Hillary dirty tricks in TX: a firsthand account

[kpete]

Hillary dirty tricks in TX: a firsthand account

A woman named Lisa wrote in to John over at Americablog to share her mother's firsthand experience with Hillary's dirty tricks in Texas this past weekend to disenfranchise Lone STAR State voters. It is a disturbing account for many reasons, and Lisa wondered why such dirty tricks weren't being covered by the media. I wonder that too. So I felt compelled to share Lisa's account on here, in the hopes of giving the story wider visibility.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/31/202636/184/280/487890

**************************

Here's Lisa's full letter to Americablog:


Monday, March 31, 2008
Say anything, do anything - Texas edition
by John Aravosis (DC) · 3/31/2008 06:52:00 PM ET ·

John,

My mom was a delegate in Dallas this past weekend. She arrived at 7AM and didn't get to leave until 8PM. She said that it appeared the Clinton delegates were trying to drag things out so long that people would have to leave. She thought they challenged about 3,000 delegates and each of them had to go through the credentialing committee.

One of the Clinton delegates from her group challenged the validity of entire precincts. One of the precincts she challenged was almost entirely African American. Towards the end, after this group was credentialed they came by and shook their fists at the Clinton delegate and chanted "we're still here" in her face. My mom said it was a little tense.

She also said that it was sad to see all of the elderly there having to sit in stadium seats for 13 hours. She didn't know of anyone leaving without an alternate to replace them though. A very pregnant woman in her group had to lie on the concrete floor at times.

I don't know why this didn't make bigger news. She said it was obvious to everyone there what was going on and she thought Clinton had made many enemies from inside the democratic party that day.

Lisa
Poulsbo, WA

more at:
http://www.americablog.com/2008/03/dodd-slams-paulsons-plan.html

[Maddy McCall]

1. If it's at Kos, it must be true.

*squeal*

[tammywammy]

2. Maddy, this same thing has been said by several different people

About that district.

Checkout http://burntorangereport.com/

[MonkeyFunk]

36. and when she complained about

possible irregularities in the delegate selection process, people here shouted that there's a right place and time to do so - at the convention. So she did, and you guys STILL complain!

[crispini]

43. There's a difference between

people who live in a precinct bringing up challenges to their delegation because something went wrong, and individual campaign supporters going through the big stack of packets and deliberately dredging up everything they could and then one person submitting a mass of challenges.

And this, after a meeting in which local prominent Democrats and the county chair (many of them Clinton supporters) sat down with the two campaigns and asked them both not to nitpick the crap out of everything because irregularities (mostly accidents) occurred on both sides and it would largely be a wash. And that clogging up the credentials committee all day with a bunch of trivial bullshit, and making thousands of delegates sit around and wait, would simply frustrate the delegates and make them mad at the local county party and turn them off democratic activism.

The fact is that the Clinton people made themselves no friends at all here, and took actions that could only be seen as nitpicky and detrimental to the Democratic party.

[crispini]

5. Please come to the Texas forum

and ask my friend Texas Thought Criminal, who posts here, who was in SD-23, about what he saw there. He will substantiate this report from his own experience. He told me there were lots of challenges filed by the Clinton supporters to the credentials committee. He was one of them, and did not get to be a delegate because of it.

I myself was a delegate to SD-16. One of my fellow delegates was on our credentials committee. He informed us that the vast majority of the challenges were filed by a Clinton supporter who was also on the committee.

[MercutioATC]

6. I don't particularly respect KOS posts, but I trust them to be more unbiased than yours...

Find a refuting story or stfu.

[KAZ]

8. What the hell is the matter with you.

[frylock]

32. bitterness and denial

[Yes We Did]

15. What about AmericaBlog? They have always been trusted.

[Maddy McCall]

19. Come on, Obamabots!

I expected at least a dozen slams in response to my post.

You're losing you zeal!

[LiberalAndProud]

22. Anything for you Maddy!

I hope you had a wonderful day and I'm sorry you don't like kos. It's okay if you don't, though.

:hug:

[Maddy McCall]

23. Thank you, sweetheart.

:hug:

What I don't like about Kos is that they drove off a lot of their members by endorsing a candidate. I'm so glad that DU hasn't done this.

[LiberalAndProud]

25. Me too. I would miss your frog.

[Maddy McCall]

26. Thank you.

You're really putting a dent in my tough-girl act.

