This election is driving me crazy.
I've just been catching up on the news and I've seen everything from Bill Richardson urging Hillary Clinton to consider dropping out of the race (
http://tinyurl.com/379jx9):
But potentially more troublesome for Mrs. Clinton was what Mr. Richardson said in announcing his decision. He criticized the tenor of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. He praised Mr. Obama for the speech he gave in response to the furor over racially incendiary remarks delivered by Mr. Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.
And he came close to doing what Mrs. Clinton’s advisers have increasingly feared some big-name Democrat would do as the battle for the nomination drags on: Urge Mrs. Clinton to step aside in the interest of party unity.
“I’m not going to advise any other candidate when to get in and out of the race,” Mr. Richardson said after appearing in Portland with Mr. Obama. “Senator Clinton has a right to stay in the race, but eventually we don’t want to go into the Democratic convention bloodied. This was another reason for my getting in and endorsing, the need to perhaps send a message that we need unity.”
...to Obama campaign co-chair Merrill McPeak, saying that Bill Clinton was seeming to imply that among the three candidates, Obama doesn't love this country, and doesn't have the interests of the country in mind. The quote from Bill Clinton (
http://tinyurl.com/ytx8zn):
"I think it would be a great thing if we had an election year where you had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country," said Clinton, who was speaking to a group of veterans Friday in Charlotte, N.C. "And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics."
It's difficult to say whether Clinton's remarks were directed at Obama, or if they were just a general desire for where the tone of this campaign should be. But given the history of negative, divisive campaigning by the Clintons, and the fact that he made these comments in the context of only mentioning Hillary and McCain, I tend to think that it was a subtle swipe meant to strengthen the recent b.s. that's had some folks wrongfully questioning Obama's patriotism.
And of course, the "controversy" over Wright carries on into it's 11th day. How long will it be before people realize that the biggest concern to date with Obama is concern over stuff he never said himself, and that he's been very clear he doesn't agree with? Am I living in bizzaro-world? If I believed in god, I'd be asking it to please let people get smarter and more honest between now and November.
And incidentally, if the job of the superdelegates is to serve as a safeguard against the Democratic Party destroying itself, then when exactly would be a better time for them to weigh in than now? According to the latest I've seen, 1 in 5 Democrats have already stated that they'll vote for McCain in November if "their" candidate doesn't win the nomination, and that's been a direct result of Hillary Clinton's negative and divisive campaign aimed at tearing down Obama as a viable candidate.