Clinton Accuses Obama Camp of Distorting Her Words

Forum Name General Discussion: Politics
Topic subject Clinton "Personally Offended" by Obama distorting her words.
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4053697#4053697
4053697, Clinton "Personally Offended" by Obama distorting her words.
Posted by sniffa on Sun Jan-13-08 02:35 PM

“I was personally offended at the approach taken that was not only misleading but unnecessarily hurtful,” said Mrs. Clinton, Democrat of New York. “And I have made that clear to many people in the last several days.”

Asked to whom she was referring, Mrs. Clinton responded, “I think it clearly came from Senator Obama’s campaign, and I don’t think it was the kind of debate we should be having in this campaign.”

A spokesman for the Obama campaign, Bill Burton, did not back away from its original criticism of Mrs. Clinton.

“People were offended at her words, and she can explain them however she’d like,” Mr. Burton said. “However, I think that Congressman Clyburn and other leaders across the country would take great offense at the suggestion that their response was somehow engineered by this campaign.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/us/politics/13clinton.html?em&ex=1200373200&en=b39cc5bd31fe94ba&ei=5087%0A

Forum Name General Discussion: Politics
Topic subject Clinton Says Obama Fanning the Flames of Racial Politics and attacks Obama war narrative
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4054478#4054478
4054478, Clinton Says Obama Fanning the Flames of Racial Politics and attacks Obama war narrative
Posted by jackson_dem on Sun Jan-13-08 03:42 PM

Hillary is not pulling any punches. If she is the nominee we can expect her to fight the Rethugs tooth and nail. She is pointing the finger directly at the "candidate of hope's" campaign for putting out talking points on this.

-snip-

By Zachary A. Goldfarb, The Talk
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign of fanning the flames of racial politics and said that he has not yet been held to account for his record on the war in Iraq.

-snip-

Sen. Clinton (N.Y.) said in a sometimes testy appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," that the controversy is an "unfortunate story line that the Obama campaign has pushed very successfully."

-snip-

The Clintons moved Friday to soothe ruffled feathers but, when asked Sunday about the Monday comments, Clinton pointed blame at Obama's campaign. "They've been putting out talking points. They've been telling this in a very selective way," Clinton said. "I'm glad to have the opportunity to set the facts straight."

-snip-

Clinton said her husband's comments focused on the story line of Obama's campaign -- a speech he gave in 2002, as a state senator in Illinois, in which he opposed the war in Iraq. "He gave a very impassioned speech against it and consistently said that he was against the war, he would vote against the funding for the war," she said. "By 2003, that speech was off his Web site. By 2004, he was saying that he didn't really disagree with the way George Bush was conducting the war. And by 2005, 6, and 7, he was voting for $300 billion in funding for the war. The story of his campaign is really the story of that speech and his opposition to Iraq. I think it is fair to ask questions about it."

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/13/clinton_says_obama_playing_rac.html?hpid=topnews

Forum Name General Discussion: Politics
Topic subject The Clinton's Racial Strategy
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4054450#4054450
4054450, The Clinton's Racial Strategy
Posted by ariesgem on Sun Jan-13-08 03:40 PM

Carl Hulse and Patrick Healy's article in the New York Times, Clintons Move to Tamp Down Criticism From Blacks About Recent Comment, accomplishes precisely what the Clintons needed to happen.

It's actually even better than they had any right to expect. First, it makes absolutely no mention of comments from Fmr. Sen. Bob Kerrey, New Hampshire chairman Bill Shaheen, supporter Andrew Cuomo, or anonymous Clinton advisers.

It doesn't touch on Bill Clinton's patronizing use of the word 'kid' to describe Obama. All it addresses are two comments: Hillary's comments about MLK Jr., and Bill's comment about a fairy tale. And, it's true...Hillary's MLK comment was so stupid and self-defeating that it probably was nothing more than sloppiness.

And Bill's comment about a Fairy Tale was specifically about whether or not Barack Obama has been consistently against the war in Iraq, and not meant to be dismissive of his chances or his message. So, the article fails to address the (possible) use of surrogates to spread racial and anti-Muslim stereotypes about Obama. But the article does not fail to mention the two most harmful names for Obama's campaign...the names that instantly turn-off white voters and remind them why they don't like black complaints about racism.

In a call on Friday to Al Sharpton’s nationally syndicated talk radio show, Mr. Clinton said that his “fairy tale” comment on Monday about Senator Barack Obama’s position on the Iraq war was being misconstrued, and that he was talking only about the war, not about Mr. Obama’s overarching message or his drive to be the first black president.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Never mind that Billy Shaheen suggested that Obama was a cocaine dealer, or that an anonymous Clinton adviser was quoted in the Guardian as saying, "If you have a social need, you're with Hillary. If you want Obama to be your imaginary hip black friend and you're young and you have no social needs, then he's cool." Never mind the rest of it.

Here is how it works. The Clintons push some racially sensitive buttons and elicit an emotional response. Then they go apologize explain themselves on the Al Sharpton radio show.

The New York Times only covers the most innocuous of their comments. The result is that they remind voters that Barack Obama is not the post-racial uniter, but a typical black candidate, supported by "serial whiners Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton". Nothing could undermine Obama's campaign more among the white vote, and the Clintons know it. And there is nothing, nothing, that Obama can do about it. If he complains, he only makes it worse. If he doesn't complain, these subtle allegations that he is a lazy, drug-dealing Muslim do damage all on their own.

Congratulations to the Clintons. You really are good at this campaigning thing. I'm so impressed.

http://blackstarnews.com/?c=135&a=4105

Forum Name General Discussion: Politics
Topic subject Lately, we have seen how Obama stands up to criticism
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4054660#4054660
4054660, Lately, we have seen how Obama stands up to criticism
Posted by niceypoo on Sun Jan-13-08 03:57 PM

His campaign doesn't handle criticism very well. His supporters blow every criticism out of proportion by attacking it out of context or bringing up race.

This being the case, how would he stand up to the withering, 24/7 criticism that Hillary withstands? How would he stand up to the republican hate machine? Hillary has withstood it for the last 15 years and takes most of it with a grain of salt. Obama seems to fall apart with every slight, and his supporters fare even worse. Doesn't Obama realize that his supporters blowing everything out of proportion, inevitably, negatively reflects on him? I don't think thin skin sells well in the long haul.