"a furious descent into nonsense and self-parody"

Over the past several years I've come to appreciate Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo as the gold standard in political coverage on the web.  Not only does TPM's muckracking outshine most large media companies in exposing the doings of Jack Abramoff and the politicization of the U.S. Attorneys, but Josh himself has long been a sound observer of Democratic policy and politics without shilling for a particular candidate.

Which is not to say he's uncritical.  Since the summer of 2006, he has lambasted Joe Lieberman's increasingly ridiculous comments and behavior.  His assessment of the political landscape today in a couple news items tells the story of where the race to succeed George W. Bush is, and where it's heading.  More below the jump.

The first piece is an analysis by Josh, and it's not good news for Hillary Clinton.  Entitled "You Bitter?" the general point isn't far off most of the analysis I have seen on Daily Kos.  Of Obama's comment, Josh writes:

In this case, I didn't think what he said was offensive. Of course, I don't live in a small town or in rural America. But then again, neither do any of the other people I've heard sound off on this topic. So I'm in good company. (This has been one of the more comedic aspects of this 72 hours -- watching a cavalcade of extremely wealthy pundits, editorialists and political operatives from New York and Washington tell me how rural Americans won't stand for this.)

Josh goes on to say that the comment was consistent with other (perhaps more artfully worded) comments Obama has made on the subject over the past few years...and also says similar sentiments are common in Democratic policy and political circles, the Clintons included.  Burying the lede, though, is the next part of the analysis, and why it --coming from a fairly impartial journalist observing the primary who has had good things to say about both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton over the years -- is an apt indicator of the state of the race.

Josh goes on to analyze the Clinton campaign's behavior in the "scandal" that is Bittergate:

With the Wright business and now with this, the more nuanced version of the Clinton line has been that what 'we' think is not really the point. It's what Republicans will do with it in the fall. And that's a real concern that I definitely have. I won't deny it. I've never thought Obama was a perfect candidate. But as we get deeper into the primary calendar, increasingly so, this 'what the Republicans will do' line has become more of a simulacrum, or a license, if you will, to do what Republicans actually do do. That is to say, to grab for political advantage by peddling stereotypes about Democrats and liberals that are really no less offensive than the ones we're talking about about Americans from small town and rural America.

And seeing Hillary go on about how Obama has contempt for folks in small town America, how he's elitist, well ... no, it's not because I think she's either. I never have. But after seeing her hit unfairly with just the same stuff for years, it just encapsulates the last three-plus months of her campaign which I can only describe as a furious descent into nonsense and self-parody. Part of it makes me want to cry. But at this point all I can really do is laugh.

I, like Josh, am disturbed by the Clinton campaign's embrace of the tactics used to slime Bill and Hillary Clinton over the years.  Perhaps nothing Hillary Clinton will do is sadder than her meeting with Richard Mellon Scaife -- the man who did more to further the "Hillary killed Vince Foster" lie than anyone else -- last month.  Sadly, that meeting has proven to be more a pattern than an exception in the way the campaign has conducted itself.  That an observer like Josh Marshall is now using the kind of ridicule he has saved only for Republican crooks and those few Democrats -- Zell Miller, Joe Lieberman -- who have turned against the party in recent years indicates how low the Clinton campaign has sunk.

In some ways this is disturbing.  We might also consider the turn an indication that the primary season is all but over as the onetime front-runner thrashes about in desperation.

Another, briefer item at TPM indicates how the general election may be fought.  Entitled "Hmmmm," it deserves to be quoted en toto:

Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) on Obama: "I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button. He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."

Geoff Davis is three years older than Barack Obama.  He was a toddler when Obama was born.

As far as I can tell, Geoff Davis's education is an undergraduate degree from the United States Military Academy.  Barack Obama's education includes an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and a J.D. from Harvard.  Geoff Davis has managed to win election to Kentucky's 4th House district a couple of times; Barack Obama has won several state senate elections as well as the Illinois Senate race in 2004 and (as you may have heard) a few presidential primaries this year.  In terms of achievement, intelligence, and station in life, if Geoff Davis is to use any term to refer to Senator Obama, it should be "sir," not "boy."

The veneer is off; all of the euphemisms (and charges of arrogance and elitism, as well as talk of demographics, "secret Muslims," and "regular people" fit that description) just gave way to the heart of the negative campaign.  A sitting Representative from John McCain's party just called a man -- who at absolute minimum should be considered a peer -- a boy.  This is what they have.

My take on this, again, is this is encouraging to see.  As Judge Brandeis once said, sunlight is the best disinfectant.  Now that a sitting Congressman in John McCain's party has explicitly demeaned Senator Obama in a racist manner we can see how the media and the voters treat this line of rhetoric.  For my money, the comment says much more about Rep. Davis than it says about Senator Obama.  We shall see how the rest of the nation reacts.

For reporting that item, and for his analysis of the Democratic primary, I thank Josh Marshall.  His site provides a clear look at where the campaign to become the 44th president is going.