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Playing The Race Deck

Clinton Inc. has gone so far beyond playing the race card in South Carolina that what it is doing can only be called playing the race deck. The plan, as Dick Morris and others have noted, is to ?ghettoize? Obama as a black candidate, driving up Hillary?s numbers among whites and Hispanics. All the talk of race ? no matter who says what, first or in response ? does that.

Dick Harpootlian, an Obama supporter and prominent South Carolina Democrat, told CNN that the former president is exploiting race. Harpootlian went so far as to compare Clinton to Lee Atwater, the South Carolina native who mastered negative politics for Republicans, including the Willie Horton ad campaign that helped George H. W. Bush beat Michael Dukakis in 1988.

None of this is surprising. Clinton Inc. has a well-earned reputation for playing political hardball, a euphemism for playing fast and loose with both facts and norms of ethical behavior. Indeed, in calling Obama all sorts of names Bill, as our ?first black president? (in Toni Morrison?s oft-quoted description), may be doing little more than availing himself of the long-recognized license blacks have to use the ?N- word? among themselves (or maybe it?s a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black). Except that he?s doing it in front of every camera he can find.

As I?ve said before, however, more than once (most recently here), anger at Clintonian bad behavior makes no more sense than anger at a skunk for smelling bad. Still, as this sad affair drags on, and reminds voters of how good the Democrats are at embroiling themselves in rages of victimization and ?disrespect,? one aspect of it almost approaches humor: the notion that in becoming his wife?s designated hatchet man Bill Clinton is somehow demeaning his own dignity as a former president.

[Bill] Clinton?s behavior is

?beneath the dignity of a former president,? [Sen. Frank] Leahy told reporters, adding: ?He is not helping anyone, and certainly not helping the Democratic Party.?

The San Antonio News Press editorialized that [Bill] Clinton is

the former head of state. And as such, he's obliged to respect the authority and dignity of the office.

According to Washington Post political reporter Dan Balz,

After Hillary Clinton's collapse in the Iowa caucuses, Bill Clinton shed his presidential dignity and decided to become his wife?s designated hitter.

Excuse me, but did all these worthies sleep through the reign of Clinton I? After Monica, the blue dress, lying under oath, pardons to high bidders and silence keepers, etc., exactly what ?presidential dignity? did [Bill] Clinton have left to lose? If [Bill] Clinton didn?t ?respect the authority and dignity of the office? when he held it, why would anyone expect him to do so when he?s trying to get it back?

Full post as published by Discriminations on January 24, 2008 (boomark / email).