The American Spectator

Political Hay

(Page 2 of 2)

We aren't going to get in the middle of a disagreement between the Clintons and someone who was once one of their biggest supporters. It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when [he] was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom. It is also ironic that Senator Clinton lavished praise on Monday and is fully willing to accept today the support of South Carolina State Sen. Robert Ford, who said if Barack Obama were to win the nomination, he would drag down the rest of the Democratic Party because he's black.

br> Most of the candidates seemed to want to avoid those kinds of fights. Chris Dodd emphasized "bringing people together," Clinton called for "a united front" among Democrats, Bill Richardson said the candidates should all pledge to avoid negative campaigning, and Biden endorsed Richardson's pledge. Prodded by Stephanopoulos, Clinton invoked "the politics of personal destruction" regarding Geffen. Stephanopoulos asked Richardson if Obama should denounce Geffen; "Yes," Richardson answered.

Slate's John Dickerson thinks that the Geffen episode was a misstep for Obama. I'm not so sure. It served to insert Obama into an event that was supposed to be about the candidates who showed up. And as Oscar Wilde observed, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

topics:
Foreign Policy, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, NATO, Oil