Proxy campaigning is back

Yesterday we touched on the fact that Ron Paul is plenty nutty enough on his own accord that there should be no need to attack him through the utterances of those who speak either in favor of or near his campaign. But one can always tell that the campaign season is shifting into a higher gear when the proxy wars start heating up.

I've never been a fan of this although there are circumstances under which the attention it draws is valid.

One example. In 2008 candidate Obama was made to answer for remarks made by his campaign's foreign policy adviser Samantha Power in which Power referred to then rival candidate Hillary Clinton as "a monster". The episode was exceedingly silly because the comment, regardless of its accuracy, was rhetorically the sort of thing that our absurd "decorum" obsessed, fainting couch occupying establishment press considers so out of bounds as to demand the rolling of heads... or at least the symbolic rolling of those heads. Power was forced to resign her unpaid advisory position with the campaign and hang her (still attached) head in shame... for a few months anyway. Later she was hired by the Obama Administration to work in Hillary's monstrous State Department where she cheerfully contributed to such monstrous initiatives as the bombing and killing of people in Libya. But at least she didn't call anyone an ugly name.

Anyway the point is, in the case of Power, her comments about Hillary could have raised significant questions about just what kind of people were advising candidate Obama on key issues like the importance of bombing and killing people in the name of freedom. And it almost did that.. at least for those of us who were paying attention at the time although with minimal help from the decorum gatekeepers who manage our daily discourse.

But this is an unusual incident. Most of the time, attacking a candidate through proxy connections is a pointless parlor game for the bored and stupid campaign press. Examples of this abound from the obsession with Obama's pastor Rev. Wright in 2008 to this gay-hating preacher who endorsed Ron Paul. Paul is plenty homophobic on his own, thank you very much. No need to go looking for other loonies to throw in his face.

On the other hand, it's difficult to ignore Paul's latest monstrous endorsement... but we'll try. Oh how we'll try.