Obama openly used past unfair attacks on Hillary to advocate for himself

[Tom Rinaldo]

Earlier in this contest Obama decided not to come out and strongly defend Hillary Clinton for having been the unfair target of constant vicious attacks from the Republican Hate machine over the last 15 years. He didn't simply ignore the unfair treatment of her, he went further and claimed those right wing attacks on Hillary Clinton were a reason for Democrats to now vote for him instead of her. In at least one debate I heard Obama note while it is unfortunate that Hillary Clinton is so divisive to Americans, to a large extent not due to her own fault, the sad reality is that she now is associated with the politics of division from the 90's, and Americans now want to move beyond that.

Obama essentially called Hillary Clinton damaged goods as a result of the right wing attacks by hacks like Limbaugh on her, and said nominating her now would make it harder for Democrats to win the Presidency with Hillary Clinton as our nominee, suggesting that he was more electable than Hillary because he has not already been victimized by the politics of divisiveness employed by the National Republican Party.

And many posters on DU made the exact same points against Hillary, frequently the same ones who now are outraged that anyone can dare even question whether Obama could become damaged goods in November due to current controversies. The difference is that Barack Obama openly campaigned on the wounds Hillary received at the hands of the right wing media, suggesting we cut our losses and with them Hillary, and turn instead to his fresh new previously unscarred face to lead us..

[jobycom]

1. You reap what you sow. nt

[rodeodance]

6. that is a TRUTH

[blm]

17. Is this sowing?

Backstabbing Dems for no reason other than to keep 2008 open for TeamClinton?
http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=13354

Defending Bush repeatedly in high profile interviews for no other reason than to protect him during his election so 2008 would be open for TeamClinton?
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/19/clinton.iraq/

Sabotaging Ohio Dem voters to keep 2008 open for TeamClinton?
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward


Validating Bush's lie against Kerry for no reason other than to keep 2008 for yourself?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg

[dchill]

56. Too bad that the Hillarious ones...

don't have the time to read anything but their own talking points. Great post.

[blm]

80. They CAN'T read the links - they NEED to deny the truth to protect their FAITH in Clintons.

.

[dchill]

81. And THAT is cult behavior.

[jobycom]

58. Pretty much. He's run a Rove-esque campaign, so they've stopped playing nice with him.

I know his supporters (most, anyway) don't get it, and won't if I explain it, but he's been dirty and underhanded from the beginning, from misrepresenting the IWR vote to blasting Clinton on lobbyists (when he knows how it really works, but chooses to misrepresent it), misrepresenting her comments on LBJ and then accusing her of race-baiting, when he was the culprit in the first place.

And the OP is exactly right. He campaigned against Clinton by playing up all the Republican slanders against her, even the most horrendous sexist slanders. He's still doing it, questioning her experience and implying, like Chris Matthews, that she's where she is because her husband was president, ignoring her experience, which overshadows his greatly. (notice how he switched from saying she had more experience but he had judgement, to she has no experience).

And now that the media is giving him the most cursory examination, and poking holes in the shell of perfection they helped him create, people are whining that the media is against him. Like W, he would not be on the national stage if the media hadn't pushed him, if he had had to get attention on his own merit. If he'd been treated like Clinton, he'd have been out of the race before December.

You reap what you sow. He's reaping. He'll survive. Maybe he'll even learn.

[blm]

62. Clintons backstabbed every Dem who got in their way LONG BEFORE most heard of Obama.

Those links are pretty clear that Hillary2008 was running WITH Rove and not against him in the last election.

You want us to forget how DISLOYAL and UNDemocratic Clintons have been all these years?

[papau]

26. Sad to to see the walk on water fellow sinking slowly into the mud - the speech may

save him just enough to get the nomination so that the Dems will lose the Nov election when the 527 ads featuring Wright and Rezko are shown.

[jobycom]

55. It is sad to me. He could have been special if he'd waited until he was ready.

If he had run in four or eight years, he could have been special. I honestly think the best thing for him would be to lose to Clinton and try a comeback in four or eight years, when he's got campaign experience and some federal experience. But he ran without knowing what he was doing, he played dirty, it worked for him, but now he's suffering the backlash.

You're probably right, he probably will get the nomination. He may or may not lose to McCain, who's digging his own grave with a backhoe these days. What if he wins, though? He's shown himself to be dishonest and naive in the extreme. He's all over the place ideologically. Except on race, where I really like him. But how's he going to govern? The way he voted or the way he says he is now? Will he show an initiative as president that he hasn't shown so far in his life?

I'll vote for him, probably, but only because I don't want McCain appointing SCOTUS members. But things won't get better with him. He has no clue on economics or foreign policy, so the war will go on and the economy will struggle and wages will continue to fall. Or, he'll screw up royally and make it all worse. All these "He's inspirational and that's what a president needs" people are just flat naive.

[blm]

78. And what are the people who don't trust Clintons because of the years of protection given Bushes?

Are those who believe open government matters and that closed government Democrats have hurt our party and this nation in the long run just naive?


http://consortiumnews.com/2006/111106.html

When truth doesn't matter in government, there is no democracy - just a government closed to the citizenry.

