Fellow Obama supporters:
She didn't mean it. There's absolutely no way she would have said that if she had any idea what she was saying. The last thing she wanted or needed was a firestorm. It's killing both her presidential and VP campaign all at once. She just had no idea.
The Obama campaign has been classy about it. Charitable, even. And it's not the first time (think hard-working White Americans). Obama's been charitable even though he hasn't always received charity himself (think Wright, Ayers, and of course bittergate). That's why he's our guy. He stays classy.
We need to follow his lead. More after the fold...
So, just to take a second and address her comments. Irresponsible? Horribly. Insensitive? Hell yeah. Revelatory of her secret or subconscious thoughts? Maybe. That would be on the mind of anybody next-in-line to the President - especially when it's a change agent, and most especially when it's a Black change agent.
Now, it's awful that she evoked the possibility of violence, which we're all aware of as a possibility, without immediately sharing how disturbed she is at the very idea of it. No next-in-line could ever bring it up without doing that. It would be horribly weird and kind of scary.
Therefore, I believe she just killed her status as next in line for the nomination, OR candidate to be VP. Can you imagine ANYone going to Obama now and saying, "So, can we talk about the pluses of HRC as VP?" Just too weird for someone to have that role who ever spoke casually about the history.
We don't need to call this out. The media is on it and will not let go of it. Many people are upset and will not forget this. The supers get it. There is absolutely no reason for us, as Obama supporters, to get involved. There's no reason to turn this from a Hillary thing into a Hillary vs Barack thing.
The best thing we can do is stay incredibly classy about it and represent exactly what's different about Obama. At least, that's my vision. Hope you liked it.
PS - I'm being a bit vague when I refer to political violence, because hyping past examples of high-profile violence/suicide can contribute to copycat behavior. So it's not good to be too explicit or to dwell publicly on that kind of thing.
UPDATE: I'm kind of shocked how many people used the comments to trash Clinton. This is not the diary for that.
See also Michael Lawrence Gallagher's beautifully written diary about the Obama campaign's response: Barack Obama: Amazing Grace