I’m trying my best to remain above the political fray this year, but I’m reading up on the process when I can and trying to stay up to speed. This tidbit really sums up my feelings about the Democratic race this election and speaks to my general apathy about the political process:
“After the Reverend Wright controversy, Hillary Clinton had the nomination in her hands. Obama was suffering the worst press month of his campaign,” said Republican media consultant Alex Castellanos. “Then she had a choice. She could have gotten bigger, more presidential, less political, could have risen to defend Obama. ‘This is outrageous and has no place in politics.’ She didn’t do that. Instead, she chose to become smaller, more political, less presidential. Her own political instincts betrayed her.”
I really feel for anyone who endeavors to put him or herself in a position in which they have to please all the people all the time, but my sense is that Obama has really done a better job than his Democratic opponent of “keeping it clean” through all this, even with the burden of a nasty surprise from his past.