Clinton Aide Compares Obama to Kenneth Starr
hogginthefogg
6,098 Posts
(03-06) 11:02 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --A top aide to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday compared rival Sen. Barack Obama to independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr.Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said Obama's statement that he plans to be more critical of Clinton's record is reminiscent of the attacks the Clintons endured during the investigations in the 1990s."Our point here is to point out that after a campaign in which many of the questions that voters had in the closing days centered on concerns that they had over his state of preparedness to be commander in chief and steward of the economy, he has chosen instead of addressing those issues to attack Senator Clinton," Wolfson told reporters in a conference call. "They've announced that this is what they are going to do."I for one do not believe that imitating Ken Starr is the way to win a Democratic primary election for president. But perhaps that theory will be tested," he said.[/b]By raising Starr's name, Wolfson revived memories of the investigation that led to former President Clinton's impeachment. But many Democrats feel the Starr investigation was politically motivated, and injecting Starr into the debate is one more way for Clinton to depict herself as a victim of enemies out to get her. She's already complained recently about the media being against her.After losing three out of four contests Tuesday night, Obama told reporters Wednesday that he plans to increase his criticism of Clinton's record in coming days.His campaign also has been attacking her for refusing to release her tax returns. The Clinton campaign said all the Clintons' returns since they left the White House will be made public around April 15.Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the comparison to Starr is "absurd" when Clinton has been calling for more scrutiny of Obama's record."We don't believe that expecting candidates for the presidency to disclose their tax returns somehow constitutes Ken Starr tactics, but the kind of transparency and accountability that Americans are looking for and that's been missing in Washington for far too long," Burton said in a statement. "And if Senator Clinton doesn't think that the Republicans will ask these very same questions, then she's not as ready to go toe-to-toe with John McCain as she claims."[/b]Wolfson offered two examples that he argued were similar to the tactics that Starr used in his investigation.He cited a memo from the Obama campaign that called on Clinton to release "her tax returns, the accompanying schedules, and attachments." The memo cited a Wall Street Journal editorial that said Bill Clinton released their tax returns from 1980 forward when he ran in 1992. "But they steadfastly refused to release their returns for prior years, and only later did we learn that 1978 and 1979 were the tax years when Mrs. Clinton reported her 10,000 percent cattle-futures trading profit," said the editorial excerpt included in the memo.He also cited two quotes this week from Obama senior adviser David Axelrod. In one, Axelrod complained to Time magazine, "We still don't have the records from the Clinton library." And on ABC's "This Week" Sunday, he referenced the Whitewater land deal. "I would think that the Clinton campaign would be the last person to be wanting to characterize any real estate transaction as unusual," Axelrod said.
Comments
http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1064399&an=0&page=0#Post1064399
I will stop at nothing!
this is slightly better than yesterday's bs news about hillary's use of the phrase "as far as i know" in rejecting the idea that obama is a muslim. watch the clip though. she gets probed on the question multiple times, rejects it over and over again, and when she does use the phrase "as far as i know", its not with a wink-wink, but more like, i've told you again and again, what more do u want, i'm not the man himself.
LOL. dude. which campaign have YOU been watching?
there's a twisted logic operating on the part of Hillary-haters that goes like this: "Hillary is a conniving bitch, ergo, everything she does is conniving and bitchy. Never mind exactly what it is she actually did, and never mind how I would characterize what she did were it someone else who did it."
How about implying that McCain is better suited for the White House than Obama, giving the republicans the perfect soundbite if Obama is the nominee?
How about basing her entire comeback on the idea that experience and national security are the two most important issues, basically telegraphing McCains entire campaign against her if she's the nominee?
Just saying dude, 7 more weeks of this is not helping the democrats in November. I understand why there are superdelagates, but theres no way she gets the nod without overruling what appears to be "the will of the people", even if she gets Pennsylvania....
uhhh, OK dude but did it occur to you that this point also highlights Hillary's greater electability in a general election vs. McCain? I mean if arguing that you are better equipped to take on the presumptive GOP nominee in a general is somehow out-of-bounds, what do you propose they run on?
Hillary knows (or at least beleives) that the general will be about national security. so she is running on her advantage on national security. what's the problem here again? and how exactly is "telegraphing McCains entire campaign against her" detrimental to Obama ?
