Rules For Scandal

by digby

Matt Yglesias writes:

But insofar as we’re talking about ideology, we should be clear. Clinton, like her husband, is both hated by the right and treated unfairly by the press and a not very liberal politician, coming from the party’s more centrist wing and flanked by advisors from the same. In a general election, she’d clearly be the progressive choice against Giuliani, McCain, Romney, etc. but is clearly the less progressive choice vis-a-vis Edwards and Obama. I don’t think the fact that she’s mistreated by the press should distract people from this basic point.

That’s true and I can’t argue with it. And his analysis about the liberal positioning of the candidates seems right to me too, a fact which we must keep in mind as we begin to engage the substance of the primary race.

But neither should we ever forget that Clinton Rules apply to all Democrats if they become a threat and, therefore, they should be fought wherever we find it. Nobody can say that the Clinton Rules weren’t in effect against Gore and Kerry too. (Hint: it’s the trivial tabloid smearing and breathless psycho-sexual armchair analysis that’s the tip-off.)

The Rules are named for the Clintons because they were the first successful, high profile baby boomer Democratic leaders to hold high office and so were the first to be subject to it. But if it hadn’t been them it would have been someone else because they developed less because of the politicians than because of changes in the media landscape. Although the Democratic narrative was cooked up a long time ago it was during the Clinton years the right wing noise machine learned how to feed a new generation of ratings hungry, 24/7 news media the nasty little tid-bits that allow them to cover politics like celebrity gossip.

Primary season is always a test for Democrats who are tempted to take advantage when the media uses it against a primary opponent. You can certainly understand that — it’s human nature and people are in it to win. But I think it’s a big mistake. That is not to say that they shouldn’t fight hard for the nomination. But there is a difference between using the media to regurgitate patented rightwing cant and employing legitimate tough politics.

Democrats should hang together on this one issue. They’ll all benefit in the long run. As a blogger, I’m going to continue to call out the media when they do this regardless of my personal feelings about the candidate. Until this cycle is broken all Democrats are going to be subject to the trivialization, character smears and biased coverage that comes with a shallow, sophomoric political press in a Republican establishment town.

Update: I should make clear that I’m not chastising Yglesias here. He was making a separate point, which is eminently reasonable.

Update II: Here’s Eric Boehlert with an anatomy of a patented Clinton Rules smear job.

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