First - I need to reveal that generally, my husband and I share this "gpclay" identity. Today its just me, Ms. Gpclay. He agrees and supports, but this is more personal and unique to my perspective.
This is a two part diary. The two threads are intertwined for me, so I’ve joined them here. I’ve been thinking about writing a diary “When Conventional Wisdom Becomes the Excuse” reflecting on Governor Rendell’s soft appeal to the closet bigots of Pennsylvania. Although Rendell claimed it was just an observation regarding the realities of Pennsylvania, it struck me as a calculated shift to the low road. But in the moment I reached the insight into why this comment lingered and continued to really to eat at me, I realized that it may have happened: Has the Hillary Clinton campaign "jumped the shark"?
Part I: The Clintons' Conventional Wisdom Gambit.
Governor Ed Rendell’s "observation" about Pennsylvania not being ready to vote for a black man has bothered me since I heard it. I’ve been trying to get to the essence of why. Rendell is my Governor. I voted for him twice. So when I heard him say it and then cast it as a legitimate assertion of “conventional wisdom”, I was caught off guard.
It’s been all the more stunning to watch this “conventional wisdom” come to full bloom within the Clinton campaign. Bill Clinton planted the seeds in South Carolina, Rendell transplanted the seedlings to Pennsylvania, and as the buds dotted the branches, they heaped on the Miracle-Gro of Reverend Wright and now ask us to breath deep the fragrant blossoms and relax. The Clinton conventional wisdom is the balm for the bigoted: “Vote for Hillary: She’s not a black man.”
I expect this from Rush, Fox and the whispering internet swift boaters. But from my Governor? The leader of our state’s democratic party? Leaders of our national democratic party? That’s what has really bothered me.
Politics at its core is about identity. Who we are. Who we want to be. And at its core, I think there is also a spiritual element. Politics is about what we believe. What we hope for. What common principles guide us. What moved me about Obama’s "A More Perfect Union" speech was that it was more than anything a spiritual declaration and an appeal to the best in us. For me it was reminiscent of the best of the Father James Smith provocative social justice sermons from the uncommon Catholic preaching of my youth (which in retrospect were radical really for central, suburban Ohio, given the proximity to liberation theology of Fr. Smith's message). In contrast, the Clintons’ peddling of their “conventional wisdom regarding the electibility of Barack Obama” is absolutely, profoundly disappointing and disturbing. What does the Clinton strategy say about what these pillars in our democratic party believe? What are they willing to do to get elected? What does it say about what they think about us?
They think we are small minded, petty, and susceptible to manipulation through an appeal to our childish, fear-riddled, racist lower selves. Bigotry is simply one of the tools in the toolbox. At best, this refects a condescending, paternalistic approach to leadership. It is also indistinguishable from the republican approach to leadership of the last eight years.
The Clinton/Rendell conventional wisdom strategy also reflects the campaign’s judgment that we the people cannot be trusted to choose what’s good for us – to choose Hillary based solely upon her merits and qualifications. Or worse, they worry she doesn’t stack up, and don’t care.
When, last night, I finally got to this core of why this “Pennsylvania may not be ready to vote for a black man” “dog whistle” (to quote Chris Matthews) has bothered me so much, I was unsettled and approaching despair.
And then, looking up, checking in to see the latest news, I noticed a couple of things: 1) Hold on – this Clinton electability conventional wisdom crap doesn’t seem to be working; and 2) Wow. They are getting really desperate. Oh my God . . .
Part II. The Clinton Campaign Just Jumped the Shark.
It was a three-part realization.
First, Hillary is looking increasingly strained and big-eyed. Like she’s taking deep breaths and telling herself: “Keep it together. Keep it together. OK. Breathe.” I recognize my bias, but I’ve noticed this since Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia. I didn’t buy it for a minute (nor did the New York Times) when immediately afterwards, Clinton claimed she had not read or heard Obama’s speech. At their Philadelphia City Hall press event, Clinton and Mayor Nutter were subdued – shell-shocked; their body language and faces betrayed them I think. They knew then, what we knew then: Obama is the transcendent leader we have been waiting for. He sees that promised land leaders used to talk about. It had not occurred to Clinton that we even knew about the promised land or wanted to go there.
Second, I think it crept into my consciousness earlier this week that their desperation was crossing over into absurd when the red-faced, finger-jabbing Bill Clinton continued to fixate on Bill Richardson’s endorsement of Obama as a Judas-like betrayal. It just seemed completely “mental” (to quote Ron Weasley).
But when Rendell told Fox News on Wednesday, that Fox has had the fairest, most objective coverage of the primary – the Clinton campaign’s full embrace of the politics of delusion and manipulation was blindingly revealed. The utter absurdity of the statement and its naked calculus - cue Monty Burns tapping his spindly fingers together - “If we tell them Fox is the Truth, He Can’t Possibly Win” was dazzling.
Since canvassing registered democrats in central Pennsylvania and experiencing directly at a handful of those houses, the legitimized, angry bigotry the Clinton campaign has primed, I have been struggling with how to keep my "eyes on the prize", how to personally resist getting sucked into the madness of the covert and overt resort to racism by the Clinton campaign. To not let it push my buttons to the point of impotent distraction. To respond resolutely with Obama: “Not this Time.”
The frantic disintegration into absurdity – and the growing consensus that the Clinton campaign has “jumped the shark” is an unfolding tragedy. But here’s the ephiphany: their kamikaze strategy is not working on the majority of us. Not this time. And that realization brings huge relief and resuscitates my hope. It is OUR choice. A choice between change versus more of the same. There are more of us and we can choose hope over fear. It is time. Yes we can.