The Democratic Circus

With McCain having the Republican nomination in the bag, it looks as if the Democratic circus is back in action. It opened earlier January with a competitive jousting match. Each side took jabs at the other and even former President Bill Clinton joined in on the fun. The Clinton campaign ran commercials against Senator Obama and Obama gave Senator Clinton the cold shoulder at the State of the Union Address. The debate in South Carolina was just a joke. The two candidates battles to the finish and the Democratic party was divided. It appeared as if everything had changed as January ended and February began. The Obama and Clinton worked together to unite the Democratic Party heading into Super Tuesday. They were like the jugglers staying in sync with one another at the debate in Los Angeles. The message sent out was that it's the Republicans we must be weary of.

However, as the campaign has turned the corner with the finish line in sight, Obama has gained a momentum that the Clinton campaign cannot seem to slow. Ladies and Gentleman, the clown car has arrived. As 20 or more clowns hop out of a tiny VW bug, the Democratic Primary is becoming a joke. Obama is trying to continue his momentum by doing what he does best, public speaking. The Clinton campaign is attempting to slow him down by finding the faults in his speeches and announcing it to the public. Was it right for Obama to borrow words from a friend's speech when the "share ideas"? That is for you to decide. Did the Clinton Campaign make the right move accusing Obama of plagiarism? That is for you to decide too. All that is for certain is that it has become easy to make a mockery of what is happening in the Democratic Primaries. The candidates better get it together and not divide their constituents if they want a Democrat in office come January.

Bill Clinton "Tones it Down"

In a recent post I suggested that it seems that Hillary and Bill are running as a team. Bill has been very involved in the campaign, defending Hillary and attacking Obama; however, in a recent article, Hillary on Bill: 'This Is My Campaign,' it seems that Hillary may have asked Bill to “tone it down” a little. ABC news asked Hillary if she asked Bill to back off recently and she didn’t deny it. The article discusses that reporters covering Bill have noticed him being much more passive and subtle in the past few days. He seems to be doing his best to focus on his wife’s candidacy and according to the article, “that’s led some to speculate that Clinton, who was acting as his wife’s chief attack dog—has been muzzled.” I think that Hillary began to fear that she might be criticized for having Bill so heavily involved with her campaign, possibly overshadowing the fact that it is her campaign and not her husband’s. She recently told ABC news that “…this is my campaign. It’s about my candidacy.” I think she is trying to keep things focused on herself as opposed to her husband and his former presidency. Obama has even suggested that we do not need a flashback to the past, providing George Bush as an example of a flashback to when his father was in office. I think that Hillary is trying to prevent criticizes such as this one and is trying as best she can to make this about her and only her, as opposed to heavily involving Bill Clinton in the issues.