Monday, March 10, 2008

Dear Clinton Campaign, you are making this harder and harder!

The Swamp: Clinton aide: Obama unqualified for VP

well. i know surrogates don't 'count' but, really. i have to record my displeasure.

way to go, Clinton camp. way to just give the big finger to the many people who happen to support Obama and are trying to come to terms with voting for *you* if it comes to that in the general election.

way to just lean over and fart all over your opponent, who hasn't done anything wrong except run against your candidate, and show how frakking petty your campaign is.

nice. well done. good god! do you want me to stay home on election day??

[cleaned up a bit to make the focus the campaign and not HRC]

8 comments:

bitchphd said...

Isn't that statement actually just too confusingly weird to be annoying?

Delia Christina said...

Their methods defy logic.

What's the point, while your campaign is in second place, in salting the earth beneath Obama in case he wins the nomination? Doesn't this just lay the groundwork for a Republican win in the long run?

(But neither does the Obama campaign's outright repudiation of a VP spot make sense to me, either. Ok, there's a psychological thing I guess - concentrate on the goal of the Presidency until you absolutely have to consider a VP finish - but would I say that publicly? I don't know.

This kind of political stratego makes me tired.)

bitchphd said...

Yes, I don't get why Clinton is trying to destroy Obama either. I mean, I do, but argh.

The latest, from Ferraro, is just revolting.

Delia Christina said...

Ferraro's comment just supports an idea I have that most white people don't actually know many black people in particular or people of color in general. I don't mean work beside or have a nodding acquaintance with, but actually frikking know us - on an intimate, personal level. I'm talking about seeing things through another person's experiences on the teeniest little level.

If she had, I wonder if she'd continue to say such boneheaded things about the s0-called 'benefit' of being a black man in America.

(Not that many black people know very many white folk but most of us are aware, at least, of this thing called 'privilege' and know that our different groups experience the world in totally different ways.)

Clinton's campaign should know better but apparently they choose to gulp at the trough.

bitchphd said...

You know, it's funny, I had the same "doesn't she have *any* black friends?!?" reaction. It seems really hard to believe, given her political background in the Democratic party. So fucking weird.

It really pisses me off that 24 hours after this whole "Power should be fired for calling Clinton a monster!!!" bullshit, Clinton basically just shrugs off this Ferraro stuff. Grrrrr......

Delia Christina said...

I mean, hell, having friends of another ethnicity isn't a magic bullet against being a total asshat but it's a start.

(If it was, I'd probably be a lot less befuddled by certain things white people do and say than I am now.)

I think having a diverse ethnic group of intimate friends allows a person to take a first, doddering step toward understanding the different ways that privilege plays out and (dare I say it?) bridging our racial/ethnic divide.

And I think the argument for having diverse friend circles can apply to more than just interracial friendships; I remember how a lesbian friend of mine gently called me out on my language once and how what I said came off to the gay people in the room and I was apalled at myself - and grateful to her. I carry what she said to me always.

Clearly, a lot of these women (card carrying feminist standard bearers) either don't have close friends of color who are going to call them on their problematic shit or their friends of color are making allowances.

bitchphd said...

Well, yeah, sure it's no guarantee. but not only does one's social group point it out when you say something stupid, but just like, even having normal everyday conversation about shit, you learn stuff, you know? Or like, you just *see* how your friends get treated.

I suspect the fact is that a lot of the standard bearers are rich women, and as such, a *lot* of their "friends" are networky-type acquaintances. Who yeah, aren't going to tell you personal shit, and aren't going to point out when you're being an ass. Probably their *real* friends are all people from a very narrow social world and/or folks they knew 50 years ago.

Delia Christina said...

but just like, even having normal everyday conversation about shit, you learn stuff, you know? Or like, you just *see* how your friends get treated.

exactly. you learn stuff; you see things. it's a real eye opener to realize that the women most of us thought were role-models are more out of the loop than we expected.

if social integration is a goal of a 'post-racial' America, it's clear that we are woefully behind - and our 'leaders' reflect that.