What Do You Think? The Plight Of A Blogger
Full disclosure: I have been notably harsh towards Mrs. Clinton throughout the course of this campaign, knowing full well that she may end up being the Democratic nominee. And still, my criticisms of Hillary have always been personally honest, and in truth not particularly scrutiness.
I never repeated attacks that I didn’t personally believe nor that I felt were untrue. And I never went looking for dirt. You see, I have certain standards and while I have vehemently opposed Clinton’s nomination from early on, there’s too much “for the good of the party” blood running in my veins to open the floodgates and go into full-on scorched earth mode.
My fellow blogger, Matt, has also helped me in this regard; checking me sometimes at my most irrational and emotional and reminding me that she could be the nominee and bitterness aside, it would be better to have Clinton in the White House than John McCain.
But the dynamics have shifted some, and ultimately put me in a plight that I don’t necessarily know how to get out of. The thing is, I don’t think Hillary Clinton will be the nominee anymore; the only open path for her to that prize (employing Super Delegates to override the popular vote and pledged delegates) being one so destructive and dangerous to the Democratic party that the possibility of this happening is a far greater danger to a Democrat’s chance at the White House than any threat John McCain provides.
Further, her continued presence in the race will only result in more attacks against who I think will be the nominee; Barack Obama. Does he warrant more testing of his mettle? Most definitely, who doesn’t? But I’m wary of this process where Democrats canabalize themselves to the point where the eventual nominee gets nice and tenderized just in time to be served up as the Republican main course.
I have certain standards, this is true, but I also feel that with each passing day the urgency to settle the Democratic primary race grows and has already reached a level that we ignore at our own peril. I will in no way cease crying foul when I think Hillary has crossed the line, but I’m now faced with this singular question:
How far do I go?
One can tell the Obama campaign’s feathers are also ruffled, and they are willing to hit back; David Axelrod earlier today said in no uncertain terms that if the game the Clinton campaign wants to play is getting steeped in mud, be careful what you wish for.
I find myself perched precariously on the precipice that Hilzoy speaks of here:
Yes, it can get very ugly, and I can easily find myself taken in by John Arivosis’ sentiments here:
Add to this my own personal bristling at the continued insistance by Mrs. Clinton herself that she’s been “vetted”, an assertion I have always taken to be a direct insult to the intelligence of the electorate, as well as my own personally.
So here I am on the fence. Do I “cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”, or do I continue to bite my tongue and hope the Democratic nominee makes it through this process without losing so much blood that he becomes a worn out punching bag by the time McCain has his turn?
What do you think?
Just a quick note here. This wasn’t a rhetorical question, I am seriously looking for people’s opinions here. How this campaign continues on will definitely influence my opinion, but my readers will too.
I can’t say that if Hillary chooses to cross a line I won’t cross right along with her, but if the readership doesn’t want me going there, I’ll hold off as long as I can.
Kyle,
My advice is to take a leaf from the French Left during the Chirac/La Pen race – let the truth out and say clearly “vote for the crook, not the fascist”.
Regards, C
Sagacious advice and a tentative check in the “dogs of war” column.
Thanks bro.
I don’t buy your premise. The primary is good for the party. The person who emerges will be a hero. It isn’t up to the candidates to withdraw b/f they think they should – it’s up to their supporters to fall in line with the winner when the primary is over. My concern is that that won’t happen. When Dean was crushed by the Democratic machine, he had the brains and grace to implore his supporters to carry on within the party and work for the nominee and then he stayed involved in the party, helping to build the very successful 50 State strategy – all this even while the same party was still working against him. Obama and Clinton have to show the same sort of integrity – that’s what the party will depend on. Not on keeping people from voting.
Anyway, no matter how tough the primary gets, the mud slung at either of them in the general and the preference given to McCain by the establishment media will be so much worse that any prior bad acts won’t cause a ripple. It’s a whole new ballgame when the general starts. So let them fight it out – only a comparitively few people are really paying attention anyway. Have you tried getting outside the bubble of people who follow this stuff? It’s enlightening.
That said, say what you want but be sure you think very hard about how much it really needs to be said.
My friend, you know, I think, how I feel about this lately. Her supporters wants mud, give them mud. We will see how vetted she is. I’m looking forward to the questions about her husband’s pardoning of terrorists that made Ayers look like the Dali Lama. Ya take the good, ya take the bad…let’s give the bad.
A republican majority in both houses couldn’t land a knock out punch on the Clinton’s for 6 years. Fire away with both barrels but don’t be disappointed if she’s still standing.
lkm, this is a new decade. There are, no doubt, new scandals brewing. The Clinton Library Donor list, for one..
I think I have my decision, I shall post.