01/21/2008 (11:55 am)
Today’s Blogfire: Identity Politics
Barak Obama launched a counterattack against Bill Clinton this morning on Good Morning America, and the Blogoshphere is all aflame.
The gist of the complaint is that President Clinton has gone too far in his rough politics, and keeps saying things that are “not factually accurate.”
Lie? Bill Clinton?
Obama is smart. He knows that if he goes after Mrs. Clinton, she gets to play the poor, defenseless girl being picked on by the big, bad bullies (talk about a qualification for President!) And no matter how accurately he points out how shamelessly she’s playing that game, her net vote count from it will be positive.
But he can attack Husband Bill all day long, ’cause Bill is clearly involved, and since he’s black and Bill is white, he wins automatically. (As Baldilocks points out, in Identity Politics, the weaker opponent always wins. And in Identity Politics, black is weaker than white; don’t ask me why.) He doesn’t even have to cite facts to call Bill Clinton a liar; everybody already knows it.
Shrewd move.
Too many posts on this to name them all. From the Left, Comments From Left Field has a pretty decent analysis, Ari Melber from The Nation delves into the voter suppression charges on HuffPo, and Protein Wisdom channels classic 1990s Bill: “I feel their pain.” On the right, Blue Crab Boulevard has Fred Barnes’ comments on Obama’s Slime Weight disadvantage, Captain Ed has his usual thoughtful take, and Allahpundit over at Hot Air has the video.
Check Memeorandum for a more complete listing.
It’s never happened before in my lifetime, but this time it’s just possible that the Democrats’ blood-letting will affect their chances in the general.
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