There were a lot of striking moments at the New Hampshire Democrats 100 Club Dinner on the Friday night before the Granite State Primary -- the astonished looks among the NH Democratic elite as cheers for Obama overwhelmed the cheers for Clinton being prime among my memories -- but none so striking as Obama's patience in responding, carefully and thoughtfully, to every criticism made against him and the campaign.
One such criticism was, Oh, that Obama, he's all about Hope. Yes, I am all about hope, said Obama. In fact, he said, I am a hope-monger. Not the kind of hope that is pie-in-the-sky, but the kind of hope you must have when your father leaves you at age two years, when you are raised by your grandparents, when you are not born into money but still manage to graduate from Ivy League schools. Oh, and it's the kind of hope which leads you to enter a race for President against someone with the highest name recognition anywhere.
It's the kind of hope that makes Obama believe, and I believe, our politics can be conducted differently.
Another criticism suggests, Oh, that Obama, he doesn't have Experience. We need you to spend more time in Washington, where we can boil and stew and steam the hope out of you. Only then will you be seasoned. Only then will you be experienced.
But is that kind of Washington experience what we need now, Obama asked? Spending time and getting money from health care lobbyists, as Senator Clinton has done, is not going to get us closer to health care reform. It certainly did not produce the kind of vote we needed on the war in Iraq at its outset, or later in its oversight.
Oh, that Obama, he is all words, goes another criticism. Or, as one Democratic operative put it to me, he is a great first act. Inspiring, but where's the action? Charlie Peters of the Washington Monthly has detailed some pretty amazing action on the part of Obama in the Illinois legislature, certainly more legislation than anything Senator Clinton passed in her tepid 1+ plus terms as a US Senator.
But let's assume the worst. Let's say Obama is all talk. I would aruge that his talk is far more inspiring than Senator Clinton's. More importantly, it's the kind of talk which rallies people -- staffers, legislators, and citizens -- to do more and try harder than they ever thought possible. It's the kind of talk you seek in a President.
Obama went even further. He suggested this kind of talk suggests a comfort with oneself that Senator Clinton rarely displays. It means you can talk to your political opponents or the enemies of your nation without worrying that somehow doing so will compromise your integrity. Talk isn't cheap, it turns out.
And now, Obama himself is underscoring that very point. Since the New Hampshire primary concluded, it has been widely reported in the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and at Alternet that the Clinton campaign engaged in deceitful and outrageously misleading communication practices in the final 24 hours before voting began in the Granite State. Between a mailer sent to every woman in New Hampshire, and an email signed by leading female Democratic politicians, a deliberate and coordinated effort was made to falsely accuse Obama of being unreliable on abortion rights.
Fortunately, what happened in New Hampshire has not stayed in New Hampshire. It's been taken to Las Vegas and the rest of Nevada. Obama has fought back with his own mailer that has been sent widely in Nevada. It not only accurately refutes the false New Hampshire claims made against him about choice, but it also suggests that by doing so, Clinton has begun to lose support in Nevada by Democrats who are disgusted by her dirty campaign tactics.
You can see a PDF of the mailer here, but here's the important text. It comes from Lorna Brett, a former Nevada Clinton donor and supporter who now supports Obama.
"I was a strong supporter of Senator Clinton. I gave her the maximum contribution and she even attended a fundraiser in my home several years ago. But I was disappointed that Hillary Clinton would launch misleading attacks on Barack Obama and his unimpeachable record on a woman’s right to choose. As the past president of Chicago NOW, I worked directly with Senator Obama on strategies to help pro-choice legislators defeat the tactics of the right wing. It’s a shame that Senator Clinton would try to use those pro-choice votes against Barack Obama now. I have switched my support to Barack Obama because I know the truth. I cannot be a part of that kind of deceptive politics."
Nevada citizens caucus tomorrow. By all accounts the race is close, with the latest polls showing a slight Clinton lead. In New Hampshire a new kiss-your-sister email is being sent to Democrats, asking Democrats to come together by praising Obama for his pro-choice record while also defending the mailing as fair in rough-and-tumble of primary politics.
And yet, isn't it ironic? The Clintons and their supporters continue to practice the very kind of politics which Obama and his supporters wants to see fade into the sunset.
Who will prevail?
I don't know, but I can say this: some of us good Democrats are getting very sick and tired of the Clintons. And like Barack Obama, we are inclined to fight back.
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