Hillary ‘95 on working-class southern voters: “Screw ‘em”

posted at 4:30 pm on April 16, 2008 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly

Any opportunity to bash Hillary is a good opportunity, but is this really a huge deal? Bittergate went nuclear because it tapped so perfectly into the elite left’s condescension about guns and religion. She’s not acting condescending here, she’s acting, well, bitter about having been battered by southern voters in the 1994 midterms. Doesn’t excuse her dismissiveness, but then conservatives have also been known to let their pique get the better of them after a tough loss. People in the heat of anger say rash things. Even the, ahem, defender of the common man:

In January 1995, as the Clintons were licking their wounds from the 1994 congressional elections, a debate emerged at a retreat at Camp David. Should the administration make overtures to working class white southerners who had all but forsaken the Democratic Party? The then-first lady took a less than inclusive approach.

“Screw ‘em,” she told her husband. “You don’t owe them a thing, Bill. They’re doing nothing for you; you don’t have to do anything for them.”

Follow the link to see how the Clenis replied. HuffPo wants you to believe it’s indistinguishable from what Obama said, but there’s no contempt for anyone’s values or imputation of false consciousness in his comments. Reminds you of just how slick he was before he became an abject imbecile.

Update: I can’t bear the thought of a full-on defense of the Clintons here. Something to cleanse the palate.

Blowback

You must be logged in to post a comment.