Samantha Power is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, and a brilliant and original thinker and advocate for the intelligent deployment of American power in order to build a more just and humane world. But she's supporting Barack Obama, she made a gaffe, she promptly and rightly apologized, and then she resigned. And now this afternoon, the Clinton campaign has continued to push out Power-bashing material in order to prove, I guess, that there's nothing and nobody they won't try to destroy if they think that will provide them with some slender additional shot at getting themselves and their clique back in power. It's a bit disgusting.
Also on this point, I join Kriston Capps in puzzlement over Dana Goldstein's view that "Power's comments promoted an awful stereotype of a female leader as someone who is inhumanly calculating, with no core beliefs." This strikes me as close to expressing the view that the feminist position is that criticism of Hillary Clinton is, as such, sexist. "Monster," as Kriston says, isn't a gendered term and accusing one's political opponent of a lack of principle is incredibly common. On top of that, the Clintons have actually spent a fair amount of time promoting the idea that they have a ruthless approach to politics. Democratic primary voters are supposed to want a ruthless leader to take on John McCain. But they turn that same ruthlessness against progressive leaders (and, indeed, principles if we recall Ricky Ray Rector and 1995-98), too, when it suits their purposes.
Matthew, all I can say if you are one of those DC insiders with the hidden dirt on the Clintons, now is the time to share it.
Posted by LarryM | March 7, 2008 6:43 PM