Obama: Clintons divide America

[CatnHat]

What the fuck is this:

Yeah, real nice. More like Obama divides party!!

ABC NEWS
Obama: Clinton Divides America
February 11, 2008 8:28 AM

At a town hall over the weekend, at the high school that inspired the Denzel Washington vehicle "Remember the Titans" -- TC Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia -- Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, asked voters to remember that, in his view, the Clintons were titanically bad for the Democratic Party.

“Keep in mind we had Bill Clinton as president when in '94 we lost the House, we lost the Senate, we lost governorships, we lost state houses," Obama said. "And so regardless of what policies they wanted to promote, they didn't have a working majority to bring change about.”

ABC News' Sunlen Miller has more on this HERE.

This argument dovetails with a harsh Obama campaign mailer (check it out HERE) that argues that "Democrats win when we unite America" and goes on to argue that the Clintons are divisive.

"8 years of the Clintons, major losses for Democrats across the nation," the flier says, enumerating that from November 1992 to November 2000, Democrats lost 12 governorships, 7 Senate seats, and 46 House seats.

(DUE TO THE REPUBLICANS!!!)

The flier seems to insinuate that the Clintons have a "political strategy that's been all about division" and pushes instead what Obama says is his plan, which is "about addition -- to build a coalition for change that stretches through Red States and Blue States."

BULLSHIT

"It's time to turn the page on the divisive politics of the past," the flier says. "South Carolina voters rejected Hillary Clinton's divisive and deceptive attacks."

"Fair or not, poll after poll shows Hillary Clinton helps Republicans divide America.

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Clinton's nomination would be a guaranteed return to the permanent political warfare of the last decade -- the kind of warfare that succeeds in winning elections for Republicans but accomplishes nothing for the American people."

THIS IS PURE GARBAGE

Something the flier doesn't touch on is former President Bill Clinton's strategy of "triangulation" -- positioning himself in the center with congressional Republicans on the right, congressional Democrats on his left, which a lot of Democrats complained at the time made Clinton look reasonable and made Democrats look like kooky liberals.

In any case, these are strong charges. What do you think. OBAMA DIVIDES PARTY IS MORE LIKE IT.

[BeyondGeography]

1. That's it, I'm done with the O Man

How can he possibly say the Clintons are divisive?

[Proud2BAmurkin]

6. they're "divisive" because they tried to get health reform and gays in the military

and a rePUKE congress blew in as a result. Obama has the answer: he won't try anything.

[casus belli]

15. gays were already in the military

Clinton told them to hide. That's progress?

[Proud2BAmurkin]

21. So Obama would have remained silent and not pushed for change? Yep, you got that right.

[casus belli]

39. You make alot of assumptions...

and I don't play with straw men. Have a nice evening.

[polpilot]

38. If they 'tried to get health reform' as aggressively and as successfully

as they try to get lobbyists $$$$$ we'd have it by now.
She helped bring us a war..maybe healthcare is next?

[anigbrowl]

18. Um...

haven't you been done with the O man for a long time already?

[BeyondGeography]

34. Hi there

and welcome to DU. You'll find that the O Man has no better friend on this board and that I often don't bother with the sarcasm icon.

[Big Blue Marble]

2. Where would he get an idea like that?

Obama will unite the party. He will unite the country in a way that Hillary never could.

[Joyce78]

8. Obama will not unite the party ... he'll divide the party and the country.

[Bicoastal]

10. Divide the party? How is he guilty of that and not Hillary? Because he DARES to run against her?

As for dividing the country, he wins enough Indies and former-Republicans to his camp that that claim is bogus too.

[Big Blue Marble]

16. You base your assumption on what?

Your personal opinion.

Obama's chances of uniting the party are far better that HRC's.

And she will polarize the country much as her husband and Bush have done.
That is how she wins elections by slicing and dicing constituencies, then
winning with shreds and tatters.

If Hillary would become president, she would be president of only half a country the
way George was before he became president of one-third the country.