:(

:hug:

[CreekDog]

34. we aren't losing our zeal, but reasoning with you is pointless

:boring:

[LiberalAndProud]

38. I would disagree.

But she probably won't be switching candidates. If that's the definition of "unreasonable", there we are.

[AllentownJake]

40. To be honest...

We are starting to move on. McCain.

[cali]

46. You're only a legend in your own mind, dear

No one really cares about your neverending whining.

[RichardRay]

52. Maddy fatigue? n/t

[DJ13]

3. We must seat Michigan & Florida !

We dont want to disenfranchise voters, right Hillary?

[Yes We Did]

16. Michigan's isn't going to happen; ruled unconstitutional.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5270982&mesg_id=5270982

[sandnsea]

4. There were reports like that here too

Really a sad display, and what's worse, not a word on the teevee today. Hillary lost Texas. It matters. But we can't get the "biased" media to tell the truth of it so the the people will understand why Hillary should drop out now.

[LiberalAndProud]

27. Before PA?

Don't you think there would be some blowback from that? There are some Obama voters there too, you know, and they are FIRED UP. Don't pull it out from under them now. Obama's calm about it. Why aren't you?

[sandnsea]

29. PA doesn't matter, it won't change anything

There are 8 states left, he's projected to win 5. Even her campaign isn't saying she will win the popular vote, only that Hillary might cut into it.

There's no way she can win unless she's allowed to continue bullshitting people into believing they're tied when the truth is, Obama blew her out of the water at ever turn.

Obama has to say what he says, I don't.

[Cha]

7. The mediawhores are the reason hilary is still in

'cause if they reported the facts on hilary..everyone would walk away in disgust except her ostriches, of course.

[jobycom]

12. If they reported the facts on Obama, he'd have been out of this long ago.

He's getting the Reagan/W treatment, though. He can do no evil, yet his opponent can do no wrong. I finally saw an article today on one of the websites exposing some of the lies in Obama's latest commercial, where he claims he doesn't take oil money or lobbyist money. But that's about it.

[bellasgrams]

18. Well he admires Reagan so it figures. He lies all the time but

no one calls him on it. Hillary misspeaks and they carry on for 3 weeks. If Hill doesn't win I hope the delegates ask Gore to take over. I'm not crazy about him. But I trust him. I know he would do what's right for the countrry. I honestly can't say that about BO.

[CreekDog]

35. Please provide the quote where Obama says he "admires" Reagan

ok?

[Cha]

24. Bullshit, ostrich..hilary lies just to keep in practice

"Bosnia story fuels perception of dishonesty of Clinton"By Kathy Miller | The Hillary Project


By: Russell Goldman

ABC News - Sen. Hillary Clinton is dodging bullets. Not from Bosnian snipers but political opponents and pundits who have assailed her recent "misstatements" about a trip to Bosnia 12 years ago.

An apparent contradiction in statements Clinton made about a 1996 trip to Bosnia as first lady, which she claimed last week included the threat of sniper fire before later recanting, has raised the specter of dishonesty and untrustworthiness that has plagued her campaign from its beginning.

The backlash put Clinton on the defensive early this week, and not for the first time. Her campaign dealt with a perception of dishonesty long before the Bosnia trip became an issue.

In a USA Today/Gallup poll from March 16, 44 percent of Americans polled called Clinton "honest and trustworthy," compared to 67 percent and 63 percent respectively for Sen. John McCain, R–Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D–Ill.

In an ABC News exit poll after the most recent primary March 11, half of Mississippi Democratic voters said Clinton was not honest and trustworthy. By contrast, 70 percent of voters found Obama honest and trustworthy votes.

Part of Clinton's perceived untrustworthiness no doubt stems from her association with her husband, former President Clinton, who was embroiled in a 1998 sex scandal with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

As the campaign season began heating up, even former supporters questioned the couple's honesty.

"Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling," one-time supporter and Hollywood mogul David Geffen said of the Clintons in The New York Times in February 2007.

Voters may not be able to enumerate the lies the Clintons have told -- excluding perhaps Bill Clinton's denial and then admission of the Lewinsky affair -- but there is a perception that they have a reputation for lying, said Matthew Dowd, a Republican strategist and ABC News political consultant.

