Category: The Dish

Paul As Dean?

David Weigel on the future of the Ron Paul rEVOLution:

Can the Paulites make lasting change? Eve Fairbanks of The New Republic described Paul’s supporters as “the closest thing this race has to the Deaniacs of ’04.” Those Web-savvy, young, and excitable supporters of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean may not have powered their man to the White House, but their influence remains a potent force in Democratic politics. Dean’s Web team, including Matthew Stoller and Jerome Armstrong, became some of the loudest voices in the lefty blogosphere and go-to gurus for all Democratic Internet campaigns. Ex–Dean staffers populate the Courage Campaign, a liberal activist group in the MoveOn.org mold. And Dean himself has run the Democratic National Committee since 2005. If Paul’s people wanted to copy a movement, they could do a lot worse.

The Clintons And The Gays, Ctd.

Many readers expressed disbelief at my claim that the Clintons ran anti-gay ads on Christian radio stations in 1996. Did I have proof? Actually, John Aravosis recently provided a very extensive round-up of what happened back then. It’s all true. Here’s an excerpt from a Log Cabin briefing at the time:

In an article in today’s Washington Times, entitled "For Christian Radio, Clinton Changes Tune on Gays, Abortion," it was reported that the Clinton-Gore campaign "shrugged off" angry calls to shelve the radio ad. The article cited reports from gay and lesbian groups that the campaign might delete the portion of the ad which boasts of Clinton signing the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but "Clinton campaign spokesman Joe Lockhart said there are no plans to alter the radio ads, which will run for ‘a few more days.’"

After boasting about Clinton signing the anti-gay DOMA, the ad concludes with the line: "President Clinton has fought for our values and America is better for it."

John also notes that Bill Clinton advised John Kerry to triangulate against gays in 2004. Kerry refused. But the Clintons have used gays in two ways since their careers began:

to get money (an untapped resource that the Clintons shrewdly figured out early on), and to pivot to win red-state votes. Remember that the Clintons used this tactic in 1996 – not a close election, or one in which they even needed to gay-bait to win. But they did. It helped a little. And they knew the gays were pathetic enough to keep supporting them.

Why do I remember all this so vividly? Because I had a front-row seat at the time, having endorsed the Clintons and trusted them for five minutes. I learned my lesson. My most vivid memory was testifying against the Defense Of Marriage Act in 1996. It was the day of the hearings. We were going to lose; we always knew it. But the Clintons told the press on the morning of the hearings that they didn’t believe there were any constitutional problems with DOMA, cutting us off at the knees. Yes, that was politics. I understand. All I want to remind the next generation of gays about is: don’t ever expect anything more than "just politics" from the Clintons.

Scales. Eyes. Clintons.

A reader writes:

It occurred to me this morning that the Clintons have always excused their ways on the notion that they are constantly at battle with the "vast right-wing conspiracy."  It certainly seems after the past few months that excuse is out the window. 

I now clearly see the wizard behind the curtain: it’s the Clintons.

Before this primary process I am embarassed to say that I bought into all their stuff about the right wing always being after them and how that caused them to have to be always on the defense and in fight mode, not to the extreme that they presented it but I did believe it. I loved Bill Clinton and was open to Mrs. Clinton because of him, mostly. I had nothing against Senator Clinton personally before the primaries started I just didn’t think she had rights to a lot of the experience she was claiming, and I still don’t.   

Now, I am completely disgusted by what I know about them and can’t believe I couldn’t see through all this before.  When I get frustrated by the people who still seem to want them back I have to be honest in that I was fooled for a long time.  But I woke up when I saw that they employ the same tactics – when there is no "right wing" involved – against someone who at a minimum is a dream presidential candidate calling for hope.

They don’t know what else to do.

Quote For The Day III

"The time is long overdue to repeal this unjust and sweeping policy that deems HIV positive individuals inadmissible to the United States. This law emerged out of fear and stigma, and there remains no public health rationale for treating HIV more harshly than other communicable diseases.  We salute the leadership of Senators Kerry and Smith and urge Congress to end this draconian policy," – Joe Solmonese, president, Human Rights Campaign.

My personal thanks to Senators Kerry, Smith, Lugar and Biden. C’mon, Madam Speaker. More information on the travel ban here.