By Steve Rhodes
“A ‘big city’ needs a ‘big mayor,’ and that’s why Chicago needs the man who helped him pass the Crime Bill, former President Bill Clinton told a crowd of 700 people at the Cultural Center Tuesday,” the Sun-Times reports.
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We – meaning reporters – don’t have to do things this way.
Alternate – or might I say journalistic – approach:
“Bill Clinton returned a favor to his former White House enforcer on Tuesday when he appeared at a $5,000-a-ticket fundraiser for mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel.
“While touting Emanuel as the ‘big mayor’ a big city needs, Clinton wasn’t available to discuss why the other candidates failed to measure up to that standard. Instead, Clinton issued his endorsement without displaying any evidence that he had considered the qualifications, experience and ideas of anyone else in the race – even as he urged Chicagoans to follow his advice.
“Characteristically, Emanuel’s campaign refused to answer substantive questions about the Clinton endorsement, instead simply mouthing the simplistic talking points that are so far a hallmark of his campaign.”
Or, we could just joke about how many times Emanuel told members of Congress to fuck off if they didn’t go along with the president’s proposals.
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Subjective? No. You can write that way – and you should – if everything you write is, you know, true. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Re-typing talking points is not in the job description.
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After all, Clinton picking out his crime bill to highlight was a strategic choice meant to complement Emanuel’s commercials in the hope that the media will reinforce the message by writing stories like . . . the Sun-Times’s.
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“Clinton continues to be popular among Democrats even after his impeachment and controversy over a sexual relationship with a White House intern,” the Tribune reports. “African-Americans made up a crucial part of Clinton’s supporters, and black voters are key in the Chicago mayoral contest.
“So Clinton’s visit in support of Emanuel was not without controversy. Rep. Danny Davis, a former mayoral candidate, had contended Clinton risked jeopardizing his standing with the African-American community by endorsing Emanuel. Prior to Clinton’s appearance, Emanuel aides used the rally stage to feature various supporters who were African-American.”
Huh. I guess voters needed to be reminded about Monica Lewinsky – who was not a White House intern while involved with Clinton no matter how many times the media says so – but nobody wants to bring up those (phony) accusations from the Obama campaign that Clinton (and his wife, now Obama’s Secretary of State) was racist.
Somehow it’s safe to use Clinton to win black votes again.
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Meanwhile . . .
“Rival Carol Moseley Braun, picking up an endorsement from the National Organization for Women and raising a half-million dollars from black business leaders Tuesday night, dismissed the Clinton visit,” the Sun-Times account noted.
“There’s a food pantry around the block from our campaign headquarters. Every day it’s open, 150 people are waiting in line in the cold for food. Do you really think they care who President Clinton is telling them to vote for?” Braun campaign manager Mike Noonan said.
The exchange that followed went unreported. We imagine it went something like this:
Reporter: Hey, I just heard Bill Clinton changed his mind and he’s going to endorse Carol instead.
Noonan: Really?
Reporter: Yes. Do you want to amend your statement?
Noonan: Well, just to say that we think getting the endorsement of a former president as popular and skilled as Bill Clinton shows that Carol is the right choice for Chicago. Did he say he would raise money for us?
Reporter: No. Just kidding.
Hence . . .
“Mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun this morning sharply attacked former President Bill Clinton’s endorsement of Rahm Emanuel, calling it ‘a betrayal to the people who were most loyal to him,'” the Tribune reports.
Which is why . . .
“The effort to endear Emanuel to Chicago’s powerful minority voting block was pretty easy to see, even though it was never spoken,” Fox News reports. “Of all the speakers at Emanuel’s campaign rally in Chicago’s cultural center, all but two of them were black: Rahm Emanuel and Bill Clinton.”
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We don’t talk about race in our campaigns, we just exploit it.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on January 19, 2011