Feinstein's Lies Are Not Helpful

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Senator Feinstein was in the midst of a legitimately big bit of the primary recently, hosting the one-on-one meeting between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that helped resolve the race.  Feinstein remains a strong Clinton partisan and loud proponent of the so-called "Dream Ticket" which would give Clinton the VP spot on the ticket; which is fine except that she's lying to sell it.

Feinstein appeared on "This Week" yesterday continuing to push the outright lie that Sen. Clinton won the popular vote in the primary.  This is hardly the first time that Feinstein has pushed this dishonest notion and as kos (among others) continues to point out, only by ignoring the caucus states and giving Obama zero votes from Michigan does this math work. Of course, there are very few elections where you get to 1) claim victory despite not winning the actual contest in question or 2) choose after the fact which votes count and which don't. Or so goes the "democracy" notion.

First and foremost, every time this dishonest talking point gets trotted out, it makes everyone involved look stupid. Senator Feinstein is by no means stupid, so it's troubling that she would debase herself and the candidate she supports by throwing this garbage around. It doesn't (or at least shouldn't) actually help if the goal is to get Clinton into the VP spot. It comes off as being the last resort when there are no merits to run on.

Which is the second trouble: there's a perfectly strong and reasonable case to be made for Clinton as VP. I don't personally support the notion, but it's a debate with merit that can be engaged in honestly and directly and can make the party stronger by speaking passionately about the strengths of our Democratic leaders. Instead of focusing on Senator Clinton's actual strengths though, we get these lies that should be insulting to Clinton and continue to undercut Obama's general election campaign by implying weakness.

Finally, the myopic focus on Obama and Clinton, while serving during the primary process to dramatically expand the party's base and participation, is now at the point where it's sucking all the air out of the room and is detrimental to moving forward with a wider focus. It's distracting from downticket races that have been waiting for attention, it's detracting from expanding and unifying field organization, and it's undercutting the Democrats vs. Republicans debates that need to be the full focus across the country.

I understand full well that this is all posturing for the VP slot. But it's not the first time that posturing for personal gain from the Clinton camp has undercut broader opportunities. As far as I know this is not coming from Senator Clinton; I thought her speech on Saturday was excellent and that she's striking the right chords for party unity and healing. I've been on the side of tough primary and general losses and I fully appreciate the passions that can linger after the votes are counted and don't begrudge anyone for that or presume to tell anyone to "just get over it." But the least we can do for the candidates, the party, and the country is to be honest and constructive going forward.  And Feinstein's lies are not helpful.