I was watching CNN about an hour ago and saw an interview with former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE), who endorsed Hillary Clinton for president yesterday. His remarks about Barack Obama (Muslim heritage, middle name Hussein, etc.) were discussed. The more he talked and the more he explained his remarks, the more he sounded like a Clinton shill. Everything he said was factually accurate, but in the context of a close political campaign, his motives and timing are highly suspect.
Curious, I looked up what Kerrey reportedly said yesterday.
It’s probably not something that appeals to him, but I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim. There’s a billion people on the planet that are Muslims and I think that experience is a big deal.
ABC’s Jake Tapper on his blog Political Punch:
…his name is Barack Hussein Obama. I know that middle name is seen as a weakness by Republicans, but I don’t think it is. I think it enables him to speak to a billion Muslims around the world.
Damning with faint praise? You decide.
If Bob Kerry was in Iowa to endorse Hillary why would he bring up the matter of Obama’s middle name and the fact that he has relatives that were Muslim if not to plant the notion in the minds of some voters that Obama somehow had problematic loyalies ?
Among other things Bob Kerry is being sneaky.
Posted by gasdocpol | December 17, 2007, 5:42 pm MSTI work at New School, and I have worked in Bob Kerrey’s office. He is just a shameless grandstander…shilling for the Clintons and hoping to get a cabinet post. What a dick.
Posted by Anasazi | December 17, 2007, 10:56 pm MST