Oh snap! Who needs a Rottweiler when you’ve got surrogates?

[babylonsister]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/20/684411.aspx

A Clinton surrogate, a Dem divide?

From NBC's Abby Livingston
Oh snap! Who needs a Rottweiler when you’ve got surrogates?

Tom Buffenbarger president of the machinists' union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) was the the latest in a string of Clinton junkyard dogs unleashed upon Obama. Prior to Hillary Clinton’s speech last night in Youngstown, Ohio, Buffenbarger delivered nothing short of an Obama diatribe.

While campaign introductions typically sing the praises of the upcoming candidate, Buffenbarger's speech barely mentioned Clinton until the conclusion. It was all about Obama, and it was laced with venom and ad hominems.

Buffenbarger called Obama a “thespian,” and he sarcastically referred to the junior senator from Illinois as a “wunderkind.” He compared Obama to “Janus, the two-faced Roman god of ancient times.” And he pleaded with the crowd to boo Obama’s labor record.

Early in his speech, Buffenbarger asked, “So now we have a decision to make. Will we rely on the Harvard Law Review editor? The silver-tongued orator from Kansas, Hawaii and Illinois? The man in love with the microphone?”

Taking off the gloves, he said, “Barack Obama is no Muhammad Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough vote in the Illinois State Senate. He took a walk more than a 130 times. That's what a shadow boxer does. All the right moves. All the right combinations. All the right footwork. But he never steps into the ring.”

But it was Obama supporters for whom Buffenbarger saved his most vitriolic contempt, and he proved that the Democratic Party’s coalition is nothing if not fragile. Channeling Howard Beale from the movie "Network," he yelled into the microphone, “Give me a break! I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter.”

With all this trash talk, who needs a Thrilla in Manilla?

[rox63]

1. I guess he has no positive comments to make about his own candidate

:shrug:

[redqueen]

2. God Almighty... that is some awful, awful shit.

:wow:

[babylonsister]

8. Yes it is; I would hope Clinton would disown this junkyard dog. nt

[TheDebbieDee]

16. Why should she disown these words? The Obama supporters

will slam her regardless.

Sen. Clinton is in a no-win situation here.

[mopinko]

22. you said it, not me. 0-10

[Usrename]

27. Yeah, your right.

There is no right or wrong, no just or unjust; all that matters is winning and turning every deed, good or bad, to one's advantage.

[GOTV]

57. To prevent losing those who are not yet Obama supporters n/t

[Beausoir]

3. That's nothing compared to what is in store for Obama with the GOP.

This is pattycake stuff.

[KittyWampus]

11. are you excusing this behavior and rhetoric from a Democrat?

[Beausoir]

14. It's not my problem.

I'm sure as hell not going to start defending Obama. That's your job.

You Obama people had better get over this gasping SHOCK! whenever anyone attacks him, because it hasn't even started.

And it will be very interesting to watch.

[John Q. Citizen]

29. And look how well it's working for Clinton. I imagine it well work just as effectively for the GOP,

don't you?

[Beausoir]

48. As you well know, what is in store for Obama, should he win the nomination, is going to be vastly

different from the challenge within his own party.

To pretend you don't understand that reflects poorly on you.

[snappyturtle]

37. So you're telling me that Sen. Clinton isn't giving this campaign her all....?

This scrapyard dog in the OP is the best she can do? Come on. This is life or death for Sen. Clinton. I doubt that she is leaving stones unturned. Please. IMHO

on edit: another thought: All Sen. Clinton is doing is feeding the republican nominee's campaign. Watch, McCain will say the same things....so what this is doing for Sen. Obama is giving him practice.

[Beausoir]

47. No. I'm saying that there is a vast difference between Clinton's campaign and the way the GOP will

tear Obama to pieces.

Republicans will stop at nothing to destroy the man. You know that. To pretend otherwise is absurd.

[snappyturtle]

55. I understand what you're saying. I disagree. n/t

[cottonseed]

56. I'm seeing more Hill supporters leaning towards this line of thinking.

I think people are ready for the fight. They know the GE will be terrible. I think Obama supports are ready for it. They want that fight. If you look at the numbers, nobody's buying it. They don't want to send forth garbage to fight garbage. They want to sweep it away forever.

[yellowcanine]

4. Ooh - saving the roughest stuff for the voters themselves - now that will win them over.

[NightWatcher]

5. the backlash was so great when Bill did it that they are stepping outside the family for haters

I'm sure it will work

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. Seems like the Clinton supporters at the Rally weren't pleased with Buffenbarger's approach

and that the AFSCME president was aware of that also and tried to tactfully, non verbally, intervene.

Neither campaign seems to have an appetite for directly calling out Union leaders who support them over the way they support them. Obama stayed silent when asked to comment on the potentially race baiting radio ads that a union aired for him in Nevada. Unions have clout precisely because they are organized. Let's just say that it is at least a little awkward for a candidate to dress down a Union leader who is openly supporting them.

