Just don't call me a monster

In the last 2 weeks both the Obama and Clinton camps have had to deal with ill-advised comments made by their staff. How each campaign handled the situations says a lot about each--and re-enforces my feeling that Obama is the force for change while Clinton would just be George W. Bush as a Democrat.

Let's just do a quick comparison of the quotes.

Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro made this statement. "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position."

Obama's foreign policy advisor Stephanie Powers made this comment. "She is a monster, too - that is off the record - she is stooping to anything,"


First of all, I ask this. Which of these 2 statements is more inflammatory?

In Ferraro's statement you have an accusation that Obama got where he is because of who he is, not what he has done. Could the same not be said about Clinton?

Would she really be Senator from New York and a viable candidate for President had Bill not already been in office? Prior to his election in 1992 she had no exposure on the national level. Prior to her election to the Senate, she had never held political office. Such arguments are tacky, however, and the Obama campaign has been wise enough to stay above such tactics.

In Powers' statement she makes an accusation that Clinton will do anything to win. In looking at the comment, it could be taken a couple ways. She could be using the term 'monster' as a derogatory term about Clinton's character. Or, she could be saying 'monster' in the sense that Clinton is a force to be reckoned with. The former is a bit over the line. The latter is strictly a valid political statement.

All in all, I think both statements were ill-conceived. The idea behind what they were trying to say was lost as a result the words they chose to use.


Now, let's look at the reaction to each statement.

For her part, Stephanie Power's was asked to resign due to the comments she made. She complied and stepped down from her position on the campaign. She passed along that Obama, "... made it absolutely clear that we just couldn't make comments like this in his campaign."

I believe this says a lot about how Obama wishes to run his campaign. This is not the first staffer that has made damaging remarks to the media about Clinton and it is not the first time he has asked them to resign because of it.


Meanwhile, Ferraro remains on the Clinton staff and Clinton dismissed the issue by saying, "... both of us have had supporters and staff members who've gone over the line and we have to reign them in and try to keep this on the issues. There are big differences between us on the issues — let's stay focused on that."

In response to the 'monster' issue, Clinton said, "I think Sen. Obama did the right thing, but I think it's important to look at what she and his other advisers say behind closed doors. Particularly when they are talking to foreign governments and foreign press."

So Obama reacted correctly by releasing a staffer who was not careful in choosing her words, but when a Clinton staffer does something similar, some would say worse, it is okay and we all just need to move on. This sure sounds like how George W. Bush would handle things.


I personally think that both issues got blown out of proportion. The monster comment was just a slip and there really wasn't much there. The Ferraro comment was out of line, but it was really jumped on because it had a racial tone.

The real impact for me is looking at how each campaign responded. Based on that, I am even more convinced that Obama walks the walk while Clinton is 'Just Words'**.


** This is an excerpt from a speech given by Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts. I wouldn't want anyone accusing me of plagiarism.