8 February 2016
Big Dog bites Bernie to protect Hillary
What else would one expect from a husband defending his wife? Yesterday, speaking to a small gathering in New Hampshire, Bill Clinton ripped into Bernie Sanders in a speech that became more mean-spirited the longer he spoke, reports the New York Times:
The former president, addressing a few hundred supporters at a junior high school here, portrayed his wife’s opponent for the Democratic nomination as hypocritical, “hermetically sealed” and dishonest.
He even likened an incident last year, in which Sanders staffers obtained access to Clinton campaign voter data, to stealing a car with the keys in the ignition.
Mr. Clinton discussed the race for nearly 50 minutes, and his comments took on a harder edge the longer he spoke. What began as a testimonial to Mrs. Clinton’s leadership and a statesmanlike lecture on her approach to issues evolved into an angrier recitation of grievances against Mr. Sanders and his fervent supporters.
There’s more, including this:
But Mr. Clinton’s most pointed remarks may have been when he took aim at Sanders supporters who, he said, use misogynistic language in attacking Mrs. Clinton. He told the story of a female “progressive” blogger who defended Mrs. Clinton online through a pseudonym because, he said, the vitriol from Mr. Sanders’s backers was so unrelenting.
“She and other people who have gone online to defend Hillary, to explain why they supported her, have been subject to vicious trolling and attacks that are literally too profane often, not to mention sexist, to repeat.” Mr. Clinton, growing more demonstrative, added that the liberal journalist Joan Walsh had faced what he called “unbelievable personal attacks” for writing positively about Mrs. Clinton.
In a demonstration of how engrossed he is in this campaign, Mr. Clinton recited the names of the regional newspapers that are backing his wife’s campaign and, in a rarity, mentioned Mr. Sanders by name.
At Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall took the Big Dog to task, noting he’s reprising his deplorable conduct during the 2008 Democratic primary:
I remember how this went down eight years again and man, the pitched battle with Barack Obama just got Bill all unhinged. He said a bunch of things he never should have said and I think he probably realized he should never have said. As you’d expect, when Bill is campaigning for Hillary it’s personal. And he doesn’t quite think straight. So it’s not that I think Bill shouldn’t campaign for Hillary or that he shouldn’t be allowed to. But I have real doubts about whether he helps her when he gets in that mode.
There’s something especially combustible about Bill campaigning for Hillary in a Democratic primary. Every right to? Absolutely. But, as I said, I think the unique dynamics of personal and political just sort of unhinges the guy. It didn’t start too bad with Obama in 2008 but it got real dark real quick.
A husband defends his wife. She and everyone else expects him to do just that. But when Bill Clinton speaks as Hillary’s husband instead of as an ex-President, he does her no favors.
In 1993, Bill Clinton tapped his wife to head up the health care task force in his administration. No matter how many mistakes she made, and she made plenty, no one could criticize her decision without incurring his wrath. That short-circuited the feedback loop and clouded his judgment (later, he admitted his choosing her was a mistake). The honor and the power of leading that task force clouded her judgment, too. She should have known than being bulletproof in the President’s eyes would adversely affect the task force — but her ambition led her astray.
Cut Bill Clinton some slack. He’s only doing what married people do for each other. But when he’s in his defending Hillary mode, pay skeptical attention to him: that’s when he’s not making good sense.