Killing The Electricity

This has been on the newsstand for what, three weeks now?  Well, it was never more timely than yesterday.

Besides the leadoff use of the word “hope” — the Obama tag line, what ties Obama to Kennedy in ’68 is Bobby’s decision, as a first-term Senator, to challenge the incumbent power in his own party primarily through his opposition to an unpopular war.

Hillary’s reference to Kennedy’s assassination as justification for her staying in the race is not just because Kennedy died so late in the calendar.  The youthful radiance of this portrait — as it resonates with Hillary’s various comments about Obama’s rhetoric and charisma — suggests that Clinton sees Obama more as a phenomenon.  Painting that kind of picture, she seems to indulge the HOPE — fed by a little racial tension, and the kind of enmity she and Bill can harbor — that something, anything, could still kill the electricity.

Clinton Sorry For Remark About RFK Assassination (WAPO)

Why Clinton Says She Won’t Quit: Just Look What Happened to RFK (Rolling Stone)

The Heartbreak Campaign slide show (Vanity Fair)

Article/book excerpt: The Last Good Campaign (Vanity Fair)

(image: Bill Eppridge)