Bittergate, meet Intimigate

At a closed door fund raiser a few weeks ago, Obama said something very apolitical about people being "bitter" and "clinging to" guns and religion in response. It was a dumb thing to say for lots of reasons and it has rightfully become a central theme of the campaign, and will probably remain as such until November and beyond.

Now the following quote came out from a closed door Clinton fundraiser a few months ago:

We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that's what we're dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and it's primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don't agree with them. They know I don't agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me.

I'll be very curious to see how the media handles this compared to "Bittergate". When Obama says something stupid there is some thought behind it. Hillary on the other hand comes from a place of pure political calculation. Barack's move was politically stupid, because it criticized swing voters, but at least there was a grain of truth (a very poorly worded grain of truth that I'm not even sure is really true) behind his statement. Hillary on the other hand just seems bitter because she lost votes so she makes negative (and coincidentally false) statements about the base of her own party simply because they disagree with her.

As recently as a few months ago, I would've told you that even though I'm going to vote for Obama, I both like and respect Hillary Clinton. Recently, I've been dropping the word "like" from that sentence. She's been a pretty cold-hearted and divisive and a not-at-all-likable campaigner, but I still respected her since I genuinely though that she had the country's best interests at heart, even if it was only in her own mind. Hell, I've advocated and hoped for an joint ticket for some time.

That's over now. I genuinely don't like or respect this woman. The above quote makes it abudantly clear that she doesn't respect my political views and that she will literally do anything it takes to win the nomination regardless of how it effects her party or her country. I suppose I would begrudgingly vote for her over John McCain if there was no legitimate third party option, but that's a hypothetical that I doubt will materialize. At this point, I honestly hope that she stays in the race as long as possible, goes down with the ship and then just goes away.