Oh, So Now It’s About the Issues

By Eric on February 28, 2008

At Tuesday’s debate, Hillary Clinton attacked Barack Obama over anti-Semitic comments made by Obama supporter Louis Farrakhan–comments which Obama has repeatedly repudiated. Of course, Obama’s denouncing of Farrakhan wasn’t nearly strong enough for Clinton.

“There’s a difference between denouncing and rejecting,” Clinton said. “And I think when it comes to this sort of, you know, inflammatory — I have no doubt that everything that Barack just said is absolutely sincere. But I just think, we’ve got to be even stronger. We cannot let anyone in any way say these things because of the implications that they have, which can be so far reaching.”

So Obama said fine, I denounce and reject. Rather than have the debate focus on the issues, Hillary Clinton took the opportunity to snipe at Obama using ridiculous political talking points.

But now, the tables have turned, and it’s a Clinton supporter who is making racist comments:

“Obama simply has the problem that he happens to be Black,” Adelfa Callejo said when asked if it was smart for Sen. Obama to reach out to Latino voters.

The 84-year-old is a prominent leader in the North Texas Latino community and has a history of fighting for Latinos’ rights.

But in a recent interview with CBS 11, Callejo, a strong supporter of Senator Hillary Clinton, acknowledged she still felt the deep division in Dallas between many Latinos and African Americans.

“When Blacks had the numbers, they didn’t do anything to support us,” said Callejo. “They always used our numbers to fulfill their goals and objectives, but they never really supported us, and there’s a lot of hard feelings about that. I don’t think we’re going to get over it anytime soon.”

Wow, so according to a Hillary supporter, Blacks have never done anything to help Latinos. Is Hillary going to denounce and reject these comments?

Clinton was equivocal. “People have every reason to express their opinions,” she said.

“You know, this is a free country,” Clinton said, laughing, when asked whether she still wanted Callejo’s support. She went on to say that she did not know the facts of the situation.

“People get to express their opinions. A lot of folks have said really unpleasant things about me over the course of this campaign. You can’t take any of that as anything other than an individual opinion,” Clinton told an interviewer from KTVT, who pressed her to explain the difference between Callejo and Farrakahn.

“I would urge all of my supporters and Sen. Obama’s supporters to stay focused on the two of us. Don’t vote on race, don’t vote on gender — vote on the qualifications each of us present for the presidency.”

Um…but isn’t this the exact same thing that you slammed Obama about two days ago?

Asked again about the two cases, Clinton said: “I don’t see any comparison at all with what you’re referring to and I don’t know the facts of what you’re telling me over the TV. So I’m just going to repeat that I want people to judge us on the merits.”

Oh, okay, so now it’s about the issues. Now it’s about judging the candidate on their merits. When it’s the Clinton campaign trying to score political points with cheap potshots, it’s okay, but when it’s Hillary under fire, let’s focus on the bigger issues. And by the way, this isn’t the Obama campaign calling on Clinton to denounce Callejo. This is just journalists doing their jobs by asking Clinton is she’s subject to the same guidelines that she holds Obama to.

If Hillary Clinton is going to insist on holding Barack Obama to a higher standard than that to which she holds herself, well, then I think that’s yet another reason to support him.

Tags: 2008, Adelfa Callejo, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Louis Farrakhan

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