South Carolina, Then Caroline: Winning Hearts With Hope

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the beloved and inspiring American president who was assassinated when I was just a wee thing toddling around in England, endorses Senator Barack Obama in an editorial entitled A President Like My Father that will appear in tomorrow's New York Times. Via the magic of the Intertubes, though, I can bring it to you now (goosebumps alert):

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Wow...if, like me, you're still buzzing from Senator Obama's electrifying victory speech in South Carolina, you'll want to keep the warm feeling going and read the whole thing.

Comments

[Sir Charles]

I think that Obama's win was inspiring, and served as a direct repudiation of the tactics that Bill Clinton, disappointingly, chose to engage in.

The Clintons might want to rethink the manner of their campaign.

[ikl]

Given Bill's comments tonight, I'm not sure that there is any rethinking going on. Perhaps they just think that SC wasn't their state and they'll move on to fight on Feb. 5th.

[Davidson]

Sir Charles,

Come on now: Obama engaged in actual polarizing tactics. From Jesse Jackson, Jr. the day after NH to refusing to denounce the UNITE-HERE ads in Nevada to Dick Harpootlian (Bill Clinton is like Lee Atwater) just the other day. To actually buy into this nonsense that the Clintons were the ones that injected race or are pushing this is something else (To be clear: the press is pushing this to the hilt and Obama doesn't seem to mind).

And if one is talking about distortion of comments or record, Obama has certainly done his share: lying about Bill's comments about Obama's stance on the Iraq war (Bill never said that Obama was never against the war, he just focused on his voting record) to lying about his policies (Stating Clinton followed his lead on the stimulus, when his plan came days later is just the latest ex.).

I get that people support Obama, fine, but don't lie by omission. Everyone is insisting the Clintons are engaging in tactics that they're not while ignoring Obama's tactics (Hell, even McClurkin is no longer mentioned as if exploiting hate for votes is a technicality).

I wish Edwards had done better overall, but especially with blacks. One percent just looks awful. Damn.

[ikl]

There is no way that Obama or his campaign is in favor of racial polarization insofar as blacks are 13% of the US population (maybe 20% of voters in the Dem's primary). It would make no sense as an election strategy. Yes, some Obama supporters have said and done some dumb things (Harpootlian's comments were not a high point of the race to say the least). But don't pretend that there is some sort of equivilence in the racial politics of the campaign. Just ask Josh Marshall. Or even Clinton supporter Kevin Drum.

Would anyone care to explain Bill's "Jesse Jackson" remark today? Isn't this code for "we all know that Obama is 'the black candidate'"? Or even more than code? If not, why not?

It was completely fair game for Unite to go after Clinton harshly when her supporters tried to shut down their primary. I'm not sure that it was a smart tactic, but they were right that the Clinton team was disrespecting the union with the last minute lawsuit. It was sleezy politics - if they had a problem with it they could have brought the lawsuit in April. And please don't pretend that it wasn't a Clinton backed lawsuit - we all saw what Bill thought of it.

Mr. Jackson's comments were dumb - it is probably not a coincidence that we haven't seen much of him since. Or that Obama said that some of his supporters went over the line (whereas I have never heard the Clintons acknowledge that things that they or their supporters might say have ugly racial undertones - please correct me if I am wrong).

One other thing. When Obama congradulated Clinton in NH and asked his supporters to applaud, they did. Pretty loudly too. And there was no booing whatsoever all night despite the disappointment (I was there). According to reporters who were at Clintons rally that night, the Clinton folks booed Obama when he was shown on TV. We saw it again when Bill congraduated Obama tonight - the crowd booed. Now maybe this is not representative - I don't know. But it is at least suggestive.

[Sir Charles]

Davidson,

I began this campaign leaning towards Edwards, so I'm not simly an Obama partisan. I think it is completely disingenuous of you to suggest that it is Obama rather than the Clintons who is playing an ugly game. Bill's comments about Jesse Jackson's previous South Carolina wins, coupled with the statements of Shaheen, Kerrey, Cuomo and Robert Johnson, all add up to a pretty ugly attack on Obama.

I think it is a bad tactic and reprehensible behavior from a former president.

[Sir Charles]

Oy! Ignore the typos and grammatical errors above --I'm multitasking very poorly here.

I don't think the Clintons are in any way shape or form racists. In fact, I think race was one of the few areas where Clinton was admirably principled throughout his eight years in the White House.

But I do think the tactics they are engaging in here are cynical and not terribly ennobling for an ex-president.