Yesterday I watched in amusement at the way the OFB twisted Hillary's answer to a question asking why there has been such a push to get her to drop out of the race. In the answer she compared her campaign to that of RFK's and Bill's and how they had both been campaigning in June. Somehow the OFB and the media ginned up the comment to mean that either Hillary was staying in the race in case something happened to Barack or that she secretly wanted someone to take him out.
It was totally disgusting that it was twisted that way but came as no surprise. I was surprised though that the Obama campaign for once didn't jump on something and twist it and blow it out of proportion. With the exception of the Bill Burton canned response the campaign handled it better than its supporters. I have to give them credit here. I should also give credit to the Obama supporters who had their heads on straight and tried to keep the OFB from going over the edge.
But I can't give credit to the media and the OFB that made a mountain out of a molehill. Only in kool-aid land can Hillary comparing her campaign to that of RFK's mean that she wants something horrible to happen to Barack. It is really sad that Hillary who understands her place in history can't talk about it or draw comparisons to it (hello, LBJ?) because some people are too young or too stupid to understand.
If people want to make a direct analogy with her answer and this primary then you should realize that by any measure Hillary is RFK and only those who are unhinged can claim that it was a reference to Barack.
The similarities between both campaigns and candidates is almost eerie. Both RFK and Hillary are the Senators from New York, she's even currently holding his seat. Like people discounted RFK and denigrated his work/experiece and claimed he got where he was because of his brother Hillary has endured the same line of attack with claims that she got where she is because she is married to a former president.
At the time of the tragedy RFK was trailing Humphrey who had a large lead in delegates from non-primary states and the backing of party leaders like Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. Like RFK, Hillary has "the math" against her and is trailing an opponent who racked up delegates in red states caucuses and is backed by party leaders like Ted Kennedy, Kerry, Daschle, Brazile, Durbin etc.
Both Hillary and RFK underwent an unlikely transformation that was brought about through their runs for President. They both became the underdogs with the populist pitch and were seen as fighters for those without a voice. RFK was mocked because he campaigned in the ghetto and was embraced by ethnic and religious minorities the way Hillary is because she has the support of working class voters, women, Catholics, Hispanics, Gays, poor whites and those without college degrees.
Any honest examination of the answer Hillary gave will not lead to an interpretation like the one the OFB and the likes of KO have drummed up. If anything in the analogy Barack is McCarthy and Humphrey. Like McCarthy because he has the anti-war crowd and the large rallies at college campuses and like Humphrey because he has the backing of the elites in the party and media. It is ironic that Barack has a large support of those in college or with advanced degrees yet they're ignorant of history. Even I at the age of 30 with my inner city public school education and BA from a third rate liberal arts college understood what Hillary said and see the historic parallels between her campaign and that of RFK.
But if the likes of KO who suggested that Hillary be taken into a room by a SD and only he comes out wants to make himself a bigger hypocrite by making scurrilous interpretations that's fine by me. I washed my hands of him a while back once it dawned on my that I projected on him the nobler qualities of a progressive simply because he hated GWB. If the OFB wants to continue this line of attack and twisting of what Hillary has said I can and will similarly wash my hands of you and your candidate in the fall. As you sit there on your fainting couch and clutch at your pearls ask yourself where was your outrage and after IA when Jesse Jackson Jr Barack's National Co-Chair said:
"The natural reminder here is O.J. [Simpson] -- how does an African American candidate attack a white woman?"::::[Update]:::: Some people have taken exception with my use of "OFB" in the comments section. If you note I used the terms OFB and Obama supporters in the diary. IMO they are two different kinds of people and just because they are supporting the same candidate does not mean they are all the same. the OFB has a different mentality that the average Obama supporter and on-line they do things like swarm the comments section of blogs and diaries and just generally try to be disruptive. Make note of the use of images below. Update part 2 One of the OFB said in the comments that my diary wasn't good because among other things it wasn't well sourced. Given how educated the OFB demographic is I figured they could read a book, watch a documentary or check wiki on their own. I was sadly mistaken and figured my diary was more of an Op-Ed anyway so didn't provide a link. But I'll do so now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1968
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