Clinton unleashes sarcastic attack on Obama

On Thursday night, Hillary Clinton called Barack Obama a plagiarist who "Xeroxes" his ideas and has never accomplished anything -- and then said she's "honored" to be on stage with him.

On Saturday, she accused him of using "Karl Rove's playbook" in a weeks-old mailer. "Shame on you, Barack Obama!" she cried.

Now, it seems her anger has turned to sarcasm. On Sunday, during a campaign stop in Rhode Island, she mocked Obama's message of hope and change in a manner only slightly less dirisive than supporter Tom Buffenbarger's tirade last week. See for yourself:

It looks like Mark Penn is winning the debate over strategy in Hillaryland. I told you the media's "Hillary isn't going negative" spin was wrong. She did go negative in last week's debate; she just did so incoherently. I'm not sure whether this latest diatribe qualifies as coherence, but it certainly signifies a conscious decision to stay on the attack. It'll be very interesting to see what happens Tuesday night in Cleveland. I think we can expect fireworks for sure.

UPDATE: The wildly ideologically divergent Jonathan Alter and Robert Novak both say Hillary should drop out now -- before Texas and Ohio. "To withdraw this week would be the best thing imaginable for Hillary's political career," Alter writes. "She won't, of course, and for reasons that help explain why she's in so much trouble in the first place." Novak, meanwhile, says "many Democratic insiders" are "pray[ing] for the clear Obama victories on March 4 that they hope will make it unnecessary for anybody to beg Hillary Clinton to end her failed campaign." (Hat tip: NRO.)

Comments

[Angrier and Angrier]

I would like to see an example of where a candidate for President has been successful by employing anger and sarcasm as tactics. I'm not talking about the surrogates, but the candidate himself. Personally I can't think of any. In fact, if you look at the blogosphere, I keep seeing things like "Dean Scream," "Macaca Moment" and "bi-polar" in reference to Hillary's actions over the past few days. I can't imagine this bodes well for her prospects in Texas and Ohio. But then again, I'm not a "brilliant strategist" like Mark Penn, who has managed to take a lock on the nomination and turn it into one of the worst run campaigns in history (and that says a lot when you consider the talents of Bob Shrum).

[Brendan Loy]

Yeah, Angrier. I meant to say this in the post, but what this latest Hillary tirade most reminds me of is the speech in late October 1992 where George H.W. Bush referred to Clinton and Gore as "these bozos" and otherwise just basically became unhinged in describing them. He was losing in the polls, he was desperate, and he lashed out. Made him look very unpresidential and ungracious. Same here with Hillary (though at least she, unlike H.W., is not the sitting president).

[Brendan Loy]

(On the other hand, at least Bush was lashing out against a member of the other party. Clinton, by contrast, is openly mocking the message of hope and change that has inspired millions of her fellow Democrats. I realize she needs to puncture the Obama Bubble somehow, but surely there's a better way to do it.)

[dcl]

It is time for Hillary to withdraw before she shreds the party to ribbons and ruins any chance the democrats have of winning in November. She has exhausted all of her political capital and rendering herself a caricature. She has also used up most of her husbands political capital and is actively destroying his legacy and standing as a senior statesmen. The only victory Clinton might win at this point is a Pyrrhic defeat of Obama in the primaries leaving her and the party nothing entering the general election. The writing is on the wall, it's time to hang up the running shoes.

[Angrier and Angrier]

I don't think Hillary or her people realize that this is what people assumed she acts like behind closed doors. This behavior just reinforces all of those negative perceptions of her.

Hillary probably had a chance to win the nomination at one point. She could have challenged Obama on the issues. Instead, SHE is the one who took the Karl Rove course, bringing up Obama's admitted drug use, insinuating that he was somehow a Muslim Manchurian Candidate because he said he wanted to be President when he was in Kindergarten in Indonesia.

The fact is the Clintons have become just as jaded and cynical as the Karl Rove machine. I don't know if Obama has all the answers. But I do know I don't want a President who has demonstrated that they will say or do anything to get what they want, even at the expense of their own party or the country as a whole.

[Brendan Loy]

I don't think it's fair to put the "Muslim Manchurian Candidate" thing on Hillary. The kindergarten essay thing was a really, really dumb line of attack, but I don't think it was intended to stoke that particular bit of Interwebs-fueled nonsense, which isn't within either campaign's control.

That said, I absolutely agree with you when you say: "I don't know if Obama has all the answers. But I do know I don't want a President who has demonstrated that they will say or do anything to get what they want, even at the expense of their own party or the country as a whole." As much as I've sung Obama's praises at times here, I remain very unsure about him in a lot of ways. I could go either way in November. My support of Obama in the primaries is at least 70% opposition to Hillary. I just really want the Clintons off the national stage once and for all.

[Brendan Loy]

On the other hand...

[yea]

wow clinton campaign is getting really desperate. is obama the only presidential candidate to ever visit africa? hasnt bush worn local garb when he visited africa? does the clinton campaign think this is actually going to work?

[Angrier and Angrier]

Brendan-

Thanks for posting the link to the Somali clothing thing. Drudge is also showing the photo, with photos of Hillary dressed in Muslim-appropriate garb.

Hillary has been behind the Muslim Manchurian Candidate thing from the beginning. When primaries were being held in Virginia, Hillary's supporters were spamming this rumor all over the local chat forums. The woman has no conscience. For the good of the Democratic Party, I hope the Super-Delegates get together after Tuesday and throw their entire support behind Obama.

Regarding Hillary's political future, no way in Hell should she be considered for the VP position after these past few days. Hopefully Elliot Spitzer will challenge her for her NY Senate seat as well. It is time for this carpet-bagger pack up and leave.

[yea]

there is some good news for hillary. i heard ralph nader needs a runningmate.

[Saturday Night Bill]

All I can say is Thank God! Thank God the American people can now see the schizophrenic hell I have endured for 30+ years! I bet all you all who thought I was a bad guy for being a chubby chaser in the Oval Office can now understand why I get limp every time I am around Ms. Rodham Clinton. Hell, if I wasn't hittin' it with trailer trash, I'd be wanking off into sinks like Ann Coulter says I do (oh, wait, I do DO that).

Anyway, the one good thing that will come out of this is I will finally get some sympathy from the public. The downside is I'm going to have to listen to that bitch scream at me for the next few months. I guess I'd better call my clients in Dubai to see if they need me to come over there for a while to cut some more deals for them with the Chinese.

Any who, you all should breath a sigh of relief. You really dodged a bullet this time.

As I always say, goodbye and don't let yer meat loaf ; )

WJC

[Alasdair]

yea - I just saw your comment about Nader ... (grin) ... I've been wondering if Obama or Clinton will try for him as VP first ...

[Andrew]

HRC's line of attack on Obama is totally legitimate and can work, but I don't think HRC has the general likeability to pull that off. Really, it's the difference between the class bully making a sarcastic remark about the new kid versus the star jock / popular kid: the bully will just remind people of why they despise him, while the jock will actually influence people's thoughts and actions because he is admired. Bill Clinton could get away with going negative in this manner, but HRC won't be nearly as successful with this tactic.

Nevertheless, it's about time that somebody poked a hole in Obama's ridiculous kumbaya message of hope and unity when there's real tough, painful, and divisive work that lies ahead of us, and we need a sober a la FDR, not a pie-in-the-sky postmodern, wannabe JFK/Reagan. It would have been far better for HRC, Democrats, and the nation if the media would have done its job instead, but alas they are the leaders of the sycophantic lemmings.