Clinton Campaign's New Low: Robbing the Dead
Wed Feb 27, 2008 at 07:46:15 PM PDT
Alright. I haven't written one attack diary on Hillary Clinton or her campaign in this entire primary season despite my strong opposition to her candidacy. Not that I couldn't have. There's a lot of dirt under the Clinton's fingernails as they've clawed their way to power. I just haven't seen the value in going negative. I wrote a diary last week suggesting Hillary should pull out before she goes negative. But I kept it nice.
But now... really, I am almost speechless. If the last week wasn't enough to disgust even the most neutral of observers, as the Clinton camp dived further into the slime, this should:
"So many women around Texas and America are saying, `Wish Ann was here, for us and for Hillary,'" a female voiceover says on the video.
"Today Ann would be asking all of us to make a statement. She would be traveling to every small town and big city in Texas, urging us all to take a stand, be counted, to make a difference, to make history," it says while a picture of Richards and Clinton appears on the screen. "This one's for Texas. This one's for our country. This one's for Ann."
You know, there is a chance that Ann Richards would have supported Hillary. But it is by no means certain. Governor Richards was a brilliant and complex person. She was both a straight shooter, and politically savvy. And the fact is, there is no telling where she would be right now on the Democratic primary.
In 2004, on Larry King Live, Richards said she would support a Hillary run. This was in the context of a discussion on when we might see a female president.
KING: How far are we from a female president?
RICHARDS: Not far at all. I don't know whether it's going to be Hillary. I certainly would support her if she ran. If she was running today [I] probably would support Hillary, but it isn't going to be long, Larry. There are too many smart and able and experienced women now that are coming up that have the ability and, I think, will have the desire to be president.
This was not an endorsement. She went from "certainly" to "probably" in one sentence.
And I should point out that Ms. Richards endorsed Howard Dean in the 2004 primary and campaigned on his behalf. That's why she was on Larry King that night. I think this, as much as anything, is a decent indication that no one should have ever taken Ms. Richards' support for granted. Neither when she was alive, and especially not now.
And then the views of her close friend and strong political ally Molly Ivins are not entirely without relevance:
I will not support Hillary Clinton for president
January 20, 2006
AUSTIN, Texas --- I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president.
Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges.
This tells us nothing about Ann Richard's thoughts on a Hillary candidacy. But it shows the the kind of independent, and not always predictable thinking both of these women were known for - both separately and together.
But perhaps we can just leave the openness of the question to Ann Richards' children. They don't even agree and 2 of them are strongly opposed, and failed to give permission for, the use of their mother in this Hillary ad.
But sons Dan and Clark Richards, partners at an Austin law firm, say nobody can know who the outspoken and opinionated former governor would have supported in the race between Clinton and Barack Obama.
"As her children, we never presumed to know her mind when alive and we are not prepared to make a claim as to who she would endorse or what she would do if she were still with us," they wrote in an e-mail last week. "We are not granting permission for her name to be used in advertisements on behalf of either candidate."
The e-mail, provided to The Associated Press by Dan Richards, was sent to Cathy Bonner, a friend of their mother's and member of Richards' administration. Bonner is working with Clinton's campaign and sent Dan and Clark Richards an early copy of the video on Feb. 19 "to make sure you are okay with it."
We will never know who Ann Richards would have supported because she died in September of 2006. And using her now is perhaps the most disgusting thing I've ever seen a Democrat do in an election, at least, in my lifetime.
UPDATE: Changed the title from Co-Opting the Deceased. I just want to re-iterate why this is so offensive. This effectively robs from Ann Richards her political voice, something she cared deeply about. And as a commenter accurately pointed out, she's not here to defend herself.
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