But let’s consider what the real “blunders” are here. The attack on Obama’s kindergarten dreams was petty and “knee-jerk,” by most any objective measure. Yet it came shortly after polling numbers had shown for the first time that the former President’s wife had lost her lead in Iowa. The timing of these two events made Mrs. Clinton appear as though she was acting out of a sense of disbelief, and desperation, and it cost her a very public and embarrassing defection of an Iowa campaign worker who disapproved of her negativity and joined-up with the Obama campaign.
But if the Clinton’s seemed panicked when attacking Obama’s childhood, they now seem to be something worse than panicked having raised the issue of Obama’s “pot smoking.” Certainly, drudging-up negative details about another person’s personal past can be perceived as bad form, no matter what the circumstances.
But in this case, Obama has already addressed this negative part of his past, and has handled it about as skillfully as anybody could - - he has admitted to smoking pot, has admitted that it was a wrong choice on his part, and has expressed regret for what his decision cost him. It’s difficult to be critical of a “sinner” who has confessed his sin, especially when the “sin” is perceived my many to be minimal, yet the Clinton’s have chosen precisely this very course of action.
Worse still for the Clinton’s, Obama has done what Bill Clinton has heretofore been unable to do; he has said in no uncertain terms that, yes, he did smoke pot, and he has taken full responsibility for doing so. Obama’s approach to the “pot problem” bares a striking contrast to Clinton’s approach to the same dilemma fifteen years ago, when he stated that he “experimented” with marijuana “a time or two,” but that he “didn’t inhale.” Bill Clinton was unbelievable then, and remains so today. To once again criticize Obama for his admitted pot usage draws further attention to the Clinton’s problem of trustworthiness.
Mrs. Clinton is adept at playing the role of victim. In announcing her new, more aggressive campaign tactics earlier this month in an interview with Katie Couric for CBS Television, she explained that she had endured many months of attacks herself, and therefore needed to begin responding.
Yet, in light of last week’s events, it would seem that the Clintons became victims not of other people’s attacks, but of their own miscalculations and missteps.