I'm surprised if you are surprised.
Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 05:42:41 PM PDT
Folks are shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU that Hillary Clinton is holding both herself and McCain out as better options than Obama.
Why is anyone shocked? You are looking at members of the same party, the Incumbent Party. Sure they would like us to believe they are more than different sides of the same coin. Ecologically speaking, however, they occupy the same niche. McCain's top strategist works for Clinton's top strategist. (Charlie Black's firm, BKSH, is a subsidiary of Mark Penn's, Burson-Marsteller.)
As I've commented in greater detail before
Welcome to the land of the Incumbent Party where the "smart money" buys influence with both sides so no matter who wins, the puppet masters never lose.
Don't take my word for it, here's how BKSH promotes itself ...
A Bipartisan Team
BKSH uses a bipartisan approach. Our team includes Democrats and Republicans who have had distinguished careers as senior staff in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the Executive Branch. The company’s professionals have been involved in most of the significant legislative issues in the past 20 years.
Our team also includes senior strategists from the Democratic and Republican parties who are veterans of many political campaigns, including:
The 2004 and 2000 campaigns of President George W. Bush
The 2004 Presidential campaign of Senator John Kerry
The 2000 Presidential campaign of Vice President Al Gore
The 1992 and 1996 campaigns of President Bill Clinton
The 1996 Presidential campaign of Senator Bob Dole
The 1992 and 1988 campaigns of President George Bush
The 1980 and 1984 campaigns of President Ronald Reagan
BKSH & Associates Worldwide has strong working relationships with the decision makers and opinion leaders in Washington – from Congress to the White House, from the State Department to the Pentagon, from national associations to the National Press Club. As a member of the Burson-Marsteller family, BKSH & Associates Worldwide is able to work with decision makers in all 50 states and around the world.
Would you really feel comfortable knowing your attorney works for a firm that represents both sides of every major class action suit? Sure they win a lot of cases, but how much of the settlement do you think their clients see? What makes you think they would treat you any different?
When you consider the current culture of corruption, it is hard to ignore the fact that things really got out of hand with the Reagan administration. Unlike Nixon, who was proud of the fact that no one ever took a dime as part of his scandal... Reagan's administration was rife with felons.
The perpetrators, conspirators, and enablers for that kind of bad behavior populate the K street corridor today. Money may have no smell, but you can be sure that some stinky stuff is getting done to generate all that cash.
It is unreasonable to expect people who swim in this tidal pool feeding off the same flora and fauna while providing sustenance to the same parasites to suddenly dissociate themselves from that. THAT would be shocking.
Some might consider this sort of incestuous relationship a little close for comfort. In DC this is not considered a problem. That's the problem we need to solve.
Of course, I am not so naive as to believe that Obama is immune to this. That is why I have a personal litmus test that will determine for me whether he really is something different or merely a different flavor. I'm looking at who he will align himself with when he chooses a running mate. If he picks Bloomberg -- I won't be shocked, but I will be disappointed.
On the flip side, if Obama is going to make the mistake of Carter and go for purity, we can expect all sorts of sabatoge. But I am holding out hope that things will be different this time because Obama has one thing Carter did not have.
Millions of voices calling for change.
Permalink | 14 comments