On February 9th, I stood up at my caucus and made my case for Barack Obama. One of the things I said was that it's about time we had a president with the honesty and integrity the office demands.
Since it was a caucus, we got a chance to try to convert voters to our side. I mentioned to some supporters of Hillary Clinton that Mark Penn was her chief strategist but none of them had heard of him. I compared him to Karl Rove. I mentioned that his firm did PR work for Blackwater and that raised eyebrows but I didn't make a good enough argument to cause them to switch to Obama. Many of them were voting for her because she was a woman.
Hillary Clinton's actions this week have provided a much clearer sign that honesty and integrity don't figure into her calculation about what it takes to be the leader of this great country.
Like many Democrats, I was fairly indifferent to Hillary when the campaign started last year. Obama hadn't convinced me yet and all of the candidates were sounding good. I would have been happy to vote for any of them in November, but Obama and Edwards seemed the most appealing.
Something happened along the way. Obama won Iowa with a broad coalition and inspired record voter turnout. I was really excited that my two favorite candidates had done the best there. Then I heard Obama's victory speech and was hooked. In New Hampshire, Hillary found her voice and although she and Bill tossed a little mud in the water, Obama wasn't swayed. He congratulated her in his concession speech and urged us on to the next contests. In Nevada, the Clinton campaign fought the caucus system with lawsuits and eked out a surprise victory there. In South Carolina, racism reared its' ugly head by Bill Clinton and that's really when I started wondering whether I could vote for her in a general election.
It seems like such a long time ago but after the debate in California, everyone was talking about how they looked like a team and there were speculations of a Dream Ticket. Super Tuesday came and went and I was amazed at the results. Obama was winning states with overwhelming white populations by huge margins. I began to really get excited that there was a groundswell that people could get past the harsh divisions of the past.
We know what happened next. Obama won every contest since Super Tuesday and the Clinton campaign began making excuses why those states didn't matter. She wants the delegates seated from Florida and Michigan, which reiterates that she doesn't care about following the rules. Then she said the Superdelegates would enable her to win the nomination.
Since then, Hillary has decided to engage her opponent in ways that seem completely irrational. During the Texas debate, Obama gave a rousing retort to allegations of plagiarism only to see Clinton press the issue. Her "Change you can Xerox" comment was received with resounding boos. She redeemed herself at the end by saying she was "honored" to be on stage with Barack Obama. But then, when she was caught plagiarizing John Edwards I knew it was over for her.
Not even two days later, the levees broke. Hillary Clinton was accusing Obama of being the second coming of Karl Rove. I became furious at what she was saying but then I heard Obama's calm and reasoned response and was reassured he would not waver in the face of ludicrous smears. The next day, Hillary took the fight away from Obama but to his supporters. She mocked all of us who hoped (and worked) for change. And then today this mind-boggling episode about a photo of Obama in African clothes may be the most egregious example that she will do and say anything if she thinks it will get her the nomination.
We, the Democratic party should say no to the politics of personal destruction. It's easy to dismiss Hillary Clinton with insults, I have done it myself. But after all the outrage I felt this weekend, today I am confidant that when Hillary plays the politics of personal destruction, she will only hurt herself.