Bush 'failing' on Middle East peace plan
Wednesday, 28 May 2008 16:18
Is Bush's Middle East peace plan still on track?
George Bush's Middle East peace plan is "non-existent", a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's campaign has claimed.
Sidney Blumenthal, former aide to Bill Clinton during his presidency, poured cold water on the renewed peace process and on the possibilities of reviving it under a future Democratic administration.
"It's hard to know what the point of departure is for a renewed peace process," he continued.
Mr Blumenthal was speaking at a Fabian Society event in central London in which he received many angry questions from the audience about Ms Clinton's use of race in her campaign for the nomination.
He argued the "many charges" made against her in this regard were usually false and intended to incite the very opinion of her the audience were expressing.
Mr Blumenthal claimed Ms Clinton was "keenly aware" of the "sexism" directed towards her from American cable television, but that she chooses to ignore it.
"Female victimisation turns off male voters," he said.
He also warned the primarily left-of-centre audience to be cautious before it proclaimed the end of the religious right in the United States.
"The religious right is still there," he said.
"They're very potent. They have powerful organisations and those that think they're going to go away are fooling themselves."