It's 3 AM, Hillary gets a call to respond to racist comments, refuses to answer the phone (update 2)

[ProSense]

Obama: Ferraro’s Comments “Patently Absurd”

Obama to Allentown Morning-Call:

“I don’t think Geraldine Ferraro’s comments have any place in our politics or in the Democratic Party. They are divisive.
I think anybody who understands the history of this country knows they are patently absurd.

And I would expect that the same way those comments don’t have a place in my campaign they shouldn’t have a place in Senator Clinton’s either.”

**Ferraro responds defiantly on the Fox News Channel**

Insists her comment was not racist, and is “absolutely offended” by the angry response she has received. Blames Obama campaign and David Axelrod for the response.

Denies being a Clinton campaign surrogate, and advises Obama “not to antagonize people like me,” because if he wins nomination he will want her to raise money on his behalf.

Obama’s campaign also takes aim at Clinton in strong statement:

“She has once again proven that her campaign gets to live by its own rules and its own double standard, and will only decry offensive comments when it’s politically advantageous to Senator Clinton….” Read full statement.

Strategist David Axelrod calls for Ferraro to be removed from Clinton’s finance committee.

Response from Clinton spokesman Wolfson: “We disagree with” Ferraro.

While the statement does reiterate Hillary's disagreement today with Ferraro's suggestion that he's where he is politically because of his race, there's no repudiation or rejection of the comments. Instead, there's this strong insinuation from Williams that the Obama camp's criticism of Ferraro's comment amounts to playing the race card in some way.

Unapologetic, defiant, refusing to budge, flipping the accusations back in the face of the Obama camp. Given Ferraro's original comments, this is a curious response indeed -- one that stands in stark (and probably deliberate) contrast to Samantha Power's prompt resignation in the wake of her "monster" comment.

Late Update: The full statement from Williams after the jump.

Late Late Update: Ferraro amplifies her case by arguing that the Obama camp just might be attacking her because she's white.

more

Wolfson On Ferraro's Latest: "We Have Made Clear That We Reject Her Remarks"

By Greg Sargent - March 11, 2008, 8:54PM

I emailed Hillary spokesperson Howard Wolfson to ask if the campaign has a reaction to Geraldine Ferraro's latest, in which she said: "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white."

Wolfson's response:

Ms. Ferraro is speaking for herself. We have made clear that we reject her remarks.

The closest that the Hillary camp has come to rejecting Ferraro's remarks was when she said today that she does "not agree" with what Ferraro said and added that it's "regrettable" that supporters on "both sides" say such stuff.

Separately, Hillary campaign manager Maggie Williams went in the other direction, suggesting in a statement that the Obama camp was playing the race card by criticizing Ferraro's remarks, which is hardly a rejection, obviously.

The Hillary campaign's case study in poor handling of a controversy!

Also:
The Clinton Tax Returns: What's the Holdup?

Update:

Damage

Kos spots this stunner in the Mississippi exits:

Is Clinton honest and trustworthy? 52 Yes, 48 No

Obama's at 70-30. And this is among Democrats.

BREAKING: Obama Denouces Ferraro

edited typo

[Hissyspit]

1. How does she know what the call's about if she doesn't answer the phone?

I'm just sayin'

[ProSense]

Caller ID! It showed Obama's name.

Crisis management is not Hillary's strong suit.

[thunder rising]

3. Obama had to "reject and renounce" farrakhan's unsolicited endorsement .. not even on his staff

[ProSense]

7. Hillary is losing credibility. n/t

[Umbram]

16. "Losing" is a nice way of putting it. (nt)

[ecstatic]

4. Pray tell, when has Hillary ever responded appropriately to a "3AM call"

She's made the wrong decision each time during her "lifetime" of experience (14 years).

[Bigleaf]

5. Probably many times.

Always Bill on the other end.


He ran out of gas.
Flat tire.
Broke down.
Lost track of time.
Got mugged/sick on the way home, had to go to the hospital.
Fell asleep at a friends house.
etc. etc. etc.

