Monday, March 10, 2008

Gary Hart Bashes Hillary, the Party Wrecker...

Hillary Clinton's latest strange and cynical attacks on Barack Obama has generated a healthy backlash, and not only from Obama's fans. Senator Gary Hart wrote a stinging critique of Hillary on Huffington Post (March 7, 2008) for breaking an essential rule in primary politics:

"Do not provide ammunition to the opposition party that can be used to destroy your party's nominee. This is a hyper-truth where the presidential contest is concerned."

She did this when she claimed that she and John McCain are ready to lead the country, but not Obama. By doing so, "Hillary Clinton has broken that rule, severely damaged the Democratic candidate who may well be the party's nominee, and, perhaps most ominously, revealed the unlimited lengths to which she will go to achieve power. She has essentially said that the Democratic party deserves to lose unless it nominates her."

Gary Hart writes that Hillary's attacks are not just a matter of toughness. She has gone beyound what's decent: "That is not politics. That is raw, unrestrained ambition for power that cannot accept the will of the voters."

"For her now to claim that Senator Obama is not qualified to answer the crisis phone is the height of irony if not chutzpah, and calls into question whether her primary loyalty is to the Democratic party and the nation or to her own ambition."

Hans Sandberg

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