Obama's message is unity. He runs on unity He will win on unity. And he will govern on unity.

That is were much of his appeal comes from.

[girl gone mad]

28. Unite them by tearing down the Clintons?

I'm confused about how that's going to work.

And if you believe the other half is going to sit down around Obama's campfire and sing Kumbaya, you're just plain out of touch with reality. The right is going to come after Obama with both guns blazing, no matter how nice he tries to be. Clinton was pretty damn nice to Republicans, giving them NAFTA and Welfare reform, deregulation and the DMCA. Look how far into their good graces all that cooperation carried him. :eyes:

[rpannier]

3. It's a mailer for a political campaign

I'm sure there are some put out by the Clinton campaign that are similar.

Trust me... You'll see worse come the fall.

[joshcryer]

4. Good. We're a nation divided. They represent America.

Obama represents unrealistic ideals that won't achieve anything.

[NMMNG]

5. Deceive, Inveigle, Obfuscate.

It's the new campaign strategy of Mr. Unity.

[sandnsea]

7. Obama has criticized the triangulation too

"Others pursue a more "centrist" approach, figuring that so long as they split the difference with the conservative leadership, they must be acting reasonably -- and failing to notice that with each passing year they are giving up more and more ground."

The whole thing looks accurate to me and is the exact reason most people gravitate to Obama in the first place.

[Joyce78]

11. I'm not gravitating to the Obama couple. I was fed up years ago with Dick

Durbin and Teddy Kennedy, not to mention Maria Schriver.

[sandnsea]

13. Aah, well, a DLC centrist

Had enough of that, thank you very much.

[murielm99]

9. Another simplistic Obama argument.

Obama fails to mention that the Democrats of that time became complacent and lost their majority through their own failings.

He fails to mention the rich people like Scaife who set out to ruin Clinton from day one.

He fails to mention that Bill Clinton is not the candidate.

His surrogates used Rovian tactics from the beginning. They knew that
Bill's campaigning would be a strength for Hillary, because he still enjoys high popularity. They and the media attacked Bill and suggested that he is racist. That is a hoot, because the Clintons have always had a lot of support in the black community. In my area, we have Clinton delegates who are AA and at least one AA community leader who is the area coordinator for the Clinton campaign. OBAMA's people played the race card.

I have seen Obama's campaign style here since his Senate primary. I do not like it. It is arrogant. If anyone criticizes it, his people become angry. They expect everyone to bend and break the rules for them and they cry foul at the drop of a hat.

Obama is the divider. Of course I will vote for him if he becomes the nominee. Initially, I said I would work to see that he is elected, too. I may have to do that, because of my position in county politics. I will do it, but my heart will not be in it.

I don't think he can win the general election. I am very afraid for my country.

[rodeodance]

14. Its a binary-black-white, good-bad--Bush uses it all the time.

[emilyg]

19. I won't work for him if he is the nominee.

[DURHAM D]

12. What a pompous ass he is. eom

[rodeodance]

17. just for UNITY thingy stuff coming from him!

[SoCalDem]

20. The guy cannot change his color, would you have him wear a hood or something?

so people don;t know he's black?

He never emphasized race.. BC & the HC campaign minions planted those evil little seeds ..

[newmajority]

22. He's right.

The DLC has divided the Democratic party and caused us to lose the majority we had for 40 fucking years. True, we technically have a majority again now, but it's a small one. And it's useless because of DLC members who will not vote like fucking DEMOCRATS.

And you cannot separate the name Clinton from the DLC. It's time to get rid of them both.

[provis99]

23. Well, isn't what Obama said it true?

The Clintons are polarizing; Bill Clinton's whole presidency was polarizing. The simple fact is that plenty of voters just hate the Clintons, period. Obama is just pointing that out. Bill Clinton tried that "triangulating" thing, and guess what? The Republicans still hated him.

