David Axelrod gave Obama the smackdown this weekend, say goodbye to hope and dreams

[Herman Munster]

Say hello to Chicago rough and tumble.

I don't care what the Obamabots on here think. This is a major victory for the Clinton's. They have taken Obama off his silly hopes and dreams message and into the muck of partisan attacks. With all the bickering, a lot of the media driven nonsense that Obama is this transformative figure will be lost.

Make no mistake about it. Only failing campaigns go harshly negative and change their tactics mid stream like this. The Obama camp is worried.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/8002.html

Obama began to challenge the Clintons late in the Nevada campaign — a delay that David Axelrod, Obama’s chief media strategist, described Sunday as a mistake.

“I would concede that I think we were not fast enough in Nevada in terms of hitting back,” Axelrod said. “We need to be even more aggressive in calling out what are shameless falsehoods and distortions.”

Aides would not detail the more forceful approach, other than to say that Obama and surrogates would make the case directly.

Obama, who portrays his candidacy as the embodiment of a less divisive style of politics, runs the risk of losing credibility as he descends into more direct combat with the Clintons.

“People have heard a lot of things that just aren’t true from the mouth of the First Lady, from the mouth of the former president, from the mouth of the campaign," said Robert Gibbs, Obama’s communications director. "There is no question we will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

But Gibbs added: “We made the decision that we weren’t going to get stuck in the mud.”

[NMDemDist2]

1. Laura Bush has been talking trash about Obama?? who knew?

she's the only "First Lady" we have right now.

the former First Lady is known now as SENATOR Clinton.

[still_one]

2. Obviously you can fight for your candidate anyway you seem fit

but if you are trying to persuade people HERE AT DU to adopt your position, give them reasons why Hillary would be a better choice to get us out of Iraq, deal with economic and social issues better than the other candidates

My comments apply to the other candidates, otherwise we will end up to be the party of petty politics

[Why Syzygy]

3. Why do we think it's about this?

The SHOW? I don't even read the campaign posts very often. So much repetitive bad blood.
Is this how we want to elect our Leaders? Are even Progressives dulled to Reality and what the freak is happening to our world?

But, no. Quality of life is not important. It's more important to note who is using negative what and retaliation. It's game play. I am disgusted by the entire spectacle. This is a ruse media moguls are playing on us. It's like a live "reality" show. All that matters is SPLASH! And they just ring up another paycheck.

Step right up and choose your next Great American Circus Ringmaster!

We really do deserve our leaders.

[MADem]

4. He's playing defense, and the rightwing POLITICO isn't helping him out either.

Talk about damning with faint praise...and his timing sucks. It's MLK Day, after all. So much for hope and unity and all that stuff--instead, we get whining. Bad form.



Obama runs the risk of losing credibility
as he descends into more direct combat
with the Clintons.
Photo: AP

[niceypoo]

6. Whining and crying wolf everytime something goes wrong

Every state he loses, they will try to blow it up into a conspiracy, giving a preview to what an Obama presidency would entail.

[2rth2pwr]

5. Say farewell to "The Politics of Hope" and "The time for Unity"

[global1]

7. What Am I Missing Here - You Want To Let The HRC Campaign Take Shots A Obama And Not.....

have him defend himself. Your Axelrod quote - says - "We need to be even more aggressive in calling out what are shameless falsehoods and distortions. I don't see this as going 'harshly negative' as you put it. I see this as defending himself - like John Kerry should have done when he was 'swiftboated' - nothing more - nothing less.

[Joe the Revelator]

8. Team Hillary wants Obama to sit there and take all the hits

It's pretty funny

[Bitwit1234]

13. The only attacks everyone see are coming from him who whines when he looses.

[dionysus]

19. thorazine

[milkyway]

9. So you're saying voters are more likely to vote for him if he doesn't defend himself.

He should just take his swiftboating like a man and not say anything.

There's a difference between engaging in negative attacks and defending yourself from them. Obama's been so easy on the Clintons he's let Hillary talk about her "35 years experience" without calling her out on it. He's been an elected official longer than she has (although she did sleep with, or near, the guy who was president, even though it's likely they weren't on speaking terms much of the time).

