Gene Lyons on why infighting threatens Democratic Party

snip

Actually, I’d argue that the single most telling episode had already taken place during the Oct. 30, 2007, presidential debate in which “moderators” Tim Russert and Brian Williams tried to sandbag Clinton with hostile, often misleading questions, accusing her of prevaricating and repeatedly inviting Obama and Sen. John Edwards to join in the fun. Which Obama definitely did. (Read the transcript at msnbc. com. ) Because she’s smarter and tougher than both pundits and better on her feet than Obama, it didn’t work. To the Beltway media, however, the presidential race has been a bitch hunt ever since. Which doesn’t mean one must support Clinton or be deemed a woman-hater. Any more than voting against Obama renders one a Klansman. Indeed, it’s possible to agree with Judis that race constitutes America’s Original Sin—although feminists would argue that black men won the vote generations before women of any color—while also recognizing that it’s deeply wrong for the national media to go in the tank for any politician. Did pitchers lob softballs to Jackie Robinson ?

Don’t misunderstand me. They gave me uniform No. 42 in high school because it fit. Even so, I was thrilled to wear it. The Brooklyn second-baseman was one of the most significant Americans of the 20 th century. No Jackie Robinson, no Barack Obama, as I’m confident he would agree. But it’s not merely patronizing for the Washington media to have taken sides, it’s dangerous. By declaring an extremely close contest over, and by repeatedly questioning the motives, even the sanity, of Clinton and her supporters, they’ve led Democrats to ignore a big chunk of political reality.

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http://moose-and-squirrel.com/gene/gene.html

m&s

i wonder why?

i didn't realize there were so many academic-leftists, african-americans, and latte-sipping dreamers
in Iowa (where Hillary could not muster 3 votes in 10, after months of wholesale politicking), but i
guess it would explain Oregon?

if as i suspect she is going to do, i wonder what Gene will have to say, if/when Hillary
"pulls a Lieberman" and mounts an "Independent-Democrat" campaign after claiming she'd been
"stabbed in the back" ?