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When I was a little kid, I aspired to become a dinosaur when I grew up. The idea seemed practical at the time. I could roar loudly, I liked eating and I heard dinosaurs had a great pension. Of course, years later when I was in high school, I discovered that becoming a dinosaur was not biologically possible or even an actual profession, save for dressing up like Barney at birthday parties.
Barack Obama clearly had a little more focus than I did, because when he was a little kid he wanted to become the President of the United States. As a six-year-old, he probably didn't expect that his aspirations would be used to discredit him 40 years later.
On Sunday, Hillary Clinton's campaign inexplicably put out a news release in which they dug up an essay that Obama wrote in kindergarten titled "I want to become President," and criticized it. Her campaign sought to discredit Obama by debunking his claims that his reason for running is not to fulfill some long-held plan to become president.
As I pored over the news release, which was on Clinton's campaign Web site, my heart sunk a little. So this, I wondered, is what modern politics have come to?
In the news release, Clinton's campaign also referenced other instances in Obama's past when he hinted at a presidential campaign. This includes when he was a law student at Harvard and when he wrote an essay entitled "I want to be a President" in third grade.
In an e-mail sent to his supporters in response to the attacks, Obama stated: "When I decided to run for president, I accepted that my opponents would dig through my record looking for something to attack. I didn't realize they'd go all the way back to kindergarten."
How did Clinton's campaign even get a hold of these essays anyway? Perhaps all of those threats that my grade school teachers made in regards to my "permanent record" weren't idle after all. I'm suddenly regretting stealing my friend's milk during lunch in first grade - there goes my shot at politics.
Aside from the sheer asininity of the news release, I don't see its relevance in regard to Obama's character. Is the fact that Obama is close to accomplishing a goal he set when he was six years old really that diminishing to his reputation? It's admirable, if anything.
On Tuesday, in response to criticisms John Edwards made toward Clinton of her vote to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, she said "I understand politics, and I understand making outlandish political charges, but this really goes way too far."
Way too far? Pot, meet kettle.
By releasing this absurd attack on Obama, it's possible Clinton may have pulled a "Howard Dean." Dean ran for President in 2004 and was the favorite for the Democratic nomination. His support dropped drastically after a foolish rant at a political rally, which he concluded with a primal scream that would make King Leonidas blush.
Clinton's criticism of Obama's dreams may ultimately help them come true. Treadway is a radio-television-film sophomore.
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