Obama's Clinton Education

Please read this excellent commentary from the Wall Street Journal.

One of our favorite Bill Clinton anecdotes involves a confrontation he had with Bob Dole in the Oval Office after the 1996 election. Mr. Dole protested Mr. Clinton's attack ads claiming the Republican wanted to harm Medicare, but the President merely smiled that Bubba grin and said, "You gotta do what you gotta do."

We're reminded of that story listening to Barack Obama protest his treatment by the now ex-President Clinton on behalf of his wanna-be-President wife. "You know the former President, who I think all of us have a lot of regard for, has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling," Mr. Obama told a TV interviewer. "He continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts — whether it's about my record of opposition to the war in Iraq or our approach to organizing in Las Vegas."

Now he knows how the rest of us feel.

The Illinois Senator is still a young man, but not so young as to have missed the 1990s. He nonetheless seems to be awakening slowly to what everyone else already knows about the Clintons, which is that they will say and do whatever they "gotta" say or do to win. Listen closely to Mr. Obama, and you can almost hear the echoes of Bob Dole at the end of the 1996 campaign asking, "Where's the outrage?"

You have to admit, the Clintons are exceptionally skilled at triangulation. We even saw it at the Defeat-ocrats last debate. Senator Obama spoke about lies that Bill was telling. Mrs. Clinton's response? "He's not here."

She could have also said "he's everywhere but here." It's very cunning to have your chief attack dog not be an official member of your campaign and able to go and speak anywhere on your behalf with the full expectation of media coverage. After all, who wouldn't cover a former President's speeches? From there, it's an all-too-easy bait-and-switch.

"Did you hear what Bill said?"

"Yes, I did. But he's not running. Her Vileness is."

Let's see how long they get away with it. With the media behind them, my guess is a long, long time.