THAT is what the truly naive support.

[buff2]

2. The chickens are coming home to roost!

As the Good Rev.says. :hi:

[rodeodance]

3. I am astounded at the Faux OUTrage of O. fans-they want HRC to come out and help him.

[bunnies]

5. I cant imagine any Obama supporter expecting "help" from Hillary.

Thats bizarre.

[rodeodance]

9. The O. posts are OUTraged that Hillary is not sicking up for O. Where you been?

[bunnies]

11. I dont know!

I havent seen any of them. Must be in threads I havent read? :shrug:

[rodeodance]

35. no bunnies---They are subject lines

[Catherina]

31. Help? Most of us want that woman to stay as far away from him

and from us as possible.

[DemGa]

4. Obamas seem to have a hard time grasping this concept

It was the slickest of all tactics - and an alliance with those right-wing attacks. I've called it treachery. And this is what set the tone for the Hillary attacks from Obama supporters -- it originated with BO himself.

And they wonder why so many dislike the charlatan Obama.

[TacticalPeek]

7. He will learn.

And will be a good president in 2016.

[Liberal Gramma]

30. What? We're repealing the 2-term rule?

[Vinca]

8. I'm afraid all Democrats are missing a most important point.

At the moment, we have not 1 damaged candidate, but 2. Hillary came in damaged, now MSM is intent on taking down Obama. We can aid and abet in the demise of Democrats . . . again . . . or somehow unify to beat back the Republican machine . . . no matter which candidate ends up the nominee. United we can win, divided we have President McCain.

[rodeodance]

12. too soon, This is primary season.

[democrattotheend]

22. Doesn't matter. Anything that could hurt either candidate in November needs to be addressed

Didn't we learn anything from 2004?

[Mezzo]

28. it's true...

Here's the other ugly fact. People have heard Hillary's baggage time and time before. But new scandal smacks a fresher, more sensational news cycle.

Remember in 2004, John Kerry said he'd fight? He turned tail by one o'clock the next day.

[leftynyc]

50. Kerry had the nomination

wrapped up very early in 2004 and he still got swiftboated into losing. I'm not sure what your point is.

[democrattotheend]

51. My point is, he didn't stand up for himself and Democrats did not stand up for him

and we let the Republicans define him before he could define himself. The Swiftboat crap stuck, and this too will stick if we don't do something about it. We don't want to make that mistake again.

[leftynyc]

72. The democrats did stand up for him

Hell, even smirky the chimp said the swiftboat ads were outrageous. You can't stop people from being stupid. People believed it because they wanted to and because they were looking for a reason not to vote for Kerry. Unfortunately, it's going to happen here as well. The same people that will scream "I'm no racist", those swing voters that any nominee needs to win an election, are going to use Rev Wright as the reason they can't vote for the black man. It's disturbingly that simple. They wanted a reason, now they think they have it.

[Auntie Bush]

33. Why didn't O. think of that when they repeated verbatim all the RW talking

points about Hillary. Now that some tables are turned...they want H. supporters to shut up and join forces. Your timing for unity should have been before this O scandal...it would have been much more meaningful and genuine.

I'm all for calling a truce in spite of this...but it's going to be hard with some O supporters still bringing up old B.C. scandals to use against Hillary. Talk to your O supporters first...they're the ones who attack unfairly...and I'm sure H supporters will go along as they are less hateful.

I just want to remind people that H supporters didn't start this mess. Obama, Wright and the RWers like Hannity are pushing it. Also, I have seen few posts by H. supporters spreading gossip, and jumping on the hate bandwagon. Most of their posts have been defensive.

[Vinca]

79. Okay, I give up. No more talk of unity. Hello, President McCain. nt

[Andromeda]

83. K&R

:kick:

[rodeodance]

10. REC

[Armstead]

13. There is a conundrum there

Frankly, I believe Obama was simply being honest. Objectively, Hillary is damaged goods. She is relying on the positive aspects of the Clinton legacy, but if so she also has to accept responsibility for the downside of her "experience" too.

Right now Obama is being attacked on the same basis of those dirty old politics. A soundbyte repeated endlessly, the right-wing stirring up racist divisive fears....Ultimately a very moderate politician who is Black is the target of an effort to make him seem sinister, radical and anti-American.

I believe Obama is doing a credible job of attempting to fight back by taking it to a higher plane -- not an exaulted plane but simply by, gasp, talking to Americans like adults. He didn't take the easy way out and dump Wright and try to end the controversy by acting like a conservative.

Will it work? Who knows. But to respond to your point, I don't see it as hypocritical at all.

And I also remember in an early debate when John Edwards seemed to be the most formidable opponent, Clinton smeared and misrepresented Edwards' proghressive populist message as "personal mudslinging right out of the Republican playbook."...So it's hard to feel much sympathy for Hillary as victim, considering her own willingness early on to bring out the old mudbucket against Edwards.

[Tom Rinaldo]

20. I have no real quarral with you

Any Democrat, even if one magically entered a presidential race as undamaged goods, would not remain undamaged goods throughout it. Edwards made the harshest attacks on Hillary Clinton of any Democratic candidate also, calling her a corporate Democrat which is no different than being a Corporate Republican. This is a primary contest.

