When in Doubt, Blame a Clinton

* Bumped Up *

Mitt Romney has just assumed a lead in national polling, wiping the collective smirk off the gloating faces of the pundit class. Since it would seem media prognostications of a re-election cakewalk for Obama have proved premature, a number of the “Gang of 500” are already doing their best to mount a CYA just in case our Prez comes up short on November 6th. And how have they chosen to do it? Why, blame a Clinton, of course.

The New York Times’ Matt Bai had the audacity to pen an article entitled, “How Bill Clinton May Have Hurt the Obama Campaign.”

Frankly, I don’t care whether anybody here likes or hates Bill or Hillary, Bill and Hillary, or any other combination thereof. Whatever their flaws or mistakes, these are two people who have worked tirelessly to leave the country – and the world – a better place than they found it. That Bai has the bloody nerve to try to blame Bill Clinton if his messiah loses is the height of perfidy, not to mention stupidity.

Let us remember that 2012 is no different in 2008. When Hillary was running against Obama 4-1/2 years ago, if he got a wart on his behind, it was Hillary’s fault. Damn that “60 year old b*tch in a pantsuit” for not rolling over when Alter, Axelrod, Rich, Matthews, Pelosi, Reid and the rest of the thug squad in the DNC, the media and the Obama campaign told her to – so Mr. Obama could just eat his waffle. Today, Mr. Bai opines that Bill Clinton whispered in Obama’s ear and gave him incorrect advice on how best to define Governor Romney for the electorate.

Bai writes that the straw man Clinton instructed Obama to create was the wrong straw man. In this scenario, Clinton, apparently, should have told the Obama team to paint Romney as “inauthentic and inconstant, a soulless climber who would say anything to get the job,” much as George W. Bush did to John Kerry in 2004. Instead, “Clinton forcefully argued” they should “publicly grant that he was the “severe conservative” he claimed to be, and then hang that unpopular ideology around his neck.”

“In other words, Mr. Clinton counseled that independent voters might forgive Mr. Romney for having said whatever he had to say to win his party’s nomination, but they would be far more reluctant to vote for him if they thought they were getting the third term of George W. Bush.”

At least Bai acknowledges the campaign ads Bill Clinton has made on Obama’s behalf. But Bai must have forgotten that Bill Clinton showed up at the Convention and gave a brilliant nominating speech, where, in 39 minutes, he led us down the yellow brick road to completely rehabilitate the failed presidency we have seen unfold before our eyes these past 4 years. Clinton was stellar. I felt like I was watching a revival of “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You.” Clinton’s sleight of hand was something to behold. Why should he have to stand before the American people and explain what Obama could not explain himself? That his presence was even required should tell everyone what they need to know about the current President’s tenure.

So what else should Clinton do for him? Would Obama like to go out and have another few rounds of golf while Clinton does all the campaigning for him, too? Should we just call him on November 7th and say – Hey Mr. Prez, it’s time to take a victory lap while we put the ever-useful Clinton back in the shelf for use at a later date…?
And what of the debacle in Benghazi? Hillary stepped up to shoulder the blame and whatever portion of this rests with her – she is not the commander in chief. To say that Obama is not responsible for security decisions is preposterous. With the new emails revealed today, several blogsites have floated the theory that Mr. “I Like to Vote Present” was unable to make a decision about taking action to protect our consulate. There is another alternative, but I cannot bring myself to write it on the page. We may never know the real answer.

The incumbent still has an even chance of taking this election, but if he should not prevail, the mainstream media will have only themselves to blame. Had they bothered to vet Mr. Obama five years ago, or made a passing attempt at fair coverage of all the candidates, we would not be at this pass today. The soufflé they cooked up for the American people was bound to cave in at the center sooner or later. Eventually, one must stand on one’s achievements or the lack thereof.

That the Obama campaign has just today, two weeks prior the election, finally chosen to put out a pamphlet detailing the President’s second term agenda is itself ridiculous and shows the extent to which they were caught looking. It seems as though they believed the unfortunate tale they spun about the “flip-flopping, gaffe-prone” Romney. A candidate who once made big media swoon like schoolgirls over his grand vision and lofty rhetoric is now reduced to snark about “Romnesia,” Big Bird, binders and bayonets.

As to Mr. Bai’s criticisms of President Clinton, if the brilliant President Obama and his campaign operatives, who won a commercial award for “best branding” in 2008, were incapable of governing and campaigning without the assistance of a former President whom they had previously diminished, insinuating he was a racist to boot, then perhaps Obama and his team were never capable of eleven-dimension chess after all.

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Anita Finlay is the author of Dirty Words on Clean Skin, Sexism and Sabotage, a Hillary Supporter’s Rude Awakening, now available on Amazon in print and kindle editions. For eight weeks, #1 om Women in Politics books.

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