"There is a perception among voters that there is an honesty problem with the Clintons. In polls they both rate poorly on honesty and trustworthiness," Dowd said.

"Voters have come to a belief about them, and it matters little how much real evidence there actually is. Hillary raises people's suspicion levels because she carries her husband's baggage. People see her and think to themselves, 'are we going back to these same problems?'"

The latest flap pits Clinton's words of last week about the 1996 plane landing in the restive city of Tuzla, Bosnia, that she said involved a threat of snipers against the words of her 2003 autobiography, which describe the same trip in less than action-packed prose.

"I certainly do remember that trip to Bosnia," Clinton said last week. "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

Portraying herself as a battle-hardened foreign policy expert, Clinton has referenced that dash across the tarmac under the threat of snipers at several campaign stops.

But after CBS News aired video Monday that showed her on the tarmac receiving flowers from young girls, Clinton dialed down her language.

On Monday, the New York Democrat told the Philadelphia Daily News that she "misspoke" about the way she was received in Bosnia and that "we had to land a certain way and move quickly because of the threat of sniper fire," but no actual shots were fired at her.

She has since referred people to a passage from her autobiography and insisted she merely misspoke for the first time in 12 years. "You know I have written about this and described it in many different settings, and I did misspeak the other day. This has been a very long campaign. Occasionally, I am a human being like everybody else," she told Pittsburgh radio station KDKA on Tuesday. "… I have written about it in my book and talked about it on many other occasions, and last week, you know, for the first time in 12 or so years I misspoke."

Sensing the opportunity, Obama's camp sent out an e-mail Monday that included links to CBS' footage of Clinton's trip.


Mom Made It Up

Clinton said she had not "misspoke" in 12 years. That is enough time to clear her of an incident in 1995 in which upon meeting Sir Edmund Hillary in Nepal, she told The New York Times that she had been named for the famous climber of Mount Everest. When it was later discovered that Clinton was born six years before Hillary's summit of the mountain, Clinton said it was a story her mother had made up.

In 2000, Clinton apologized for categorizing the shooting of an unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo by New York City police a "murder."

"I misspoke," she said on WNBC's "News Forum" Feb. 13, 2000. "That was just a misstatement on my part," she said.


The Candidate Stands Alone

Despite Clinton's inexorable connection to her husband, supporters quickly note that it is she who is running for president and not the Clintons.

"Sen. Hillary Clinton is running for president. Not the Clintons. She should be judged on her own merits," said Lanny Davis, a former Bill Clinton adviser and author of "Truth to Tell: Tell It Early, Tell It All, Tell It Yourself."
"Excluding President Clinton's private conduct, for which he has condemned himself more harshly than anyone else, I defy someone to come up with real evidence of a lie or untruth the Clintons have told," said Davis. "We're hearing language like 'untruthful' and 'secretive' coming from the Obama camp, but there is nothing to back it up." Bosnia Story May Fuel Perception of Dishonest.SOURCE: ABC News

Posted on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 4:40 pm

http://www.hillaryproject.com/index.php?/en/story-detai...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=108x128063

It took a CBS video to make hilary stop telling her fake Bosnian Sniper Fire Story but she's still out there lying about Obama right now..she's a hopeless liar.

[sandnsea]

31. Here are the oil/gas facts

Nobody takes corporate money because it's illegal. Some take PAC money from corporations. Obama takes no PAC money.

They've ALL taken money from employees of oil companies, Obama $214,000; Clinton $307,000; McCain $394,000.

For instance, Obama received around $18,000 from Exxon Mobil workers, most of the donations were of $250 or less.

There's your scandal. :eyes:

[LiberalAndProud]

28. Hi zidzi.

Obama's the best isn't he? Unless we're talking about bowling. I think he could probably use some practice there if he wants to really get into the game. What do you think?

[Cha]

33. I don't sweat the small

the stuff..too many serious issues at stake. Knowing what I know about Obama..he'll turn this into bowling lemonade.

[LiberalAndProud]

37. Is bowling lemonade a good thing?

[jobycom]

9. Dirty tricks?

First, that's not overly long for even a less well-attended caucus. Second, the dirty tricks Obama's supporters pulled in Texas on election day make such actions quite justifiable. I personally saw Obama supporters violating the distance rule around the poll where I voted, pushing Obama supporters to attend the caucus afterwards (while not pushing anyone else to), and signing up people on a list. What was that list for? My first impression was that they were trying to sign up Obama votes for the caucus BEFORE the caucus even opened, but I thought no one would be that crooked.

