OK, I'm as fed up as anyone about the tone of Sen. Clinton's campaign. I've written to the DNC and the DLCC, and urge others to do the same. Unfortunately, the Senators in Kentucky are both horse's asses, as is my lo cal House Rep (KY-02).
My letter below the fold.
Again, I urge all concerned Kossacks to write. My own opinion is that you should write to ask them to talk to Sen. Clinton about the tone of her campaign, not about stopping it.
Here's the text of my letter to both.
I would like to request, in the strongest possible terms, that representatives from the DNC, including party elders, sit down with Senator Clinton, and have a serious talk with her about the tone of her primary campaign. She is seriously endangering our chances of defeating the Republicans in November.
As a liberal Democrat I am looking to the November 2008 elections as out best chance to turn the tide on the damage the Bush administration has wreaked for the past 7 years. Our party has not one, but two excellent nominees vying for the chance to win the presidency. We are also faced with the very real possibility of gaining seats in both the House and the Senate. As Democrats, we stand at the brink of a victory that will allow us to re-imagine the American political landscape and bring long-range change to our nation.
Except that one of the candidates in the primary seems to be doing everything in her power to ensure that if she cannot be the candidate in November that our nominee will be so battered that he cannot possibly win.
Over the past few weeks Senator Clinton’s campaign rhetoric and tactics have more closely mirrored those of the Republicans than the Democrats. I’m not referring to points of debate or to matter of policy difference—though these are few. Instead I’m talking about the dirty tricks, the baseless attacks, the rumor mongering, and the campaign based on fear that Sen. Clinton is waging. Since mid-February Clinton’s attacks have mirrored those of the Republicans, and indeed Sen. Clinton has taken up many Republican talking points in her attempt to derail Obama’s campaign.
As a result of this, we face the very real possibility that a large swatch of Democrats, disgusted by the Clintons’ tactics, will choose to stay home rather than cast their vote for someone who spent months talking like a Republican. I have a hard time imagining—if Clinton is the eventual nominee—what kind of "healing speech" she could give at the National Convention that could reverse the damage she is doing to the Democratic cause right now.
This is why the leadership of our party must act, and quickly. If Senator Clinton is to continue her primary campaign, she must be told in no uncertain terms, that the tone of her campaign must change. Given that the Clintons are not famous for listening to this kind of advice from ordinary politicians, or at least those without leverage over their careers, it must come from party elders with some kind of weight.
This is why they must hear from as many uncommitted senior-leadership superdelegates as possible. They must tell her that if she continues to campaign like a Republican she will risk losing their crucial support.
As someone who donates money to campaigns and is active in supporting Democrats, I urge you to act quickly. The longer Sen. Clinton is allowed to campaign in this style, the more damage she does to our chances in November.