[aquarius dawning]

24. I guess Newt GingRICH and Co. had nothing to do with any of that?

I suppose the children voting for Obama can't remember the witch hunt that went down back in the 90s so here's a small history listen for them: in the early 90s, Republicans declared dirty war against the Democratic party (AKA: the Republican Revolution) and forced Bill Clinton to fight for his career, his life, and his legacy, instead of important American issues. Republicans like Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole were responsible for the divisiveness and the bitter hatred seen in America today. Incidentally, Bill Clinton's popularity never went down during all of this. It took a man like Obama to make him unpopular and after listening to this POS slander a great President like Bill Clinton, part of me can't help but want to see him lose. Who is divisive again?

[emilyg]

25. Welcome to Du.

[aquarius dawning]

33. hello, thanks for the welcome.

[FrenchieCat]

26. In a national campaign today.......there is a dividing up of people into boxes.....

Black people
Hispanics
White Women
Youth
White men
over 65+
over $50,000
under $50,000
College Graduate
high school graduate

You see barely any semblance of this on the other side.

why is that?

Because the Clintons decided to make race an issue, after Obama won a 99% White State. From that point on, we were all separated into "niches".

The Clinton pollster came out and announced to us that Hispanics don't vote for Blacks.
Hillary agreed and called it simply an historical fact.
Bill liken Obama's win (although he had already nearly tied them in NH, and beaten them in Iowa) to that of Jesse Jackson's. Then the meme was pushed by the Clinton camp that Obama wasn't getting the lower income working white vote. As though it was simply natural for the low income group to vote for the Corporate candidate.

The Clintons have always been divisive....and although before I blamed the GOP, now, I'm not so sure who was truly responsible....considering.

[cali]

29. POS?

I'd never call Hillary or Bill that- despite the ugly crap they've pulled Shows what you really are And sorry, the Clintons are divisive. duh.

[aquarius dawning]

32. I've seen enough from Obama to know that the Clintons don't have a monopoly on division

And I'm sorry but I have zero respect for any Democrat that would tear down the Presidency of Bill Clinton in order to Build up the presidency of Barack Obama. Such a person qualifies as a POS in my book and I have to say, that's hardly the way to prove to me or anybody else that BO is, in fact, a uniter. It proves to me that it doesn't matter to BO and his supporters how they get there, just so long as they get there.

[VotesForWomen]

27. "I'm a uniter, not a divider." - W. how many times will people fall for this tripe? nt

[desi]

36. Not this time around I hope.

There's a big difference between the two though. One idiot succeeded in further dividing the two major parties whereas the present empty suit is succeeding in further dividing OUR party, the Democratic Party, in his pandering for the Evangelical/right wingnut vote.

[anamandujano]

30. So did he take any questions at the "town hall" or give his usual sermon?

For a guy who claims to listen to the people, he sure talks a lot.

[FrenchieCat]

31. Well, he's Black...so you know IT HAD to have been a sermon!

Hillary can shriek......but that will simply be called a speech.

Go hide!

[robbedvoter]

35. The stimulus package - turned the economy around - lost some seats in congress

It's the price we paid to get out of debt. Once proven successful, the process reversed itself. In spite of the Arkansas project. rewriting history to erase Clinton, make raygun bigger - one possible side effect out of this election I can live without.
Feeding into the freepers irrational hate for Clinton - one campaign strategy that I find unacceptable.

[jakem]

37. What a meanie!!! No fair!!

He is using POLITICS to promote his POLITICAL AGENDA!!

SOMEone needs to tell Obama that TRUTH is nto allowed in the PRImaries.

Cause it is mean. And he said he would be nice!


:sarcasm:

[sniffa]

40. K&R

He's right, and aside from the ALL CAPS INSERTS it's a good piece. :thumbsup:

[rndmprsn]

41. thanks for the post...i agree clintons do divide and conquer

thats just what they do...thanks again.

[yeswecan08]

42. Choose Obama the uniter