Liberals: Silence Willy

Los Angeles Times Columnist Jonathan Chait: “Am I starting to sound like a Clinton hater? It’s a scary thought. Of course, to conservatives, it’s a delicious thought. The Wall Street Journal published a gloating editorial noting that liberals had suddenly learned “what everyone else already knows about the Clintons.” (By “everyone,” it means Republicans.) It made me wonder: Were the conservatives right about Bill Clinton all along?”

Former Senator Tom Daschle: “This backbiting, bitter give-and-take that we’re beginning to see more and more of, especially from the Clinton campaign. It’s wrong. Everybody know it’s wrong and it’s got to stop … It’s not presidential. It’s not in keeping with the image of a former president.”

Washington Post Columnist E.J. Dionne: “That’s why the Clintons’ assault on Obama is so depressing. In many ways, Obama is running the 2008 version of the 1992 Clinton campaign. You have the feeling that if Bill Clinton did not have another candidate in this contest, he’d be advising Obama and cheering him on.”

New York Times Columnist Maureen Dowd: “It’s odd that the first woman with a shot at becoming president is so openly dependent on her husband to drag her over the finish line. She handed over South Carolina to him, knowing that her support here is largely derivative.”

Nation Columnist Nicholas von Hoffman: “By the time Hillary and Bill have finished with Obama the real man may be unrecognizable to voters in Iowa or any place else … If he can wipe enough of the Clintonian slime off himself, Obama may be able to come out from under and explain to the world that sometimes less experience is more and better.”

Senator John Kerry: “I think you had an abuse of the truth … I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last few days it’s been over the top.”

Senator Patrick Leahy: “He is not helping anyone, and certainly not helping the Democratic Party.”

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “Bill Clinton’s ill-tempered and ill-founded attacks on Barack Obama are doing no credit to the former President, his legacy, or his wife’s campaign. Nor are they helping the Democratic party … Now, sadly, we’re witnessing a smear campaign against Obama that employs some of the worst aspects of the old politics.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “One might think a man who struggled with the definition of ‘is’ and wagged his finger while lying on national television would not be in a position to accuse others of ‘fairy tales.’ But humility and statesmanship are nowhere to be found in the Bill Clinton who attacked Sen. Barack Obama in underhanded and unseemly ways.”

Reverend Al Sharpton: “But I think that it’s time for him to just be quiet. I think it’s time for him to stop. As one of the most outspoken people in America, there is a time to shut up, and I think that time has come.”