My quarral is with those who always see traitorous intentions in anything that Hillary Clinton says or does while upholding Obama's campaign as a paradign of positiveness. Obama openly exploited Clinton's political liabilities, even the unearned ones, in the past. I noted it at the time but didn't hold it against him. But double standards bother me.

[Armstead]

43. What I think is different in this situation....

I believe the problem facing Obama transcends his candidacy. It's not about whether he sleeps around or other personal distractions.

If he is made unelectable simply for being an African American, and having the experiences of one, that goes to the heart of the much larger issue of racism.

All Democratic leaders ought to stand up in unison against that, whether they support Obama or Hillary. Obama should not be left being hung out to dry alone on this.

And ALL Democratic leaders should reject the internal balkanism it reflects within the party. The last thing we need is to have the party broken into rigid ethnic blocks -- whether based on bigotry or on the fear of nominating a Black candidate.

If he loses out because of experience, or disagreement with his positions or some otehr characteristic, so be it. But all Democratic leaders -- including Hillary -- should do everything possible to lance the boil of racism that the current attacks on Obama reflect.

[Tom Rinaldo]

54. I see your point

I wrote this on another thread:

She is in a delicate situation and perhaps the strategy you suggest would have been best (defending Obama stronger). But it STILL would have been appropriate for her campaign to ask Super Delegates in private discussions to hold back on endorsing Obama until it became clearer whether Obama will be able to negate serious negative fallout from this Wright controversy. That is the point of my post.

And the problem for Clinton is that had she strongly come out in public to defend Obama on this controversy, while her campaign was also urging Super Delegates to hold off on moving to Obama because the Wright controversy may still lead to a significant drop in Obama's popularity and therefor his electability, she would have been torn apart by her opponents for being two faced and hypocritical even though those two actions would not have inherently been in conflict with each other. But the perception that she was saying one thing while doing another would have been damning.

You probably read my earlier comments about Obama and how he has handled the "Wright controversy". I do assign him some blame for either not knowing he would have to get out in front of this issue earlier or for trying to skate by until now by intimidating his opponents from bringing up potential race related controversies that could hurt his chances of becoming President during the primaries, all the while knowing full well that the storm was surely coming if and when he won the nomination crown. I do however give Obama massive credit for the speech that he delivered on Race. He is not blameless on the politics of this controversy, but he is right about what he said in that speech and I hope America listens to it well.

[Skwmom]

14. Hillary Clinton is a polarizing figure who will never be able to unite the citizenry so that they

will push Washington to get rid of the big money special interests and to tackle the huge issues faces this country. And speaking the truth is not an unfair attack.

The Clinton camp can spin "Clinton as the victim" until the cows come home but it won't put her in the Whitehouse. As they say in the south, but for a minority of people "that dog won't hunt anymore."

Don't you think that the Clintons played a role in the bitter partisanship in DC? Furthermore, the Clintons and their buddy Murdoch are helping to push and spin to their benefit the current controversy. Obama wasn't there in the 1990s trying to do the Clintons in. That Tom, is comparing apples and oranges.

I don't want a fresh new face. I want someone with intelligence and integrity who won't sell out the American Public for their own benefit. The Clintons are lacking in a thing called "basic decency" which still important to many Americans.

[Mags]

32. You can't possibly say that Obama is not Polarizing now.

His calls for Unity is a joke .

[John Q. Citizen]

49. Obama isn't a polarizing figure.

You are free to reject his campaign message if you so choose.

How are things going?

[rodeodance]

36. Your subject line exactly PARROTS the RW meme.

[John Q. Citizen]

48. It also parrots the lefty grass roots meme, the ex-friends meme, and the campaign trail meme.

So at some point you have to ask yourself: Is it a meme or is Hillary just like that to most people but me?

[rodeodance]

52. its you and other kool-aid drinkers --left or right

[Bonobo]

15. The difference is largely one of time and perspective, I think.

You are 100% correct in saying that Obama said from the beginning that the "Clinton baggage" would be a problem, that she was damaged. (Parenthetically, I think you should not have used the term "damaged goods" -it is often a sexist term to describe non-virgins and I hope you didn't mean to imply sexism on Obama's part for that)

You are right that he did this, yes. But the difference is significant.

The Clinton's reputation, for good or ill, is one that has been cemented in place, relatively, due to the passage of time. We have 8, 12, 16 years of Clintons with which to draw a picture of her from. So her "damage/baggage" has been accumulating over a long period of time and is rather fixed, I would think.

In the case of Obama, Hillary is trying to strike while the racist iron is hot. The issue, namely WRIGHT, that Hillary is trying to make hay over is a short-term blip at best. One of those issues of the week. Hillary's taking advantage of that to pull over delegates that have already committed to Obama is NO COMPARISON to Obama's early statements that the Clinton's had a lot of baggage. At that time, there were 8 candidates and Obama was not that seriosu of a contender.

I think the comaprison is weak and I hope you will be man enough to admit that I am right on this one.

