Comments on: Bob Kerrey Apologizes To Obama Over Raising Muslim “Issue”

By: kritt

kritt — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:28:48 +0000

Part of the problem is the word “madrassa”. It just means a school in a muslim country and can be religious or secular. But the damage will be done to Obama, regardless of how the word was intended– (not saying here that it wasn’t intended to give voters the impression that it was meant in the religious sense)

By: DLS

DLS — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:59:05 +0000

Hillary Clinton, by her dissasociation (transparent as it is), can claim the (poor, sweet, female) victim role if she’s criticized later in this election for whatever she has her goons say or do to the other candidates.

By: John Sandberg

John Sandberg — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:45:39 +0000

Bob Kerrey is just a pawn in the whole scheme of things. The Clintons announced early on that “the fun begins”. If Bill could walk the streets and be taken seriously after doing blowjob in the white house, the Clintons know that they can weather the backlash from the Kerrey comments overnite. The damage to the image of the opponents is done in such a way that the Clintons hands are kept clean, but the dirt is smeared by the surrogates. Hillary often talks about how the Clintons are experienced at warding off mud from the right wing conspiracy. If Hillary’s mom was running for the post in the place of Obama, still Hillary would use the same tactics she is using against Obama. That is how cold she is. It is all about herself, for herself. The only thing not about herself is when answering questions, throwing mud and taking the hit. Then she has the surrogates doing it for her.

By: casualobserver

casualobserver — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:54:42 +0000

Ditto Ann Althouse.

Wake me up when the Swift Boaters and the George Soros moneys arrive back on the scene.

This grade school level of mudslinging is so ignorable.

By: DLS

DLS — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:47:34 +0000

I can’t believe people can be so silly as to overreact like this, while failing to grasp the (obvious) essence at once:

It was said. The damage has been done, even though the apology came later. The psychological seed has been planted.

[sigh]

Don’t be surprised if this becomes routine in the next several months.

By: G. Hendricks

G. Hendricks — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:40:22 +0000

No, Hillary isn’t racist. She’s attacking Obama because he’s her biggest obstacle. If Edwards were her major obstacle, she’d launch attacks against him too (i.e., she’d be calling him an “ambulance chaser”, or something of the sort).

By: kritt

kritt — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:07:08 +0000

While I agree that this was an intended campaign slur, I don’t see that what the Clintons did via Bob Kerrey is any worse or better than Huckabee’s questioning whether Mormons believe that Christ is the devil’s brother, or conservative commentators mentioning Obama’s middle name constantly last fall, to tie him to Saddam. Its the nasty season. When caught in the act, the candidate just apologizes as though it never occurred to them that their remarks would spark any outrage. But, of course, by then the damage is done. But I don’t believe the Clintons are racists- that’s a bit extreme, and quite unfounded. They are just playing dirty pool, just like everyone else in the chase.

By: Nancy Hanks

Nancy Hanks — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:13:11 +0000

I’m not buying it — anybody who thinks we need a regime change without a political cultural change is whistlin’ Dixie….. Thanks for your posts on this.
Nancy

By: Elrod

Elrod — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:52:28 +0000

I can’t believe that I actually agree with Michelle Malkin.

By: donna L.

donna L. — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:47:47 +0000

“no Democrat is going to vote for a Repub against Hillary just because of some Bob Kerrey innuendo.”

I disagree. Lots of democratic supporters of Obama white and black are watching the slurs accumlate and are truly ashamed and horrified by our party for its silence. The Clinton campaign has gained a reputation as being racist — if not overtly so, its glaringly apparent they are spreading the disease behind the scenes and getting feckless surrogates to do their dirty work. On some african-american blogs I have read many comments that lead me to believe that Hillary will lose the black vote over this stuff, not only in the primary, but in the general if she is the nominee. I am still waiting for someone in the democratic establishment — AL GORE ARE YOU READING THIS? — to publically repudiate the Clinton campaign’s tactics and tell Hillary, that for the good of the party and the country that she needs to stop this disgusting behavior NOW. If it doesn’t happen and she is allowed to prevail by these means, this lifelong democrat will not vote for her, nor will I vote for any democrat that endorses her. Believe me — there will be a boycott.

By: I Think We Have A Pattern » Comments from Left Field

I Think We Have A Pattern » Comments from Left Field — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:41:07 +0000

[...] Bob Kerrey apologizes to Barack Obama for bringing up the whole muslim thing, because of course, we know he didn’t mean any damage. [...]

By: Idiosyncrat

Idiosyncrat — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:16:03 +0000

In the end, only Kerrey will know what Kerrey really meant. But even if it helped Ms. Clinton with some voters, his comments are sure to leave a rancid taste in the mouth of many voters — particularly independent voters.

I disagree. This is an intra-Democratic Party slugfest for the party’s most passionate (the primary voters). What independent voters think now doesn’t really much matter since in most places this isn’t our horse race. Beyond for the commentariat who hand-wring over this kind of stuff, I’d be shocked if it’s more than a minor footnote in the campaign for the White House — especially come the general election, when no Democrat is going to vote for a Repub against Hillary just because of some Bob Kerrey innuendo.