2008 Woodie Awards
The never-ending primary
Sam Abney
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Opinion
With each subsequent round of primaries maintaining the narrow spread in the race for this year's Democratic presidential nomination, the party's candidates have, of late, made a shift to tougher tactics, using negative advertising against each other in attempts to gain the advantage needed to bring the contest to an end. With two such historic candidacies for the nation's top office, it is easy to understand the fervor among so many supporters on both sides. At the same time, the Republican Party's primary season has effectively ended, and Democrats of all persuasions are looking anxiously to November with hopes that the party can unite behind one leader to win back the White House. Unlike many of the party's base, however, whose party loyalties run deeper than their preference of candidates, the two campaigns remain focused on defeating each other. This seemingly shortsighted strategy may be doing more harm than good, promoting division and fueling the Republicans as they prepare for the general election.
Perhaps the most talked about example of Democratic infighting this year was Senator Hillary Clinton's "3 AM" television spot challenging Barack Obama's preparedness to respond to unanticipated threats to national security. Startlingly different in tone from Clinton's speeches, the advertisement could easily have been making the case for John McCain. Attempting to draw a distinction between what she describes as her own realism in opposition to Obama's lofty idealism, she has characterized her opponent as all talk, lacking the substance and experience needed to effect change in Washington. A far cry from the candidate who earlier expressed a firm belief that any Democrat would do a better job of governing than the Republicans, Clinton now goes so far as to compliment John McCain's readiness to lead in contrast with Obama, who she suggests is unqualified.
This brand of dirty campaigning is not, however, a one-sided phenomenon. Senator Obama has of late employed similar negative tactics, notably in two mass mailings before the Texas and Ohio primaries claiming that Clinton's healthcare policy would punish low-income Americans and calling her a "champion" of NAFTA, charges she described as "blatantly false" and "right out of Karl Rove's playbook." Even so, her own mailers have taken a similar tone, repeating her claim that Obama's healthcare plan intentionally leaves some Americans uncovered, a statement Obama has repeatedly denounced as a mischaracterization.
Perhaps the most talked about example of Democratic infighting this year was Senator Hillary Clinton's "3 AM" television spot challenging Barack Obama's preparedness to respond to unanticipated threats to national security. Startlingly different in tone from Clinton's speeches, the advertisement could easily have been making the case for John McCain. Attempting to draw a distinction between what she describes as her own realism in opposition to Obama's lofty idealism, she has characterized her opponent as all talk, lacking the substance and experience needed to effect change in Washington. A far cry from the candidate who earlier expressed a firm belief that any Democrat would do a better job of governing than the Republicans, Clinton now goes so far as to compliment John McCain's readiness to lead in contrast with Obama, who she suggests is unqualified.
This brand of dirty campaigning is not, however, a one-sided phenomenon. Senator Obama has of late employed similar negative tactics, notably in two mass mailings before the Texas and Ohio primaries claiming that Clinton's healthcare policy would punish low-income Americans and calling her a "champion" of NAFTA, charges she described as "blatantly false" and "right out of Karl Rove's playbook." Even so, her own mailers have taken a similar tone, repeating her claim that Obama's healthcare plan intentionally leaves some Americans uncovered, a statement Obama has repeatedly denounced as a mischaracterization.
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jacksmith
posted 3/27/08 @ 12:16 PM CST
DON'T BE DUPED !!!
Large numbers of Republicans have been voting for Barack Obama in the DEMOCRATIC primaries, and caucuses from early on. Because they feel he would be a weaker opponent against John McCain. (Continued…)
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