What Do Ryan Adams and Samantha Power Have in Common?

Their professional nadirs involve monsters.

For Ryan Adams, it's "I See Monsters," the worst song on his ridiculously terrible 2004 album, "Love is Hell." When the album is titled as such and your persona is Ryan Adams', how could it not be bad? And yes, I own it and have listened to it too many times.

For Samantha Power, it was her comment this week that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton is a "monster." Not exactly timely when you're a foreign policy adviser to, and big supporter of, Clinton's rival, Sen. Barack Obama. (Power promptly resigned.)

She knew it wasn't the right thing to say, too. According to the Scotsmen, the paper to whom she made the remark (which has probably had millions more hits in the last 48 hours than in the past 48 months), the full quote is: "She is a monster too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything." Trying to take something off the record after saying it is never a good idea, because it just clues in the reporter that you let your guard down, you left diplomacy behind for a moment, these are your true feelings. It's akin to blood in the water for a shark.

But really, it's just poor, "gotcha" journalism. Yes, for someone who reached international fame for her analysis of modern genocide, describing a U.S. politician, particuarly one of Hillary Clinton's stature, as a "monster" is stupid. But the fact that Power calls Clinton bad names when she's feeling frustrated, as the report suggests she was, is not news to me. I'm having trouble finding a full transcript of the remarks, but I bet if we were to listen to the reporter's recorded conversation -- or, at least, look at her notes -- Power returns to rationality pretty quickly. It's news if Power is so uneducated to only think of Clinton as a "monster."

Actually, I'll take that back. Power's sentence is news because it fits into a larger theme of the Democratic campaign, particularly since it became Clinton v. Obama. The number of famous surrogates who have said truly mean-spirited things this year now includes: Power; Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET Entertainment and owner of the NBA team the Charlotte Bobcats; former Nebraska Sen. and presidential candidate Bob Kerrey (also now president of the New School); Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell; and former Clinton national co-chairman Bill Shaheen (also the husband of former New Hampshire Gov. and current Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen).

These are truly impressive people, and all but Power support Clinton. I truly believe her campaign has directed its surrogates to be as rhetorically aggressive as possible -- that it's OK for them to toe the "politically correct" line -- and these transgressions are what sometimes happen when that is the campaign's MO. (And I'm sure they're [correctly] thinking, No one will remember.) Clinton and the campaign know there is a fixed number, somewhere in the tens of millions, that is going to vote for her no matter what: They love her hard work and intelligence; her historical campaign; and the good times of the '90s the Clinton "brand" conjures. What they have to do is prevent Obama's campaign from expanding the electorate so there are more people -- Democrats, independents and those under 30 years old -- who will vote for him, and one way to do it sowing seeds of fear. All the above people who put their feet in their mouths suggested Obama is too black, too mysterious, too ghetto, to be president.

David Brooks looks more prescient than ever right now, considering his column in Friday's Times -- written before Power "drove the day," to use biz lingo -- was all about how Obama can't mimic Clinton's passion for rough-and-tumble politics and still expect to win the nomination. Brooks, even if he wouldn't vote for Obama, urges him not to follow the Clinton path. To quote: "As the trench warfare stretches on through the spring, the excitement of Obama-mania will seem like a distant, childish mirage. People will wonder if Obama ever believed any of that stuff himself. And even if he goes on to win the nomination, he won’t represent anything new. He’ll just be a one-term senator running for president." (But really, you should read the whole thing for yourself. Brooks has been absolutely on fire recently. His column last month about consumer science and how it relates to Clinton v. Obama was also dead on.)

Brooks is absolutely correct. Obama wins the nomination and closes an era in American politics by ending the way he started the campaign -- liberal policy ideas wrapped in a inspiring, post-partisan message that says, "Look over there. Over there is a better place and here is why. I want to lead us there. Who will follow me? Let us all go together!" He has to stick to it or the next four (probably eight?) years are assured of being a legislative muddle, sort of like the past eight minus the Iraq War, the tax cuts and torture -- well, it'll be different because it's impossible to take those three out of the equation.

Update: Add former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton supporter, to the list of famous foot-in-mouthers. She was quoted in the Torrance (Calif.) Daily Breeze saying of Obama: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." It took a week, but, unsurpisingly, created quite the uproar, and Ferraro resigned from her honorary post on the Clinton Campaign's finance committee. (Bet the reporter there who got the interview assignment didn't think it would become the second-biggest national story this week.) Ferraro's comment is interesting because it doesn't ghettoize Obama, but still very much dismisses him as untalented and unworthy. Oddly enough, Ferraro said everyone was so excited about her on the 1984 Democratic ticket for the same reason, i.e. the first female vice presidential candidate, but that reads like self-flagellation to make up for the spiteful comment. (Though, to note, Ferraro stands by it.) Orlando Patterson, the noted Harvard sociologist, had an interesting op-ed column in the Times this week about Clinton's "3 a.m. phone call" ad. It made some interesting points, though perhaps overly deconstructed it and read too much race into it, but I'd be more interested in hearing Patterson analyze the Clinton campaign surrogates' comments.

Further Update: To bring this (incredibly long) post back to where it started: Oh boy, Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams' old band, is re-releasing its second record "Strangers' Almanac." (Pitchfork review here.) The full "Baseball Park" and "Barn's on Fire" sessions are included, as is "Wither, I'm a Flower," the most overwrought yet still-excellent song title there is. Looks like someone will be spending $23.98.