[rucky]

23. I think the point is...

We didn't need Obama to tell us that Hillary's last name is Clinton. And we don't need Hillary to remind us that Obama's black. And doing so - on both counts - is tacky at best, and we know how damaging it can be at worst.

Using surrogates to do it is even tackier, IMO, but I'm not really sure how much control either camp has over that stuff.

[Tom Rinaldo]

45. First, no implied charge of sexism against Obama intended

I never associate the term "damaged goods" as overly gender based but if others do than thank you for letting me clear that up.

Two points to make in reply to yours. One is that racial polorization in America is an ancient issue, not a short term blip. That is why there is such a potential flash point over some of the things Wright said which Obama sensitively disassociated himself from. It is that raw sensitivity, not a piece of video tape, that is of such concern to all of us. And I use the term racial polorization rather than racism simply to acknowledge that, for the reasons Obama eloquently spoke of, potential anger and feelings that may not always be fair come from all directions. I do not however in any way deny that the most profound negative effects of racial bias in America have for centuries fallen on people of color.

Obama strongly disassociated himself from some of Wright's comments for good reason in no ambiguous terms, while not disassociating from Reverend Wright himself, and I support both of those stands. But the fact that he needed to disassociate from some of Wright's comments is because they are unsettling to how have broadcast around the nation, and Obama I repeat did a masterful job of walking us through all the complex realities that they raised.

Hillary is not choosing the timing nor is she the one doing the striking of hot irons. Primary season is set in stone. It ends with the Democratic convention and every State must choose it's delegates and every Super Delegate must choose who to support prior to that moment in time. No one can be certain how the future will play out but sometimes the buzzer sounds and you simply must make your best bet.

From what I gather the prime argument being made by the Clinton Campaign currently is for Super Delegates to remain uncommitted for now. Her campaign for good reasons fears a movement to "get this thing over with" by moving in mass toward the current front runner, Obama. So now is the exact time for that argument to be made, and one very real basis to argue for people to hold back before deciding is to see how well Obama manages the controversy his ties to Pastor Wright caused.

While I do not dispute some of the distinctions you raise between this controversy for Obama and Clinton's past baggage, none the less Obama used Clinton's baggage directly to his own benefit in public on national TV. Clinton is using the controversy over Wright in private with one or two hundred politically connectted Democrats who already know all about it to urge them to hold off on making a decision prematurely on who to nominate for President. The actions are very different.

[Cant trust em]

16. It's unfortunate, but the bottom line remains

The hate for Clinton is due to vicious right wing attacks, but at this point it's Clinton's job to turn people around. Not Obama's. I would love for her to not have been totally vilified by Newt Gingrich & Co., but this is 2008 and we have to face that fact.

That being said, I'm not going to argue that the same thing isn't happening to Obama right now. But it seems like he still has his destiny to carve and Hillary's was made over a decade ago.

[BeyondGeography]

18. You continue to miss the point

How did Obama's references to the scandals of the 90s (which he often qualified were sometimes through no fault of their own) divide and alienate the Democratic party? Which key segments of the base will never be able to forgive him?

Answer: virtually none.

So it was smart politics of Obama to point out the obvious.

Now, with Rev. Wright, there is an obvious problem as well, but there is a key difference. For a fellow Democrat to be seen as profiting from this issue is much more problematic. Especially if it's someone who has been rubbing at the scab of race ever since she lost Iowa. She will tear the party apart in a fundamental way if she is seen as using Obama's church attendance to undermine him.

Pastorgate also gets to the heart of another much larger issue than any of the tabloid-style Clinton scandals: When does the party stop dodging the issue of race and begin to address it fairly and honestly? Obama's speech on Tuesday, which was the most fair-minded assessment of racial politics ever made in our history by a presidential candidate, represents an opportunity for the entire party, not just Obama. If the price of his openness is political death, what does that mean for the survivors?

[Cant trust em]

21. You make a good point

at least the "dirt" on Obama an be related back to an issue that should be at the core of democratic politics. Namely, civil rights and race relations.

[Tom Rinaldo]

53. I don't see it as clean cut as you

There are many people who rightly or wrongly have taken away from the Obama campaign a sense that it exploited generational divides inside the Democratic Party for example. Although Hillary Clinton overplayed her hand at the time, Barack Obama did make a number of ambiguous references to discredited politics of the past that were sweeping in nature and not only confined to the actions of either Clinton. Even before the current controversy over Wright's comments a larger number of Democratic voters indicated that they were more likely to support McCain over Obama than would defect to McCain from Obama's base.

I still remember the flurry of posts that went up here at DU that openly talked about wanting "New" instead of "Old", and "the Future" rather than "the Past". Those for the most part weren't policy based arguments, at their core them implied a rejection of what went before, and not just a rejection of the Bush Administration. I am not saying that Obama wanted to be a divider, but he clearly has not been a unifyer across generational lines, and some make the case that he hasn't been a unifyer across gender lines either, and the latter concern is a particularly potent one for Democrats to the extent that it exists.


