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The Swiftboating of Clinton, Edwards, and Obama
By Brigitte L. Nacos
Item # 1: Long-time Clinton-Hater Chris Matthew (host of MSNBC’s “Hardball Chris” show) said this about Senator Hillary Clinton one day after her victory in the New Hampshire primary as guest of MSNBC's “Morning Joe” show, "Let's not forget -- and I'll be brutal -- the reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win there on her merits. She won because everybody felt, 'My God, this woman stood up under humiliation,' right? That's what happened."(For more on Matthew’s Clinton bashing appearance, see account on Media Matters for America.
Item # 2: One day after John Edwards' third place finish in New Hampshire, Glenn Beck said in his CNN Headline News show, “I listened to him [John Edwards] last night give a speech, and, I mean, why not just start wearing the Soviet star on your head and the Workers World Party?" Beck added: "Good Lord in heaven. Was it a mistake for him to go after her [Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)] for crying and then also to join this great Soviet state?"
Item # 3: During his January 6 nationally syndicated radio show, host Bill Cunningham referred to Senator Barack Obama repeatedly as “Barack Mohammed Hussein Obama” although Mohammed is not part of his name. According to Media Matters for America, “Cunningham also falsely claimed that Obama ‘was raised in madrassas in Indonesia’ and accused Obama's church, the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, of being ‘black separatist’ and ‘black racist.’” Cunningham said furthermore that it would be a shock, “if Barack Mohammed Hussein Obama can be elected the president of this country in these difficult terrorist times."
These are but three of many, many examples. While the swiftboating of John Kerry began after he won the presidential nomination of his party in 2004, this time around the vicious attacks against all three of the viable Democratic contenders began earlier and come from a multitude of quarters. Not to mention the common bias of many media figures and outlets with Hillary Clinton especially singled out for unfair treatment as even some non-Clinton supporters recognize and criticize.
A cursory review of mainstream media, talk radio and TV, and the blogosphere does not reveal such massive dirt-throwing against Republican candidates.
The three remaining Democrats in the race are foremost in the line of fire because it is widely believed that one of them has the best chances to become the next president. If Clinton, Edwards, and Obama want to bring about the most important change if all, they need to be careful not to attack each other in ways that put lethal ammunition into the hands of the eventual Republican nominee and his supporters against whoever wins the intra-party race.
To be sure, the electorate deserves further substantive debates—but they should be civil and shame the preachers of hate and viciousness.
For more on this, see http://www.reflectivepundit.com