Certainly there have been sexist incidents in this campaign. But not by Obama.
Ms. Ferraro, who clashed with the Obama campaign about whether she made a racially offensive remark, said she might not either. “I think Obama was terribly sexist,” she said.
Gender Issue Lives On as Clinton’s Hopes Dim - New York Times
What is it women are saying about a male candidate wouldn't be subjected to ridicule for his appearance? That's one ugly monkey.
Marietta, Georgia, bar owner Mike Norman thought it was "cute" to sell T-shirts with Obama as a monkey eating a banana. Even though he is a southerner and would presumably be well-aware of the history of these types of images, he sees "nothing racist" about the T-shirts.Barack Oblogger: Newsflash: Southern Redneck Sells Racist Obama Gear
Victoria Switzer, a retired social studies teacher, who could take only one night on an Obama phone bank in the nearly all-white Susquehanna County, Pa.: “One caller, Switzer remembers, said he couldn’t possibly vote for Obama and concluded: ‘Hang that darky from a tree!’ ”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote about complaints of racism after a bar in Marietta, Ga., began selling an Obama 2008 T-shirt with a picture of Curious George peeling a banana.
This interview of Rep. James Clyburn's is particularly insightful and poignant, worth a read even beyond today.
National Journal’s Linda Douglass sat for an interview with undeclared South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn. He says a couple of interesting things: (a) If Clinton believes Obama will do poorly with white voters in November, based on how he has done in the primaries, does that mean she believes she will only get 8% of the black vote in November, based on how she’s doing now?; And (b) He makes it very clear that any perceived backroom deal had better not take the nomination away from Obama, because that would devastate young people and blacks. He speaks rather emotionally about his daughter and grandson’s support for Obama.
Here's a portion of that interview:
DOUGLASS: …Hillary Clinton has been continuing to campaign today, yesterday, throughout West Virginia and the other states that she is seeking to win, making the argument that she wins with certain kinds of voters -- blue collar voters, Catholic voters, and Obama does not. Do you think that as she continues to press the case that he can't win, that she's doing damage to him as a candidate?CLYBURN: Continuing to press the case seems to me to be in search of a self-fulfilling prophecy here. You know, we all know anything that continues to be reinforced in the minds of voters, tends to take on a life of its own. I would hope, as I have said before, that the candidates will continue to press their case on their own behalf. …
More of the kitchen sink from the Clinton campaign:
Then there's the current Newsweek story "Good for the Jews? Hillary Clinton's surrogates are questioning Obama's commitment to U.S.-Israel relations."
In a January conference call with American Jewish organization leaders, the magazine reports, Clinton senior adviser Ann Lewis attempted to denigrate Obama's pro-Israel credentials by pointing out that Zbigniew Brzezinski is Obama's "chief foreign-policy adviser." Brzezinski, Newsweek noted, "has a reputation that is close to toxic in the American Jewish community."
It mattered not to Clinton's clan that Brzezinski is not a key Obama adviser, that Obama has said he has had lunch with Brzezinski only once or that they have exchanged e-mails perhaps three times. Linking Obama to someone who is anathema to the Jewish community was the point to be scored -- even if it meant committing a foul.
Colbert I. King - A Double Standard on 'Reject and Denounce' - washingtonpost.com
Elaine Sirkis, 77, an Obama supporter, confided that she just isn't sure she's ready for a woman president. Betty Conway, 83, a Hillary supporter, confided that she just isn't sure she's ready for a black president.
As Conway walked away, Sirkis smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry," she told Berman sweetly about her friend. "She's a bigot."
Maureen Dowd
Recent comments
11 weeks 3 days ago
17 weeks 5 days ago
17 weeks 6 days ago
18 weeks 2 days ago
18 weeks 2 days ago