It is my position that it is entirely appropriate and actually responsible for the Clinton campaign to privately urge Super Delegates to hold back making a committment to Obama before there has been sufficient time to assess whether he can navigate this Wright controversy which is not completely removed from his own doing. Obama already knew that Wright repeatedly made a number of strong statements that Obama strongly disagreed with but he chose not to get ahead of this potential controversy before it finally broke. That was a political judgment call that is distinct from the issue of racism in America.

Again, private discussions with some uncommitted Super Delegates urging them to withold support from Obama at this time, most if not all of them seemingly conducted before Obama made his race speech by the way, is not the same as using his Church attendence to undermine Obama. It is the literal job of Super Delegates, who are by design experienced political pros, to ponder whether a given controversty is a flash in the pan or a potentially grevious wound to a potential candidate. Clinton did not go public with those private discussions, the New York Times did and now posters on message boards are. I stand by Obman's speech and I stand by the Clinton campaign privately asking Super Delegates to wait a while to see if Obama effectively defused this controversy.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

19. Yup. The screams of outrage that HRC hasn't run to

BO's defense are laughable.


What continually puzzles me is how blind his supporters are to his, and their own, hypocrisy. This phenomena of absolute devotion, combined with absolute intolerance of all other perspectives, will be the subject of innumerable studies and thesis in the years to come.

[democrattotheend]

27. I don't expect her to do so. But I expect the Democratic Party to do so

It's already late March. People are starting to pay attention. If we learned anything from 2004, it should be that we can't just leave candidates out to try and leave these attacks unanswered. This is a right wing smear attack that we all ought to be refuting. I don't care what Clinton says to the superdelegates...she has the right to make an electability argument. But I am disturbed when I see people here repeating right wing talking points about Obama "sitting there listening to hate speech for 20 years" (which we all know is not true) or being "unpatriotic". I have posted on the CNN and ABC blogs today criticizing them for making a story out of Clinton being in the White House during the Lewinsky affair, because I think it's trashy journalism at its worst, just as this witchhunt against Obama's church is. I would hope that Clinton supporters have the decency to help rebut this smear against Obama for the same reasons...because it's wrong, it's against what we believe in, and it will hurt us in the fall if Obama is the nominee, which there is a good chance he will be.

[Tom Rinaldo]

57. I agree with you

I think it is fair for the Clinton campaign to privately make the case to Super Delegates that they should hold off for now on making a final choice until it becomes clearer whether Obama will be seriously hurt by his association with Wright AND that Democrats one step removed from the actual campaigns now need to strongly support the position that Obama took in his speech.

[stillcool]

60. I think it has something to do with this:

and "classy" battle...

December 10, 2007
Third Clinton Volunteer Knew Of Smear E-Mail
A third volunteer for Hillary Clinton's campaign was aware of a propaganda e-mail alleging that Barack Obama is a Muslim who plans on "destroying the U.S. from the inside out. "Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential Candidacy," the email reads. "Please forward to everyone you know. The Muslims have said they Plan on destroying the U.S. from the inside out, what better way to start than at The highest level."

Two Clinton volunteers, Linda Olson and Judy Rose, have already been asked to resign from the campaign for their roles in forwarding the e-mail. The AP reported yesterday that Olson, a volunteer coordinator in Iowa County, sent a version of the e-mail to 11 people, including Ben Young, a regional field director for Chris Dodd's campaign. Young passed it on to the AP.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/12/third_clinton_v.html

Kerrey Apologizes to Obama Over Remark
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4031436
Kerrey's mention of Obama's middle name and his Muslim roots raised eyebrows because they are also used as part of a smear campaign on the Internet that falsely suggests Obama is a Muslim who wants to bring jihad to the United States.
Obama is a Christian.
The Clinton campaign has already fired two volunteer county coordinators in Iowa for forwarding hoax e-mails with the debunked claim. Last week, a national Clinton campaign co-chairman resigned for raising questions about whether Obama's teenage drug use could be used against him, so Kerrey's comments raised questions about whether the Clinton campaign might be using another high-profile surrogate to smear Obama.

Hillary: Sorry for Any Offense Campaign (Bill) Has Caused
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB65wJ6Rcfs

Bill Clinton Asks for a Second Chance
By Liz Halloran
Posted February 11, 2008
The morning after his wife, Hillary, was routed in three state contests by Sen. Barack Obama in their dead-heat battle for the Democratic nomination, former President Bill Clinton made his case for her before a packed Sunday service at one of the largest black churches in Washington, D.C.
But first he offered an apology of sorts for racially tinged comments he made about Obama and his candidacy that have triggered a backlash in the black community and among many other Democrats.

Clinton invoked his "worship of a God of second chances" in pronouncing himself glad to be at the Temple of Praise, which claims nearly 15,000 members. His invocation of second chances echoed comments he made early last week at black churches in California, where he campaigned for his wife before that state's
Super Tuesday primary, which she won.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-

2008/2008/02/11/bill-clinton-asks-for-a-second-chance.html

Source: Newsday
Posted on Sunday, December 16, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Barack Obama Accepts Apology From Hillary Clinton
Washington D.C. 12/15/2007 09:17 AM GMT (FINDITT)

Hillary Clinton went straight to Barack Obama with an apology following a staffer's remarks about any skeletons that may be lurking in Obama's closet, pointing out that she had accepted the staffer's resignation over the disparaging remarks. Obama accepted her at her word, according to his campaign staff, and is moving on without letting it interrupt his campaign plans.


