For progressives, it started back in 2007 with that video take-off on the old Macintosh TV ad, depicting Hillary Clinton as some kind of Big Brother figure, and continued at an early Democratic Debate when Senator Obama used right wing talking points about the bogus "Social Security Crises", and false charges about her wanting to, "...force people to buy Health Insurance they can't afford.", to attack his most potent rival.
Of course, the far right had been out to get her since before her husband was in the White House, but it was Obama supporters, and the press, who took it to the max during the Democratic Primary season.
The most recent manifestation was the distortion of her comments regarding the Primary process going into June. Senator Clinton mentioned that her husband had not secured the nomination until June, then added that Bobby Kennedy was still in the race in June of 1968 when he was assassinated. This was immediately seized upon as a reference to the fear that Senator Obama might suffer the same fate, but clearly she was talking about the campaign timetable.
Perhaps the most underhanded charge was leveled as a result of Clinton's response to Steve Kroft's question on 60 Minutes about whether she thought Sen. Barack Obama was a Muslim.
Less than one second later, Clinton replied,"Of course not. I mean, that's--you know, there is not basis for that. You know, I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that".
For some reason, Kroft wasn't satisfied with her answer and continued to restate the question:
KROFT: And you said you'd take Senator Obama at his word that he's not a Muslim.
CLINTON: Right. Right.
KROFT: You don't believe that he's a Muslim or implying? Right.
CLINTON: No. No. Why would I? No, there is nothing to base that on, as far as I know.
KROFT: It's just scurrilous --
CLINTON: Look, I have been the target of so many ridiculous rumors. I have a great deal of sympathy for anybody who gets, you know, smeared with the kind of rumors that go on all the time.
Note that it took Kroft three tries to get her to add the qualifier, "...as far as I know."
Pundits and Obama supporters (many of whom were also pundits) immediately jumped on the "...as far as I know." response in an attempt to impugn Clinton's integrity. Chris Matthews even accused her of "hemming and hawing" despite the fact that she immediately responded "Of course not." That first response to the question never made it into the clips of the interview that were replayed endlessly on television and YouTube.
A recent Media Matters article by Eric Boehlert put it this way:
What stood out in the exchange was not Clinton's responses, but Kroft's weird persistence in asking a question that Clinton addressed unequivocally the first time, as though he was trying to draw out something she was not saying. Even more peculiar was Kroft's obsession with the Muslim question amid a 60 Minutes report that was about Ohio's shrinking working class and what Clinton and Obama were going to do to try stop of the overseas flow of U.S. manufacturing jobs. (Note to Kroft and the rest of the media: Obama is not a Muslim; Clinton knows Obama is not a Muslim; Clinton does not believe Obama is a Muslim. Clinton made this very clear.)
After parsing Clinton's answer and then conveniently setting aside key sections of it, journalists at NBC, MSNBC, The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Time, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post, among others, declared her response had been wholly deficient. Worse, Clinton's answer simply confirmed that she was running a "slimy," "nasty" contest. It was a "galling" comment; "the sleaziest moment of the campaign."
The only thing sleazy about the episode was the type of journalism being used to concoct a Clinton slur.
Throughout the Primary campaign, Obama supporters and the press took any mention by Clinton or her surrogates of the subject of race to be a "racist attack". This was especially ironic considering the fact that her husband has been referred too many times as "America's first black President", because of the Clintons' obvious sympathy for the plight of African Americans in this country. In many cases, an honest examination of President Clinton's and others' remarks (including those of Geraldine Ferraro) can be seen to have been simple statements of fact. Some of them, such as Bill Clinton's "fairy tale" remark, didn't even mention race, and yet Obama supporters and the press seemed to have the need to portray them in "racist" terms.
Through it all, Clinton continued to campaign on her issues; Universal Health Care, an end to the Iraq War, economic justice for the downtrodden, etc. Raising legitimate questions about her opponent's experience and ability to win the General Election while everyone kept insisting that she should just drop out of the race. As I have said many times, Senator Clinton did her rival a favor by putting his feet to the fire, making him address his obvious weaknesses before submitting himself to the meat grinder the Republicans are preparing for him.
It is no wonder that Clinton supporters, especially older women, have seen the coverage of the Clinton campaign as unfair and sexist.