More Tracks from Us Weekly: "Vote For My Spouse"

A four page spread in last weeks Us Weekly featured letters written from Michelle Obama & Bill Clinton detailing why you should vote for their spouse. It's a REALLY interesting case of direct surrogacy, oxymoronic as that may be.

A link summarizing the article can be found here: http://www.usmagazine.com/bill-clinton-michelle-obama-write-pieces-for-us-weekly

The full article won't be online until a new issue is out, but I'll post a link when one is available.

Enough is enough...

With all the current discourse that is taking place regarding whether or not Hillary Clinton should drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination, I cannot help but notice that the Democrats are acting more and more like their mascot – the proverbial “donkey” (I don’t really feel comfortable using the term I’m thinking of on the blog, but I trust that you can figure out what I mean). It really irks me that, once again, my political party is fighting amongst itself and, in my mind, weakening its chances at unity in the national election.

Over break I had a discussion with my aunt in which she was absolutely certain that no matter what, Senator McCain would secure the presidency. According to her, the fact that Obama and Clinton supporters were so polarized against each other meant that McCain would easily steal Democratic votes from the losing candidate’s campaign. After reading an article released by the Associated Press yesterday, I am now actually coming around to my aunt’s position.

Women have remained steadfast, passionate and strong supporters of Clinton, and many have voiced their outrage that so many of her male colleagues are now asking her to step aside for the “greater good” of the Democratic party. They feel that Clinton is being asked to bow down due to her gender and, like many women have before her, being asked to sacrifice her goals for the seemingly greater goals of a man. While I agree with their point to an extent, I see the negative implications of these sentiments for the party as whole: if Obama loses the highly valuable women’s vote, where will the Democrats be come November?

Furthermore, with every new Obama surrogate that comes forward calling for Clinton to leave the race, the more the Democrats appear to be a party that is unable to be unified, and therefore unable to yield a candidate that is capable of leading our nation. As of right now, I wish that certain people in the political sphere would just stop talking and allow the race to play out as it was meant to. Stop the mudslinging and let the remaining electoral votes and the DNC figure out who is the right candidate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23869576/

When surrogates hurt

We spent a lot of time discussing the role of surrogacy when former President Clinton had such a prominent role, but it seems like the Obama campaign found a surrogate who really wasn't ready for such a prominent role. Kirk Watson, a state Senator from Texas, appeared on Hardball last night and provided one of the roughest performances that you will ever see from a surrogate.


Knowing that this couldn't go without discussion, Senator Watson provided an apology on his website today.

The Other Campaign Spouse

While Bill Clinton has been at the front of much of the primary politics thus far this year, the New York Times published an interesting speech on Barak Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama. She brings a number of important assets to his campaign such as:

-strong oratory skills which allow her to give effective speeches, campaigning in different cities than Barak

-an emphasis upon unity rather than focusing on things like race and gender

-a bluntness that Barak certainly does not exude in his campaign

-a sense of humor that many people enjoy, though not always well-liked

This story is another excellent example of another possible reason, on top of recent developments such as Clinton’s campaign manager resigning, that Barak seems to have gained much of the momentum in the Democratic primaries. Bill Clinton’s campaigning for Hillary was generally attacking Barak directly, drawing a host of media attention, much of it negative. Behind the scenes, however, Michelle Obama has been working hard to help advance Barak’s campaign without drawing the same sort of negative fire.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/us/politics/14michelle.html?ei=5065&en=9f0714917e0c6d7e&ex=1203570000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

The Bill Factor

An interest facet of this election is the increasingly prominent role that Bill Clinton is playing in Hillary’s election campaign. Recently engaged in a number of attacks on Obama, ranging from questioning the degree of his anti-war stance to his mild praise for Reagan, there is no doubt Bill’s role will play a large role. His credentials, namely former President, create an entirely new meaning for Trent and Friedenberg’s campaign strategy of “use of surrogates on the campaign trail.” While support from family and spouses on the campaign trail certainly helped candidates like Kerry and George W. Bush, Bill Clinton’s involvement is an entirely new level. Revered by many, especially democrats, as an excellent president who led the country to great economic prosperity, his message resonates strongly with many. An excellent example of this is Bill’s strong support from the African-American community, particularly in the South. It comes as no surprise that Bill is currently in South Carolina while Hillary is campaigning elsewhere.

Bill’s presence in Hillary’s campaign, however, may prove to be a double edged sword. Currently, it allows Bill to use his popular image to garner support for Hillary. It has also allowed him to conduct political attacks against Obama, thereby making accusations while deflecting the blame from going towards Hillary. That being said, the new wave of attacks is forcing some Democrats to raise their eyebrows. Both Majority Whip Clyburn and Majority Leader Tom Daschle are concerned about the aggressive attacks that are coming from Bill Clinton. It will be interesting to see how the Bill factor continues to play out. It could provide much needed support or more unneeded liability for the Clinton campaign.

The following articles helped contribute to this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/21/obama.clintons/index.html?section=cnn_latest

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080122220445.whcffr9b&show_article=1