Healing, what healing?

There remains a split among Democrats, with some Clinton supporters still smarting over criticism leveled against their candidate during the primaries.

Consider this post today from Talk Left, which was one of the more vociferous Clinton supporters among liberal blogs. Big Tent Democrat makes the questionable point that the Obama campaign “is in a difficult position to combat” the GOP’s use of the race card

BECAUSE of the outrageous and disgraceful accusations that were hurled at Bill and Hillary Clinton during the primaries by many of his supporters.

Criticism of the Clintons, according to Clinton supporters, was never legitimate criticism, but always unfair attacks. Big Tent goes so far as to take what I think was a fairly even-handed critique from Eugene Robinson

From the beginning, Hillary Clinton has campaigned as if the Democratic nomination were hers by divine right. That’s why she is falling short — and that’s why she should be persuaded to quit now, rather than later, before her majestic sense of entitlement splits the party along racial lines.

is portrayed as Robinson “disgracefully smearing Hillary Clinton.” Significantly, it ignores the context of the quote — Clinton’s comment that she could better connect with “working, hardworking Americans, white Americans” — making a mockery of the notion of smear.

That’s not to say that Clinton supporters, especially female Clinton supporters, shouldn’t be angry, as well. Mysogyny was an ugly subtext of too much of not only Obama’s campaign, but of the campaigns of Edwards and the other Democrats.

An honest assessment of the primary campaign would admit that plenty of abhorent nonsense was pushed by both camps.

Liberals — in particular, those who were Clinton supporters — need to take a step back, assess the reality of the November race and realize what is at stake. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have far more in common, in terms of values and vision, than either have with John McCain. And with several Supreme Court slots likely to open — slots now held by the court’s liberals — do former Clinton supporters want to be responsible for allowing McCain to fill the vacancies?