The Kennedys: Dissing Hillary, endorsing Barack…ignoring Bush

In a New York Times op ed on Sunday, Caroline Kennedy proffered the truly stunning and unassailable proclamation that Sen. Barack Obama would be a “President like my father.” And there’s no denying that her proclamation is tantamount to a slap in the face of all politicians (like Bill Clinton) who, for decades, have been touting themselves as heirs to the political legacy of John F. Kennedy (JFK).

Here, in part, is what she wrote:

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans…. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

Given that, I invite you to recall the hissy fit Bill threw after Obama merely suggested that Ronald Reagan was a more “transformative” president than he. Because only then can you appreciate what a devastating injury Caroline’s endorsement must have inflicted on his fragile ego. Not to mention the blow to Hillary’s imperial candidacy....

Far more important, however, is the insult that followed moments ago when Caroline’s uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), endorsed Obama as well. An insult, incidentally, which could only have been exacerbated by reports that Bill pleaded with Sen. Kennedy in recent days to either endorse Hillary or stay neutral.

Although, his desperate pleas are understandable - given that Kennedy is the only person in the Democratic Party whose influence rivals Bill's; especially among poor whites, blacks, and Hispanics.

It's time for a new generation of leadership.... Through Barack, I believe we will move beyond the politics of fear and personal destruction and unite our country with the politics of common purpose.... And I know he's ready to be president on day one! [Sen. Kennedy endorsing Obama today in Washington, DC]

But close friends say that Kennedy had become so disgusted with the Clintons’ race-baiting campaign to marginalize Obama that he regarded Bill’s pleas as nothing more than a pathetic attempt to spin him. Never mind his visceral inclination to shun this former president who has now shown himself to be little more than the white equivalent of Al Sharpton.

[So what] Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88.

Indeed, it could only have reinforced Kennedy's disgust when Bill uttered these cynical words after Obama’s landslide victory over Hillary in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. Because it was lost on no one that he was trying to foment racial resentment among whites and Hispanics against Obama to get them to vote for Hillary.

But I know that what he was really saying to the blacks of South Carolina, and implicitly to all black Americans, is “ya’ll can kiss my white ass because we don’t need you to win!” And, given that Hispanics now outnumber blacks, he may be right....

Which begs the critical question: If Kennedy’s racial conscience has been so offended by the way the Clintons have played the race card against Obama, what does it say about the racial pride of blacks who continue to support them?

Of course no black had a greater duty to address this question than Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. After all, she is primarily responsible for injecting into black consciousness the patently absurd notion that Bill is “the first black president of the United States.”

"White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime." [Toni Morrison in 1998]

Therefore, I am pleased that Morrison joined the Kennedys today in announcing her endorsement of Obama - as not only naturally but also politically far more worthy of this honor. I just hope that the many influential blacks who parroted her self-abnegating praise of Bill Clinton will now follow her commendable lead by eating their words as well.

Meanwhile, does anyone care that President Bush is delivering his final State of the Union Address tonight? Because, anticipating the drama that has now unfolded in this year’s presidential campaign, here’s what I wrote in my commentary on his address last year:

The only thing on anyone’s mind listening to Bush [during his 2008 address] will be: 'I wonder who'll be standing there next year…Hillary or Obama?'

Was I right or what!

NOTE: The Clintons are trying to counter the endorsements of the senator and Caroline by trumpeting endorsements by the children of Robert F. Kennedy (RFK). Unfortunately, this effort is greatly undermined by a report in the New York Times today that their mother:

Ethel, the widow of RFK, referred to Mr. Obama…as ‘our next president’ and likened him to her late husband.

Now, with the Kennedys proclaiming Obama the only legitimate heir to the political legacies of both JFK and RFK, let us pray that their endorsements do not turn out to be as much a blessing as a curse….

Related Article:
Clintons playing the race card
Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address

*This will serve as my Obama-Day Tuesday commentary because business travel will make it impossible for me to get online for the next 24-36 hours. (Published originally on Monday at 3:02 pm)

Kennedys Clintons Obama, Toni Morrison