Ronald Reagan once said that “Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, Democrats believe every day is April 15th.” For Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, though, every day feels increasingly like April 1st.
The Democratic nomination has descended into a sideshow; a spectacle Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey could not afford. And the best part about it? America is getting a front row seat for the show. This two ring circus, however, could very well leave the Democratic Party in shambles.
Barack and Hillary are currently locked in a fight to the death for the nomination. Each candidate is clawing tooth and nail for support among Pennsylvania natives and their party’s super-delegates. The two senators have surpassed the point of no return in their quest for the presidency. Race and gender baiting throughout the campaign have prevented any sort of plausible reconciliation. Obama will not forget that Clinton staffers — hoping to grab the 19th century nativist vote — leaked pictures of him wearing traditional African garb to the media.. Nor, will Clinton forgive Barack and his staffers for playing Jay Z’s 99 Problems (and a b**** ain’t one) following his Iowa primary victory.
Yes, the “Dream Ticket” that seemed all too real at the start of this campaign has become a distant memory in lieu of the vicious infighting between the two. What is even more entertaining than the current Democratic infighting is the recent scandals that surrounded the campaigns.
Obama’s momentum slowed last week, when his connection to Jeremiah Wright — a megalomaniac posing as a preacher — was exposed to the world. Obama’s pastor of 20 years, Wright has called for the Almighty to “Damn America” and in a September 16, 2001 sermon referred to the 9/11 attacks, as America’s “chickens coming home to roost.”
Hillary Clinton, in the wake of Pastorgate — which set Obama back a good thirteen minutes — failed to capitalize on the opportunity, after she misled a group of young supporters about her experience in international affairs. Senator Clinton explained that, while visiting Bosnia as first lady, her transportation vehicle came under sniper fire and she was forced to abandon a welcoming ceremony and run for cover.
As it turns out, there was no sniper fire, only a little girl reading her a poem. CBS News archives, Sinbad and even her own account of the episode in her memoirs, exposed this account as a fake—and you know you’re in political trouble when CBS, Sinbad and Hillary Clinton ruin your credibility. People have begun to question Clinton’s integrity; no mention as to when people will investigate Obama’s truthfulness about his life. After all, his assertion that he was conceived following Bloody Sunday, which occurred March 7, 1965 in Selma, Alabama, seems highly unlikely — he was born in 1961.
The two presidential contenders have recently committed some embarrassing gaffes.
Since Monday, both candidates have wrestled for and ultimately failed to secure the support of undecided voters, who appreciate appropriate parallels.
At a March 29 campaign event, Obama responded to question, regarding his administration’s approach to teenage HIV and SDT rates—this question came less than a week after a government report concluded that one in four American teenage girls has some sort of sexually transmitted disease.
Obama replied: “Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.” Obama backtracked later at the event adding that he considered his own baby girls to be “miracles,” rather than punishments. He did, however, fail to clarify why he compared his two miracle daughters to sexually transmitted disease.
Hillary could do no better. Yesterday at a Philadelphia campaign rally, Senator Clinton attempted to rally her supporters into a frenzy by comparing herself to a local hero. Clinton explained that surrendering her presidential campaign now would be as if “Rocky Balboa had gotten halfway up those art museum steps and said, ‘Well, I guess that’s about far enough’ … Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing a fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up.” There has been some talk in recent weeks about John McCain’s age and its effects on his decision making. But Hillary’s recent gaffe, however, trivial (not to mention hilarious) it might sound demonstrates an utter disconnect from reality. Two Reasons: 1) Sylvester Stallone has already endorsed McCain 2) Rocky lost the fight. This disconnect sheds some light on why Hillary continues her campaign despite certain defeat and/or party fracture.
Senators Clinton and Obama have affirmed time and again that they will, as Hillary put it, “never give up” — unless of course, you are referring to the War in Iraq. In fact, that is just about the only thing that could unite these two enemies. Senator Clinton explains on her campaign website that she will bring an “end [to] our military engagement in Iraq's civil war and immediately start bringing our troops home.” On NBC’s Today Show last year, Senator Obama defended this anti-war rhetoric, in light of President Bush’s proposed surge policy, saying, “we’re not going to baby sit a civil war.”
Ironically, the closest thing to a civil war that the public has seen in 2008 is not being fought by Sunnis or Shiites in Iraq; it’s being waged today in Pennsylvania, Washington and — if we’re lucky — in Denver this August by an African American left wing ideologue and a female left wing ideologue.
Bill McMorris is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be contacted at bmcmorris@cornellsun.com [1]. Heartless, Not Stupid appears alternate Wednesdays.
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