Obama is currently leading the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, the two early primary states often considered key to the process, according to numbers at usaelectionpolls.com, but on a national level Clinton still holds a huge lead. The most recently posted poll results show Obama with 31 percent of the
probable voters in New Hampshire backing him with 29 percent showing support for Clinton.
http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=30629&cat=5

Clinton Camp Pushes O-Bomber Links: Ignores
Her Own Radical Ties
By: Justin Rood

ABC News - The Hillary Clinton campaign pushed to reporters today stories about Barack Obama and his ties to former members of a radical domestic terrorist group -- but did not note that as president, Clinton's husband pardoned more than a dozen convicted violent radicals, including a member of the same group
mentioned in the Obama stories."Wonder what the Republicans will do with this issue," mused Clinton spokesman Phil Singer in one e-mail to the media, containing a New York Sun article reporting a $200 contribution from William Ayers, a founding member of the 1970s group Weather Underground, to Obama in 2001.
In a separate e-mail, Singer forwarded an article from the Politico newspaper reporting on a 1995 event at a private home that brought Obama together with Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, another member of the radical group.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4330128&page=1

Bill Clinton To Apologize At LA Black Churches
Once again, Bill Clinton is ready to repent.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/02/bill-clinton-to-apologize_n_84573.html
On Sunday the former president is scheduled to visit black churches in South Central Los Angeles, where he's expected to offer a mea culpa to those who "dearly loved him" when he was their president, Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) says. Watson, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who has endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), tells us she'll usher the former president to more than half a dozen churches in
her district where she says he needs to "renew his relationship" with congregants who were turned off by his racially tinged comments in the days leading up to and following the South Carolina primary. (Such as when Clinton compared Sen. Barack Obama's landslide victory to Jesse Jackson's wins in 1984 and 1988.)

http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/20080112_nevada_lawsuit.pdf
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/a-feisty-bill-

clinton-defends-nevada-lawsuit/
CLINTON ALLIES SUPPRESS THE VOTE IN NEVADA...
On Meet the Press on Sunday, Hillary Clinton said her campaign had nothing to do with a lawsuit--written about by Nation Editor Katrina vanden Heuvel--that threatens to prevent thousands of workers from voting in the Nevada caucus on Saturday.
Back in March, the Nevada Democratic Party agreed to set up caucus locations on the Vegas strip for low-income shift workers, many of them members of the state's influential Culinary Union, who commute long distances to work and wouldn't be able to get home in time to caucus. It was an uncontroversial idea until the Culinary Union endorsed Barack Obama and the Nevada State Education Association, whose top officials support Clinton, sued to shut down the caucus sites.
The Clinton camp played dumb until yesterday, when President Clinton came out in favor of the lawsuit.
Clinton's comments drew a heated response from D. Taylor, the head of Nevada's Culinary Union, on MSNBC's Hardball. "He is in support of disenfranchising thousands upon thousands of workers, not even just our members," Taylor said of Clinton. "The teachers union is just being used here. We understand that This is the Clinton campaign. They tried to disenfranchise students in Iowa. Now they're trying to
disenfranchise people here in Nevada, who are union members and people of color and women."
Rank-and-file members of Nevada's teachers union also come out against the lawsuit filed by their leadership. "We never thought our union and Senator Clinton would put politics ahead of what's right for our students, but that's exactly what they're doing," the letter stated. "As teachers, and proudmDemocrats, we hope they will drop this undemocratic lawsuit and help all Nevadans caucus, no matter which candidate they support."
The lawsuit's opponents make a persuasive point. Creating obstacles to voting is what the GOP does to Democrats, not what Democrats should be doing to other Democrats.

Clinton adviser steps down after drug use comments
Earlier Thursday, Clinton personally apologized to rival Obama for Shaheen's remarks.
Obama accepted her apology, according to David Axelrod, the top political strategist for the Obama campaign.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/13/clinton.obama/index.html

January 6, 2008, 5:18 pm
Edwards: No Conscience in Clinton Campaign
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/edwards-no-conscience-in-clinton-campaign/
By Julie Bosman
KEENE, N.H. – John Edwards angrily took on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at two news conferences in a row on Sunday, saying that her campaign “doesn’t seem to have a conscience.”

COMPTON, Calif. (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton and her campaign tried to mend ties to black voters Thursday when a key supporter apologized to her chief rival, Barack Obama, for comments that hinted at Obama's drug use as a teenager. The candidate herself, meanwhile, praised the Rev. Martin Luther King and promised to assist with the rebirth of this troubled, largely black city.

Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, apologized for comments he made at a Clinton campaign rally in South Carolina on Sunday that hinted at Obama's use of drugs as a teenager.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-01-17-

johnson-apology_N.htm?csp=34

Clinton Surrogate Compares Obama Ad to Nazi March
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080201/cm_thenation/45278988_1
Fri Feb 1, 2:23 PM ET
The Nation -- On a media conference call organized by the Hillary Clinton campaign today, Clinton surrogate Len Nichols compared an Obama health care ad to Nazis.
----------
Accusing political opponents of Nazism is an outrageous smear. Raising the specter of a Nazi march in response to a health care mailer that evokes the insurance industry is so absurd, it would be hard to take the attack seriously, were it not launched from a high profile national campaign conference call in this crucial stretch of the presidential race. And political observers know, of course, that the Clinton Campaign regularly arranges opportunities for surrogates to launch these kind of smears, which are later followed up with apologies. (See: Bob Johnson, Bill Shaheen, Bob Kerrey, and Francine Torge, to name the most recent offenders.) For his part, Nichols did not immediately return a call requesting further comment.
-------------------------
Len Nichols, Director of New America's Health Policy Program, stated, "For nearly 17 years I have worked tirelessly to reform our nation's struggling health system. Today my passion overwhelmed me. I chose an analogy that was wholly inappropriate. I am deeply sorry for any offense that my unfortunate comments may have caused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg

[AX10]

65. It's just how the Bushbots were some eight years back.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

24. there are folks here whining that they want the DNC to step in & stop the Media whipping of Obama

unfrigginbelievable!

[Mezzo]

25. That's exactly what he did...but it was his supporters who got ugly

while he claimed to be above it all.

[democrattotheend]

29. Do you mean official surrogates, or bloggers and DUers?

Because he obviously has no control over the latter. If I were to judge Clinton by the behavior of some of her supporters, I'd be voting for McCain pretty quickly.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

34. Official surrogates, like Jesse Jackson, Jr. for example. n/t

[Mezzo]

82. and unofficial surrogates too.

You'd think Hillary wasn't even a democrat and their voting records mirror one another.
(practically)

The 90's Peace and Prosperity was so bad, Michelle Obama isn't even proud of her country. :shrug:

[SeaLyons]

37. Great Post...

K&R

Thanks for the post.

[SoCalDem]

38. .......

:rofl:

[Hepburn]

39. So this is "Ms. Experience" who has the ability to deal with a world...

...of terrorists and deal with asshole dictators...but it is unfair that someone goes after her in a US election!

LOL.......:rofl:

[Tom Rinaldo]

61. I find the double standards applied to our two candidates in this race

to be repugnant. I know that Barack Obama is running in a primary against Hillary Clinton and I know that every political race involves a strong negative component. His campaign is no different. I accept that but I do not take well to hypocrisy.

Suddenly it is traitorous for one Democratic candidate not to comment in public on a controversy surrounding another candidate, while privately urging Super Delegates to hold off on endorsing until the smoke clears more, but it was a public service for the other candidate to go out of his way to resurrect old Right Wing hate attack lines against his opponent on national TV while arguing that she is not electable because of the damage done to her by them.

[AX10]

75. It's the moveon.org crowd.

I expect that we will never be able to reason with them.

[Smelting Pot]

40. Which debate?

Do you mean this, from the Oct. 30 Debate:

One last point I want to make -- part of the reason that Republicans, I think, are obsessed with you, Hillary, is because that's a fight they're very comfortable having. It is the fight that we've been through since the '90s.

And part of the job of the next president is to break the gridlock and to get Democrats and independents and Republicans to start working together to solve these big problems like health care or climate change or energy.

And what we don't need is another eight years of bickering. And that's precisely why I'm running for president, because one of the things I've been able to do, throughout my political career, is to bring people together to get things done.

That's what I could find from a quick search. If that's not what you are referencing, could you provide a link?

[EFerrari]

41. It's pretty much universally agreed that Hillary would need a moving van

to move her luggage.

Doesn't it trouble you in any way that Rush is asking Republics to vote for her?

Not even a little?

[John Q. Citizen]

42. Hillary carries a lot of baggage; Some she earned, some not. I'm tired of carrying it around.

To a very large number of Americans, Hillary is damaged goods.

I'm tired of carrying the war around for instance. It's as stupid of a piece of garbage to be lugging around everywhere as was ever conceived. We now know that bush fooled Hillary, and charmed her into voting for the IWR. Fool me once, etc. I was also appalled at her cynical and self serving parroting of right wing attacks on Senator Kerry. I don't want to lug that around.

If you believe Hillary is perceived as extremely well liked and that the people are calling on her to lead them, then you might be living in a different country than I am.

As I see it, people aren't sure if Obama will be any better than Hillary, but they are dang well convinced he won't be any worse.

You are correct that Obama has made the argument that due to both Hillary's history (herstory? does anybody prefer that anymore?) and his own history, and because of the voting experience this nomination marathon, that Obama believes he is more electable than Hillary is.

I think he makes a pretty good argument.

[Straight Shooter]

44. He called her divisive, his supporters echoed "divisive."

He called her desperate, his supporters echoed "desperate."

There is actually a web site "desperate Hillary attacks dot com" and you see at the bottom the site shows "Paid for by Obama for America."

They attacked her over Bill's "Jesse Jackson" comparison, but at least Jesse Jackson has been working to change the system for many years, and he stood up to fight the election results in 2004. IMHO, Obama can't hold a candle to Jesse Jackson.

