Obama adviser apologizes for 'monster' comment

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN: March 7, 2008
Obama adviser apologizes for 'monster' comment

(CNN) — One of Barack Obama's top foreign policy advisers apologized late Thursday after a Scottish newspaper quoted her as calling Hillary Clinton a "monster."

"It is wrong for anyone to pursue this campaign in such negative and personal terms," Samantha Powers, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of government and an adviser to Obama said in a statement. "I apologize to Senator Clinton and to Senator Obama, who has made very clear that these kinds of expressions should have no place in American politics."

Powers' apology came shortly after the The Scotsman newspaper published an article in which she makes the characterization (a comment she immediately tried to retract), and suggested the New York senator is trying to deceive voters. "She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything," Power was quoted as saying.

"You just look at her and think, 'Ergh,'" Powers also said. "But if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."

Powers also said the Obama campaign "f***** up in Ohio." Clinton beat Obama by 10 percentage points in Ohio on Tuesday. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win," Powers said.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton distanced the campaign from the remarks, saying in a statement that the Illinois senator "decries such characterizations which have no place in this campaign."...

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/07/obama-advisor-apologizes-for-monster-comment/

[Donnachaidh]

1. ahh, but he got the comment out there, right?

Mission accomplished. Obama's people are just as skilled at dirty politics as Hillary's. :eyes:

[Saturday]

2. Rabid Obama supporters turn people off to their candidate. nt

[stellanoir]

3. Here's a great article she wrote last week.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?bid=15&pid=292522

[Kittycat]

4. Great article, thank you for sharing.

And I'm of the camp that there's nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade. And HRC is indeed a monster. She's trashing the party, because she can't win. I for one will not stand idly by and let her ruin the Dem's chances for November.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. I understand your strong feelings, and the stakes in this election...

but I would like to, with respect, and as an Obama supporter, object to the use of a dehumanizing term for HRC. I'm sorry -- I don't like to be argumentative, and I appreciate your post and the thought behind it.

[dkf]

9. Hillary takes advantage of Obama's niceness.

And "nice" is rarely a compliment for a politician.

No one would ever call Hillary nice. In fact, a whole lot of Hillary people love that she is dirty. That is what creates the "monster" perception.

[stellanoir]

10. I had only learned about Samantha last week when I read that article and I was really wowed

by her. So I was really surprised that she would be naive enough to think that sort of commentary would remain off the record.

Here is Samantha's blog.

http://samanthapower.blogspot.com/

I do think many do see HRC that way and feel that Clinton fatigue is often underestimated.

on edit- I forgot the link

Sheesh

[NJmaverick]

5. That was a great article

Thanks for sharing

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

6. Wonderful article. Thank you.

[NC_Nurse]

8. That was a bad move, I'm glad she apologized.

Great article, BTW. Thanks.

[AtomicKitten]

11. She IS a monster.