The Daily Background
| WTF? Clinton compares drivers license question flub to Swiftboat attacks
by Arlen Parsa
Um, this exhibits really, really poor judgment:
Yesterday in Las Vegas, per the AP, Bill Clinton compared the dust-up over his wife’s answer on the drivers’ license question to … the 2004 Swiftboat campaign against John Kerry and the GOP ad in 2002 that linked Max Cleland to Osama bin Laden. Over the weekend, it was Clinton supporter Eleanor Smeal comparing the post-debate reaction to Anita Hill. Now it’s Bill invoking the Swiftboaters and Max Cleland. For one thing, much of the criticism over Clinton’s response is coming from Democrats, and it’s over how she answered the question — not its substance. Moreover, no one is questioning her patriotism, as the Swiftboat and anti-Cleland ads did. Given this overreaction from Clinton supporters, how worried are they about the aftermath of her debate performance?
How are the two the same at all?
One of them was an organized smear campaign funded by White House operatives like Karl Rove and built on lies which sought to destroy the honorable career of a heroic Vietnam vet who returned home to speak out against the war he had fought in. Another of them was a situation where a highly decorated double-amputee Vietnam vet was likened to Osama bin Laden because he didn’t agree with President Bush’s war policies.
What happened last week was just Hillary screwing up an answer to a question about drivers licenses for unauthorized immigrants. Naturally her opponents jumped on the flub, and the Clinton campaign has been trying to figure out how to respond ever since.
To compare the two is totally unreasonable and frankly diminishes the outrageousness of the Cleland and Swiftboat attacks.
Update: When asked about Clinton’s comments, Obama says they’re a bit of a stretch.
Update 2: Clinton swiftboats herself again by not answering a question about giving driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants.
