Turning the political page
AFTER ELIOT Spitzer, it's back to politics as usual.
No more sex - just race, gender, and the ruthless pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination.
The story of the New York governor's hook-up with a hooker named Kristen was big - so big that it nearly eclipsed what had been the sexiest political story in the nation: the endless back-biting between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Lurid details of Spitzer's reckless cavorting and the bottomless pit of his wife's humiliation dominated the headlines. The
By week's end, the Spitzer saga entered its next phase, the fleshing out of details of the disgraced governor's financial transactions and the sorting out of legal consequences. Residents of other states can only wonder why their scandals are so dull. When things get nasty in Massachusetts, it's not over sex, it's over casinos.
Meanwhile, the Obama-Clinton saga also entered its next phase, the run-up to the Pennsylvania primary.
Last week, former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro also resigned as a fund-raiser for Clinton after making comments deemed controversial. "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position," Ferraro said.
The wording was awkward, but the sentiment is not entirely inaccurate. As many have noted, part of Obama's appeal is symbolic and directly connected to his skin color, in a positive way. Electing the first African-American president would allow the country to turn a corner on race and past divisions; and a President Obama puts a new face on America, in a way no white man or woman can accomplish quite as dramatically.
But Samantha Power had to resign as Obama's foreign policy adviser after she referred to Clinton as "a monster" in a newspaper interview. So, Ferraro also had to go.
With the ebbing of the Spitzer story and the resignation of Ferraro, thundering sound bites from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's minister and friend, headed for center stage. Wright, who was pastor of Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, has made numerous statements bursting with racial paranoia and anti-American sentiment.
Among the most damaging are words he spoke five days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: "We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans and now we are indignant. . . . America's chickens are coming home to roost."
Obama has described Wright as "an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with." In a statement on Friday, Obama called Wright's comments "inflammatory and appalling." Discussing his connection to Wright and his church, he said, "All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn." The title of Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," comes from one of Wright's sermons. The minister married the Obamas and baptized his children. Obama consulted with Wright before running for president, prayed with him and he and his wife donated more than $20,000 to his church.
Can Obama's campaign kick back up to the politics of hope? Or will he and Clinton continue to wage joyless guerrilla warfare, all the way to Denver? If they continue down this road, it alters the general election landscape, to the disadvantage of Democrats.
Spitzer's downfall hurts. It reminds voters of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky and that's bad for Hillary Clinton. But, it also puts a bipartisan spin on sex and that's bad for Obama, too. Spitzer, a Democrat, enters the same political hall of shame as Republicans Larry Craig and David Vitter. After Spitzer, neither political party holds the moral high ground.
And, the Democrats are also giving up the political high ground. The battle between Obama and Clinton is mean and petty, not high-minded or inspirational. No one's debating issues, and forget about vision. The Obama and Clinton campaigns are blind to everything but each other.
Karl Rove couldn't have planned a more divisive contest. If the Democrats lose in November, it will be a bigger scandal than Spitzer's.
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com. 