Reality in the Light of the General Election
12 December 2007 4:22 pm by Taylor Marsh
Reality in the Light of the General Election updated
It’s official. It’s now a kerfuffle. It’s also instructive. Welcome to the
glare of what will happen come general election time. Because if you think the
love fest for Mr. Obama will last through the general if he’s our nominee you need to up your meds.
Shaheen
said this today:
“The Republicans are not going to give up without a fight … and one
of the things they’re certainly going to jump on is his drug use,” said
Shaheen, the husband of former N.H. governor Jeanne Shaheen, who is planning
to run for the Senate next year. Billy Shaheen contrasted Obama’s openness
about his past drug use — which Obama mentioned again at a recent campaign
appearance in New Hampshire — with the approach taken by George W. Bush in
1999 and 2000, when he ruled out questions about his behavior when he was
“young and irresponsible.”Shaheen said Obama’s candor on the subject would “open the door”
to further questions. “It’ll be, ‘When was the last time? Did you ever
give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?’” Shaheen said. “There
are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It’s hard to overcome.”
Talk about stepping over the line. Shaheen’s comments about “When
was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?”
should never have been uttered. Seriously, “did you ever give drugs
to anyone?”
The Clinton campaign responds:
Senator Clinton is out every day talking about the issues that matter to
the American people. These comments were not authorized or condoned by the
campaign in any way.
Obama’s camp responded to Shaheen earlier by calling Shaheen’s attack “increasingly
dangerous”:
“Hillary Clinton said attacking other Democrats is the ‘fun part’ of
this campaign, and now she’s moved from Barack Obama’s kindergarten years
to his teenage years in an increasingly desperate effort to slow her slide
in the polls. Senator Clinton’s campaign is recycling old news that Barack
Obama has been candid about in a book he wrote years ago, and he’s talked
about the lessons he’s learned from these mistakes with young people all across
the country. He plans on winning this campaign by focusing on the issues that
actually matter to the American people,” said Plouffe.
That said, who opened this door? Obama talked about using cocaine and did so
openly and honestly. This wasn’t an oppo dump. He served it up to inoculate
himself, getting in front of it. Good for him.
However, do you think for a second Republicans won’t use it if Obama wins the
nomination? Reality check.
Right now Obama’s in the love zone; the critique free space of media euphoria. Do
you think this will last come the general election? Have I.Q.s dropped significantly
since 2004? In the euphoria of the 2006 Democratic juggernaut do people not
remember what Republicans are capable of doing behind the scenes?
Get a grip.
Imagine Obama’s answer to banning handguns when put on the wingnut spit of
right-wing radio, Fox “News,” Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, et al.
Think of all those Republican front groups and what they’ll do when they get
a hold of this information. The illegal driver’s license nugget will be another taste treat for the right-wing xeonophobes. John Edwards knows how the general election works and dodged that bullet in the debate. And the “values” coalition will run amok over
the cocaine revelation, regardless of whether some of us believe honesty is
the best policy, especially if you’re of a generation who has used recreational
drugs, myself included. But do you believe Republicans won’t serve it up in
the general?
Truth and righteousness have never been a sure win Democratic defense against the Republican
machine.
Some people are aghast!, aghast! that people are bringing up what
our candidate will face once the glow of the nomination fades and the Democratic
nominee is staring down an unfriendly media once again that hones in on our
candidate’s negatives. It’s going to be that way with any candidate.
Clinton has faced negative books abounding this year, all rehashing the Lewinski
greatest hits, plus every marital angle that can be cultivated. They’ll try it again in the general. But that’s an awfully old
horse to ride. The books this year all tanked, regardless of Chris Matthews’
efforts. Hey, but does anyone believe they won’t try again?
John Edwards has been creamed, then recreamed. Once a fresh light, Edwards has been eviscerated for the most ridiculous things. Just the other day the Washington Post again served up the haircut insanity multiple times and did it without blinking.
Obama is different. He’ll be a fresh target. He’s the new guy on the block and everyone will be diving
in to devouring him. You think because it’s him it won’t happen? If so, you’ve been reading too much Andrew Sullivan. Once a long shot, if Obama wins the nomination he’ll be the
one they want to bring down, just like the hack pack press does to all of our
Democratic stars. After crowning him Mr. Inspirational, Obama will become the target, because the traditional media always turns on the Democrat. So Obama will have to withstand just what Clinton has had to go through for over 15 years.
So if you think for a minute Mr. Obama’s glowing press coverage of today will not
change once he’s the nominee you’re kidding yourself. The traditional media
will not stoop to asking questions just like Shaheen did today, however insulting,
bigoted or outlandish they may be. If you think otherwise, step away from the
magic fairy dust. You’re simply delusional.
Targeting the Democratic nominee in the form of outrageous insults masquerading in the form of questions is what the right-wing machine does best.
UPDATE: Mr. Shaheen has issued an apology: “I deeply regret the comments I made today and they were not authorized by the campaign in any way.”