[jgraz]

8. I bet a couple of those calls were from Gerry Ferraro

Asking to borrow a match for this cross she's trying to set on fire.

[ProSense]

6. Her entire campaign is wrong! n/t

[AZBlue]

17. "Monica, stop calling here in the middle of the night!"

Probably the only kind of 3AM call she's ever answered.

[ProSense]

9. This is Hillary's double talk and double standard

Commentary: Clinton mixes messages on Obama

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN

SAN DIEGO, California -- Harvard professor Samantha Powers, a former foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama, abruptly resigned last week after she was quoted in a Scottish newspaper calling Hillary Clinton a monster.

Powers got it wrong. Hillary isn't the monster. Her campaign is the monster. And it's the two-headed kind.

Just look at the mixed messages it sends. Recent examples involve talk of a Dream Ticket and what some Democrats consider the nightmare of the Ken Starr investigation in the 1990s.

One minute, Clinton blasts her opponent, Barack Obama, as so wet behind the ears that he wouldn't be able to handle a 3 a.m. phone call as president, and implies that he is trying to mask his inexperience with speeches and "rhetorical flourishes."

The next minute, she suggests that a joint ticket between herself and Obama "may be where this is headed." Just days ago, former President Bill Clinton called a joint ticket "almost unstoppable" and suggested that Clinton is "very open to" of pairing up with Obama.

So after arguing that Obama can't be trusted with the presidency, the Clintons would trust him to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?

Obama himself seized upon the contradiction Monday while campaigning in Columbus, Mississippi. "I don't understand," Obama said. "If I am not ready, why do you think I would be such a great vice president?" Obama asked the crowd, which gave him a standing ovation.

more

Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune and a nationally syndicated columnist.

[MethuenProgressive]

10. Flame bait.

[ProSense]

11. Take a little time to digest the facts! n/t

[MethuenProgressive]

12. This thread died last night. Dead, until you responded to your own thread to kick it.

Kick that Zombie thread, kick it!
:rofl:

[ProSense]

14. Thanks for the help!

Ferraro: 'They're attacking me because I'm white'

[MethuenProgressive]

15. How cute! You edit a quote so it fits your agenda! How Obama of you!

"Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says, 'Let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world,' you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," she told the Daily Breeze of Torrance, California. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"
---------
Sounds like DU, Gerry. Sounds like DU...

[ProSense]

18. Clue: That's the quote and title of the CNN article! Can you ever not be disingenuous? n/t

[MethuenProgressive]

19. Clue: Your flame bait died last night due to lack of interest. I'll give you one last charity bump.

Enjoy the three thread limit! :hi:

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

21. ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5041827&mesg_id=5041827

[Umbram]

13. Wow, MethuenProgressive calling people on Flame bait...

If hypocrisy wasn't so damn common here, I'd be surprised.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5027413&mesg_id=5027413

[ProSense]

20. Clinton's Spitzer statement (the irony)

Clinton's Spitzer statement

Clinton, whose campaign has to be relieved that her governor is not going to drag out his scandal, puts out a statement:

I'm deeply saddened by this turn of events and my thoughts are with Governor Spitzer's family during this painful time. I would also like to express my support for Lt. Governor David Paterson. I look forward to continuing to work with him on behalf of the people of New York. David has overcome every obstacle and broken every barrier in his path – and I know that he'll continue to display that leadership and determination as governor.

David Paterson, who is also blind, becomes NY's first black governor.

Now, will Hillary condemn Ferraro's racist comment, and acknowledge Obama's qualifications?

[ProSense]

22. Ferraro's white resentment card

Ferraro's white resentment card

<...>

She is like a lunatic. A racist one, ginning up white resentment for the benefit of a key Clinton demographic.

What's worse, she's keeping it up today with the clear tacit approval of the Clinton campaign, who have no problem keeping her as a surrogate and member of her finance committee.

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