Chicago Tribune Uses Death of Eight Belles for Stupid Hillary Clinton Editorial

A couple of hours after the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby, the political blogger Kevin Drum wrote this:

Hillary Clinton chose filly Eight Belles to win the Kentucky Derby today. Instead, EB came in second and then had to be euthanized after breaking both ankles right after crossing the finish line. So here's the contest: Who do you think will be the first pundit/columnist/talking head to use this as an idiotically extended metaphor for the state of Hillary Clinton's campaign?

I don't know who the first was, but I know that one of the dumbest came from the Chicago Tribune, which wrote this in a Thursday editorial:

The only filly in the crowded field crossed the finish line second, but the fans who'd bet on her still had one last gasp of hope. Perhaps some fortuitous technicality would disqualify the first-place finisher. But things got worse instead of better. We're talking about Eight Belles, who was euthanized Saturday after almost winning the Kentucky Derby. But we're thinking about Hillary Clinton.

The editorial, which finished with, "There's no reason to wait until August to put Clinton, and the rest of us, out of our misery," was stupid on many levels, most importantly that it trivialized important points about both the presidential race and the safety of horses in racing. Also, was there really anyone who bet on Eight Belles thinking, "Gee, I hope some fortuitous technicality disqualifies Big Brown"?

Timothy J. McNulty, the Tribune's public editor, wisely wrote today that the editorial was wrong, although in my view he doesn't go far enough. I'm always leery of comparing political campaigns to horse races, but suggesting that a candidate, like an injured horse, needs to be put out of her misery is beyond tasteless.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-09-2008 @ 1:47PM

Kustie the Klown said...

Wow, getting compared to Hillary really just adds insult to, ummm, injury for the poor horse.

5-09-2008 @ 3:55PM

Brian said...

here's one

5-12-2008 @ 12:28AM

George B Vieto said...

I agree with you MDS that insulting Hillary Clinton comparing her to Eight Belles in way out of bounds. And I am not a fan of the Clintons due to their economic policies of high taxes on the rich.

5-13-2008 @ 10:59PM

Ty said...

The editorial was wrong for completely different reasons. Using the words "stupid" and "dumb" countless times does not give you a good argument.

5-13-2008 @ 11:00PM

stick to sports dude

5-19-2008 @ 8:06PM

kabbak said...

it would perhaps be a stretch to make the comparison between hillary clinton's campaign and eight belles' performance had hillary not been the first to draw the comparison. once she did that, it was open season to compare the race's outcome, whatever it were, to her bid for president. prior to the race, many were already speculating that a finish like eight belles' would spell mud on hillary's face. had the filly won, it would have been a tongue-in-cheek anecdote for the clinton campaign of which we'd not soon hear the end. hillary's endorsement was no more influential on the horse's performance than a win would have affirmed the candidate's position in her race, but to say that drawing inevitable follow-up comparisons now comes out of left field is simply ludicrous.