I’m getting a little bit (okay, maybe more than a little bit) tired of all the new found love for Hillary Clinton around here. All of a sudden it is not cool to criticize Hillary because we have a helluva lot of her supporters that we need to reach out to. Criticizing Hillary is not the same as criticizing her supporters. To me it seems very disingenuous for all of us to start saying what a great campaign she ran, and how great a candidate she is, and how much work she has done for the people, and blah blah blah. My memory is not as short as some I guess. The following is what I remember about Hillary Clinton, and it's not pretty.
First I must mention that prior to the campaign she voted to authorize the war in Iraq which as of today has a US casualty count of 4092.
Now lets take a trip down campaign memory lane since January, shall we.
Remember the South Carolina race-baiting. I sure do, I live in South Carolina. Shortly after her husband, the former president, used the term “fairy tale" video when characterizing Obama’s opposition to the war, which many thought was code to mock his entire campaign, Hillary made this comment to Fox News,
“I would point to the fact that that Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the President before had not even tried, but it took a president to get it done. That dream became a reality, the power of that dream became a real in people's lives because we had a president who said we are going to do it, and actually got it accomplished.” Video
Of course a controversy ensued, which Clinton then blamed Obama for.
After a series of losses, on February 25th, Clinton’s kitchen sink strategy against Obama was unleashed in full force with her speech at George Washington University comparing Obama’s foreign policy experience with George W. Bush’s. Can't find video for this one.
Early March was fun. On March 3rd Hillary stated that McCain would bring a lifetime of experience to the white house, she would bring a lifetime of experience to the white house, and Obama would bring a speech from 2002. Video
Then there was this gem from 60 minutes.
“You don’t believe that Senator Obama’s a Muslim?” Kroft asked Sen. Clinton.
“Of course not. I mean, that, you know, there is no basis for that. I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn’t any reason to doubt that,” she replied.
“You said you’d take Senator Obama at his word that he’s not…a Muslim. You don’t believe that he’s…,” Kroft said.
“No. No, there is nothing to base that on. As far as I know,” Video
Then came the 3am ad titled “Children.” Remember that one folks. Video
Next was the Ferraro comment,
”...if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
I understand that Hillary did not say this herself but as Olbermann pointed out in his Special Comment of March 12th video, a pattern was developing.
On April 21st, the day before the Pennsylvania Primary, Clinton released the "kitchen" ad with a special cameo from the one and only “Osama Bin Laden.” Video
Before the West Virginia primary she made sure that we didn’t forget what the race was really about.
“I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on ... [there is an Associated Press article] that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me. There's a pattern emerging here.” Audio
Realizing that the dynamic of the race was changing, she then toned it down for a couple of weeks until this comment in South Dakota on May 23rd.
“... people have been trying to push me out of this ever since Iowa and ... I find it curious because it is unprecedented in history. I don’t understand it and between my opponent and his camp and some in the media, there has been this urgency to end this and you know historically that makes no sense, so I find it a bit of a mystery. ... I’ve been around long enough. You know my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere around the middle of June ... We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. Um, you know I just I don’t understand it. There’s lots of speculation about why it is.” Video
Like I said earlier, I welcome and encourage Hillary supporters to rally behind the Democratic Nominee, Barack Obama, and I hope that Hillary genuinely encourages them to do so in her rally on Saturday. Remember though, there is a reason why this race got so contentious, and Barack Obama was not the cause. Neither was the media. Let’s not let history be re-written.
Feel free to add anything I may have missed.