My logic isn't twisted. They both do the same shit. Hillary just tends to paint herself as a victim way to often. All the sleazy character assassinations make me sick, whoever the candidate. They both need to spend more time talking about what they can do, rather than rub each other in shit.
Democratic party is
When have you ever, in a primary, heard a candidate say they thought the other party's guy was more qualified. I'm sorry, the point of this process is for the Democrats to win, not just Hillary at any cost. In my mind, this shit is out of bounds. You really don't see how this is fucked up if he eventually takes it, to have Hillary on tape, giving props to McCain over Obama?
On the second point, if the most important thing is having been tested under fire and having national security experience, then why don't we just coronate McCain now, because he's got her beat on both counts. I see Obama's strategy of being an outsider bringing change as effective all the way to november, but my point is she's framing this in a way that has always benefited Republicans: Bush won in '04 with the same tested/ready/experience under fire kinda thing, but she's not gonna be able to play that card against McCain in November, and this line of attack is gonna bite her. You can't envision these ads already?
Also, I see you've chosen to avoid the whole issue of how she can actually get enough delegates together, esp without loosing all the new support Obama's brought to the table...
it's shrewd. I'm just not that worked up about it. It's merely a somewhat impolite way of sying "I am stronger than you on the issue that our GOP opponent is strongest on."
I don't deny it could end up being a damaging soundbite. but if you're suggesting that Hillary calculated this to hurt Obama in the event that he gets the nomination I think that's a stretch. I think if Obama gets the nomination Hillary will want to see him win. (I don't want to argue this point; it's impossible to say for sure what goes on in Hillary's head; I just think the notion that Hillary, a Democrat, would rather see a Republican in office over Obama, a fellow Democrat, is extremely cynical and I don't believe it).
....or, why don't we elect the stronger of the two Dem candidates on this issue? I mean, that's all she is trying to say. I just don't see how "these are the issues that will come up in the general, and I am stronger on these issues" is out of bounds. at all.
not avoiding anything; this is pure speculation at this point. My comments were limited to the campaing so far. If you think Obama v. Hillary has been some sort of nasty slime-fest so far then I don't know what to tell you. The race has been pretty civil.
hillary haters - stop being such p*ssies!!! this is a competition. the issue, imo, is whether she has somehow broken the rules - and the answer is "no". she didn't say mccain is better suited for the white house dude, clean your ears. she is campaigning and the people in her ear are telling her she can win if she runs on "experience". thats what she is doing. its part of the game and she hasn't stepped out of bounds.
superdelegates do not have an obligation to pre-commit....and we don't even need to get into the fact that in many states there is no obligation, at the convention, for the states to vote based on the # of pledged delegates (how the people voted). the latter issue will not come in to play.
if she wins PA and continues to get more support than Obama she can argue to the superdelegates that she has won the blue states and has the momentum. to me, this is a remote possibility. i don't think its a bad argument though....especially if she wins florida and michigan convincingly in the potential re-elections.
Oh, my bad, for some reason I thought the people got to chose the leaders in a democracy. Silly me.
Anyway, Clinton continues her efforts to unite the party. I always thought the "Commander in Chief Threshold" was getting more votes....
I'm saying. This is a race. Of course it's divisive. "Uniting the party" comes after we've selected a nominee.
I'm prepared to line up behind (PASUE) Obama if he gets picked. Are all you Hillary-haters talmbout "uniting the party" willing to say the same if she is picked?
Fair enough. I AM pissed. All the superdelegate stuff to me, shouldn't be an issue, and a race is when both candidates have a chance to win. Not the case here.
I will get behind Hillary, its the newly motivated first time voters, and the independents and republicans who are leaning Obama who probably won't. I know its hard to understand guys, but Obama is a simply a likable candidate, and for better or worse, thats who wins elections in America. Besides Bush 1, peep the last 25 years. Anecdotally, my uncle, who voted for Bush twice, is gonna vote Obama, or otherwise McCain. Jusssayin.
If theres no way for Hillary to come up on top in the delegate count, I think she should step aside instead of pretending that she's got a chance, while angling to pull off some superdelegate bs "for the sake of the party". I'm sorry, I think Fatback and Jonny are right about the probable outcome now; McCain and republicans are just sitting back watching this, and wondering, how can we keep her in the race.....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/181749.php
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080305.wharpleak0305/BNStory/National/home
I know Florida has a history of Fair and Balanced politicians who only want the best for the country, but, you know, something seems amiss.