a strong candidate, they wouldn’t have to hide their agendas and run against Bush.
Keep slurping the kool-aid, jerk…
15. InDaVa | April 22nd, 2008 at 11:36 am
Operation Chaos is a strategy but it’s a unamerican cheap one in my opinion.
However,the Dems had it coming though. The DNC insisted on punishing FL & MI and yet let other states move their primaries at will. Sorry, but the DNC got exactly what it asked for. Chaos. The DNC sure wasn’t complaining when Dems crossed over and drove the Reagan/Ford battle to the convention. Maybe they weren’t encouraging it on National radio, but Dems crossover all the time. Democrats could stop it if they wanted to. Why they don’t is beyond me.
16. OperationChaos | April 22nd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Operation Chaos is a strategy but it’s a unamerican cheap one in my opinion.
Just as un-American as all those crossover votes for McCain, don’cha think?s
17. InDaVa | April 23rd, 2008 at 11:58 am
Yes, OC just as un-American. I wouldn’t do it…to each their own.