Hillary & the Politics of Disavowal

So I'm a bit behind the news cycle, but nonetheless feel compelled to post something about the overblown flap between the Clinton and Obama campaigns. First, I have a hard time believing that Hillary did herself any favors by calling the country's attention to the Maureen Dowd column and David Geffen's remarks. If she is the nominee, she will require the support of millions of American voters who are less than enthusiastic about her, so why should she explicitly attack the earnest criticisms of such a person, suggesting that such a free expression constitutes "the politics of trash".

Frankly Geffen's remarks ring true to this observer. I still would be likely to vote for Clinton over any Republican candidate, but I would be just a little less happy doing so now given her acid reaction to an opinion that closely reflects my own.

I've never been a fan of the politics of disavowal, which arguably may be more often a liberal ailment than a conservative one. Let's worry about policy statements, and what people do, not about what their friends say.