Turns out I was wrong. Whether or not the person outside my precinct (in Austin, on Braker Lane and Stonelake Blvd, in case anyway wants to doubt me) was signing up Obama supporters early, I don't know, but there was enough proof of it in other precincts to warrant a full search of the names.

Later, while I stood in line outside my precinct caucus, I heard Obama supporters making statements that clearly indicated they hadn't voted, and some of them were from different precincts. Again, clearly not valid votes. I didn't see whether they signed the lists or not, but they sure intended to.

I've got friends who are precinct captains all over Austin, and some who work for the local and state party, and it was a complaint heard over and over and over. Obama supporters brough in lists. Obama supporters violated the halo rules. Obama supporters even took away rule books at the caucuses because people were pointing out they were breaking the rules.

I'm glad at least some counties stood up to them. Why the insipid state party didn't do more, I don't know.

Reminded me of the stories of Chicago politics under Richard Daily. Ironic, since Richard Dailey Jr's advisor is one of Obama's top advisors.

[Yael]

10. 50.0001% and damn the rest of them!

[MagickMuffin]

11. We are the Lone STAR State and our Votes Matter

My precinct was challenged along with 86 others. It took us 3.5 hours to get it resolved, holding up the process.

So, anyone who thinks just because this was posted on Kos should get a grip. This happened ALL across the state.

Way to go Clinton. They thought they could disenfranchise the Obama delegates, but most of us stayed and waited until our votes counted.

It's really sad that they would try and throw dissent into the process. After all the people who came out this year only to have this happen. I'm glad we stayed tough and didn't let the shenanigans damper our enthusiasm.

I will be a delegate at the Texas Democratic State Convention in June for OBAMA.

:kick:


YEEEEEHAWWWW

:kick:


EDIT to include link to the horror stories:http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5304884

[CitizenLeft]

30. good for you!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

:woohoo: :yourock: :applause:

[MagickMuffin]

41. Thx CitizenLeft, I was pissed off about being challenged, especially since I was told Thurs night

that the challenge had been resolved.

But I wasn't about to let it discourage me. I can understand now why people have never taken an interest here until now.

Barack Obama really did encourage a whole group of people from different backgrounds to get involved. It was interesting to see so many Democrats gathered in one place.

As I waited around, I would look at the people and pre-judge them as being for Clinton and then see that they were for Obama. Some people I thought might be for Obama turned out to be for Clinton. It was a good case for group study. It also taught me something about preconceptions.

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT TO SEE!

[stop the bleeding]

13. I guess this shows that HRC is down with the will of the people

delegates smelegates - ho hum
:beer:

[Lord Helmet]

14. somebody show the Clintons the door please

[berni_mccoy]

17. Tom DeLay Tactics... and he was Indicted...

[joshcryer]

20. Maybe people will understand why caucuses are undesirable. This is undemocratic.

And because it's within the rules of the process it is completely legal to do this.

[backscatter712]

21. Absofuckinglutely slimy!

The people responsible for such tactics should be in prison. :mad:

[joshcryer]

44. Why? It's within the rules.

They should be happy *all* caucus delegates weren't challenged. It'd be like counting the chads *before* the tallying was finished.

[AllentownJake]

39. A year ago

This would have surprised me. Forget morphing her into Lieberman like I saw last week someone do. Can someone morph her in her true persona....Richard Milhouse Nixon.

[Scurrilous]

42. K & R

:thumbsup:

[autorank]

45. K*R Am I surprised?

NO! :hi:

[HopeforChange]

47. I was a member of the credentials committtee in my district and the same happened

[WillyT]

48. K & R !!!

:mad:

[azmouse]

49. Dirty tricks from the HRC camp is par for the course.

[WolverineDG]

50. We've done some digging in my county

and have discovered that our ENTIRE CONVENTION was run directly in contravention of the TDP rules. We also have evidence that a few Hillary supporters were effectively running the show and giving directions to the county chair to ensure Hillary got a clean sweep.

And yes, we're doing something about it.

dg

[blonndee]

51. I'm glad you are doing something about it.

That kind of crap can't fly. Good work--I know it's been rough, and your efforts are so appreciated!