[Proud2BAmurkin]

10. He probably should have praised Clinton and slammed Reagan, not the other way round

would have been more consistent with "unity"

Obama blew it.

[milkyway]

14. He obviously didn't handle that real well, but he wants to be the Dems' Reagan. He said when he was

running for the Senate that he wants to reverse the rightward drift of the country. Reagan moved the playing field of national politics to the right. Obama wants to reposition the national political dialogue to where it was before Reagan--a centrist then would be considered a flaming leftie extremist today.

[Herman Munster]

12. you mean he was a second rate part-time state senator from Illinois

voting on traffic lights and road bills.

[Kittycat]

23. How pathetic and desperate you sound.

He was a great state legislator, and we're proud to have him as our Senator. And yes - we dare to have HOPE that someone as great as him, will help usher in a new era in this country. Not the same old crap you clintonites have been doing. You're nothing but a bunch of DLC shills.

[Adelante]

25. Obama's record in the Ilinois Senate, just a sample

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. "Say Goodbye to Hopes and Dreams"

That should work as a nice slogan for the general!

:rofl:

[oasis]

15. "Goodbye" Maybe not.

Obama strikes me as the kind of overly ambitious politician that would start up a third party to keep his "movement" alive.

[rucky]

16. So the moral of this story is: Mudslinging works!

There's a strategy I can get behind. :eyes:

[ursi]

17. well, if we are stuck with Hillary in the White House and Mr. Bill as first husband

or whatever, I'm sure the Repugs will be distracting the country with investigations and scandals into their fundraising efforts and other such things so that we don't get to the bottom of prosecuting Bush, Cheney and the rest of their thugs. *&*^%$%^&*(!!!

[babylonsister]

18. Hermie, go to bed. Nice try. nt

[rodeodance]

21. He did well---and I will give him a REC.

[question everything]

20. Obama showed his bare knuckles when he ran for state senate

The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city's South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama's four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.

Fresh from his work as a civil rights lawyer and head of a voter registration project that expanded access to the ballot box, Obama launched his first campaign for the Illinois Senate saying he wanted to empower disenfranchised citizens. But in that initial bid for political office, Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like Palmer.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3201329

[gdaerin]

22. So he's going to call people on their falsehoods (also known as lies)

Wow, how hateful of him.

[Unsane]

24. I think tonights debate in SC will show us whether Obama is taking the gloves off.

CNN 8pm est

[ellacott]

26. Defending yourself is giving up on hope and dreams?

That is one of the most ridiculous things I've seen on this board.

I can't believe some of you.

So a person is supposed to sit back and do nothing when people lie on you. He is just supposed to be a wimp and roll over and take it?

You people trashed Kerry for not responding to the swiftboaters but you expect Obama to do the same?

I guess he's needs to know his place. Who is he to stand in the way of Hillary's campaign.

Wow...

[jbnow]

27. I wouldn't even call it defending himself

It is just responding. A truer way to put it.

Bill is the angry sounding one, Obama will be calm and clear.

Don't know what happened to Bill, he use to keep his cool in public and could say things with charm.
I know there can be personality changes after heart surgery. Really.I looked into it after a relative went through it. Maybe Clinton's frustration level or impulse control have changed some.

It bothers me because despite some bad policy moves I felt proud to have him represent our country, he sounded so good. Now he is getting laughed at on Sunday talk shows and international press talks about it.

That is a different issue though. Obama is doing the right thing,

[ellacott]

28. Yes, responding is a better word

I didn't make the connection with his heart surgery. You may have a point. There was a story on Keith Olbermann regarding Cheney and how it could be related to his heart issues.

[zulchzulu]

29. If you think a "major victory" means losing in delegate count and a 20%+ lead, good for you

A month ago, polls had Obama behind by 25% points in Nevada. Yes, he came within 6% and WON the delegate vote (which is what counts in a primary nomination), but he had to fight the dirty tactics of the Clinton machine.

It is time to expose the Clinton machine for what it is. Divisive within its own party, prone to pulling the Democrats into Repug territory policywise and in Hillary's case, prone to send troops into harms's way for the PNAC agenda.

We'll see what happens in South Carolina.