[stillcool]

59. The tactics used by the ..

Clinton Campaign were and are divisive. I've posted articles with the long list of apologies by the Clinton Campaign for what they and their surrogates have engaged in during this entire Campaign Season. I believe Senator Clinton would have much greater support now, if the Campaign hadn't resorted to this kind of stuff in the first place. Now she owns the label. And what's worse she is teaming up with the right wing to spread the race-baiting. No amount of spin can put the toothpaste back in the tube. You may be successful, but the cost will be immense.

[Why Syzygy]

46. So the fuck what? She is damaged. To not mention that would be remiss.

He did the right thing. She stinks.

[durrrty libby]

47. Once you've been Obamatized, you lose all common sense

and self control. They can't help it

[Tellurian]

64. Obama supporters can not consistently post without posting filth or expletives..

Theres no need to look beyond the subject line in intrigue to read the entire statement. It's a given, it's a message by an Obama supporter in divisive frustration always blaming someone else for Obama's problems.

Having breakfast with a few friends this morning. They confessed they are no longer supporting Obama because of Rev Wright's hate filled racist messages. Not so much that they were made from the pulpit, but the fact Obama embraced the Reverend's messages for the last 20 yrs as speaking to the racisms he bears himself for "white" people.

[AX10]

63. That proves that Obama is just a politician.

He acts as he is above it all. In reality, he has no problems attacking the credibility of his opponents. He is just another political-type. He is an empty suit once you get beyond the "hope and change" memo.
HRC is the only one at this point that I can support with full confidence. I cannot support Obama or McCain with that same level confidence and trust.

[Tellurian]

67. The word today regarding Obama's new politics of HOPE..

"When something sounds TOO GOOD to be TRUE!"

"IT usually IS!"

watch out for the snake oil salesman!

[AX10]

68. I should also add.

I do not see Hollywood coming to his aid as a good thing. I would fully expect them to support the superficial flashy candidate, seeing that they are so shallow themselves.

Snakeoil salesman Romney got the boot. Will this Snakeoil salesman get the boot too?

[Tellurian]

73. I don't know if you've heard about this..

Hollywood was all set up for Romney. There is a controversial movie out (not much play in theaters) on dvd about the Mormon Hierarchy's slaughter of 120 Arkansas settlers going West to CA by Wagon Trail. TRUE story depicting the radicalized Mormon sect, starring John Voight! The movie is entitled, "September Dawn".. oddly the date of the coldblooded slaughter of entire families, Men, Women, children, infants was 9/11/1857..

This movie would have had the same effect on Romney's candidacy as Wright is to Obama's viability.

http://www.septemberdawn.net/ (movie trailer)

[AX10]

74. Thanks.

[SeaLyons]

66. K&R

[grantcart]

69. Right Obama didn't rush to the defence of the #1 political machine of last half of

the 20th Century. What is really funny about your post is despite having only been out of the White House for 8 years this machine which has not stopped from that time, needs Obama to come to their rescue.

Hillary Clinton entered this contest with the highest negatives ever carried by an entrant into National Politics and now you try and lay even this at Obama's door.

What you have been so stubbornly unwilling to face is the fact that Obama's victories and eventual nomination is in part embracing Obama as the future of the party but also the party's renunciaton of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Clinton's campaign has been one continunal set of mis steps after another.

Is it also Obama's fault that the Clinton campaign could not even manage a complete slate of PA delegates?

Is it Obama's fault that Clinton's dissing of Iowa has resulted in her losing an additional 10 delegates in Iowa. The reality is that despite using the gubenatorial machines and the advantages of incumbacy in states like Ohio and PA and New York her campaign is where it is today because of Hillary Rodham Clinton - who in her won words admits that _ "she is just getting warmed up"

[indimuse]

70. i remember when he said that! very true.

K&R

thx for the post.

[Cameron27]

71. Great post Tom,

K&R

[Tom Rinaldo]

76. For the record

I do not join with those who call Obama a snake oil salesperson or an empty suit. I call him a talented politician and potentially great leader. But I do not place him in some halo above the practice of negative politics, and I tire greatly of the efforts his campaign continually makes to push a double standard in how our candidates should be judged. Obama triangulates with the best of them. That may be good, that may be bad, but that is a fact. And his campaign is extremely gifted at giving free reign to surragates, official and unofficial, to handle most of the campaign dirty work for him. With the media firmly on his side until a week or so ago it was easy for Obama to remain above the fray. Now he is on the hot seat himself and I sincerely wish him luck and support him in this struggle. Obama belatedly made a magnificent speech about race relations in America. Anyone capable of that speech is no empty suit, but Obama is very much a politician, as shown by his earlier attacks on Hillary and how he tried to skate past the obvious ticking bomb Wright and Rezko controversies this primary season without moving quickly to get out ahead of them. I question his political judgment on that score. I applaud his stance for America on race relations.

[Political Heretic]

77. I am shocked, SHOCKED I SAY to hear a clinton supporter discussing unfair attacks of opponent

with a straight face.