[babylonsister]

Wow, Tom. You got that dig in, but the Nevada ads don't even

come close to this vitriol.
Edit to add:
And Obama wasn't even directly involved in what was said in those ads. This is a Clinton surrogate, acting and speaking in her name, with her permission and approval.

[Tom Rinaldo]

18. I agree with you that this language was worse

But it was live and spontaneous and could not be removed from the airwaves so to speak. Plus it wasn't heard by more than a few thousand at most - probably far less, The radio ad was premeditated and repeatedly broadcast, and it was heard for an extensive period by tens of thousands - minimally.

[K Gardner]

7. Significant that Hillary refused to distance herself from the ugliness of the remarks.

[babylonsister]

10. Shades of Bob Johnson; she might get around to it, or maybe not. nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. And Obama refused to distance himself from this

(Translation from Spanish)
"Hillary Clinton does not respect our people. Hillary Clinton supporters went to court to prevent working people to vote this Saturday — that is an embarrassment.

Hillary Clinton supporters want to prevent people from voting in their workplace on Saturday. This is unforgivable. Hillary Clinton is shameless. Hillary Clinton should not allow her friends to attack our people’s right to vote this Saturday. This is unforgivable; there’s no respect

Sen. Obama is defending our right to vote. Sen. Obama wants our votes. He respects our votes, our community, and our people.

Sen. Obama’s campaign slogan is “Si Se Puede” (“Yes We Can”). Vote for a president that respects us, and that respects our right to vote. Obama for president, “Si Se Puede” (“Yes We Can”)."

A union that was supporting Obama broadcast that ad on a spanish language community radio station before the Nevada causus. Many think the language used was racially tinged and racially divisive, Obama refused to comment on it. But like I said elsewhere on this thread, it is hard for a Democratic candidate to slap down a Union or Union leader who is supporting them.

[babylonsister]

17. Read my edit; he had no control over that, whereas this guy is

a surrogate of Clinton. Defend him and her all you want, but I think it's indefensible.

Edit to add: damn, you're fast and I'm sluggish. I responded to the wrong post-so solly.

[Tom Rinaldo]

21. You are drawing false lines in my opinion

A supporter asked to speak at a rally is a "surragate", but a union that has officially endorsed a candidate and spends significant money on behalf of that candidate is simply a "free agent". I don't see those clear lines.

[Tom Rinaldo]

26. You are a great advocate for Obama

No need to ever apologize to me :)

[babylonsister]

35. Thanks, Tom, and you're

doing exactly what I'm doing, and I do respect you for that. Thanks for remaining civil; it keeps me calm. :P

[Abacus]

9. Wow, I thought it would get bad...

but this is terrible. And, it's still two weeks to March 4.

[madaboutharry]

12. This is very disappointing

At the Obama rally I went to here in Wisconsin, Sen. Obama was introduced by a young woman talking about her lack of health insurance. During his speech he was very respectful of Sen. Clinton while pointing out the reasons he feels he is a better choice.

I feel sad that the Clinton campaign has choosen this road.

[Eurobabe]

13. If Clinton campaign keeps this shit up

NO one will turn out to vote for them. Are they clueless? Have they seen the people who have shown up to vote?

Better watch out, should Clinton somehow capture the nomination, with offensive language like this: us latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies might give Clinton the big come November 4th.

Don't you dare treat Obama supporters this way MR. Barffenburger!!

[Abacus]

19. No kidding,

It's one thing to slam your opponent, but to insult the very voters you'll need in November is asinine. What the hell?!

Sincerely,
Non Prius-driving, non Birkenstock-wearing, no trust fund baby Obama supporter.

(He does have me on the latte thing, but I make my own...)

[Eurobabe]

42. just for the record

I don't drive a Prius, I drive an Acura. I don't wear Birkenstocks, learned my lesson tripping up the stairs at the library carrying 10 books. Don't have a trust fund - at least not that I am aware of, AND I don't drink lattes, can't have caffeine.

But this man's comments were really offensive to the Democratic Party, this is right out of Iowa 2003, remember the ad against Howard Dean by Club for Growth?

[TheDebbieDee]

23. Blah, blah, blah.......There you go again.

Once again, an Obama supporter threatens to withhold a vote for Hillary if she is the nominee because their feelings are hurt.

Just admit it, you have no plans to vote Hillary if she is the nominee whether she plays by your rules or not!

[John Q. Citizen]

31. It makes no difference, because Hill can only win by going around the voters. She is mathematically

incapable of winning the popular vote.

If she cheats to win, then she will lose in Nov. If she doesn't cheat, she's already lost.

[tridim]

34. Thankfully she will not be the nominee.

I liked Hillary a month ago and would have been happy to vote for her, now I'm not so sure. But again, she's not going to win so I won't stress about it.

[Eurobabe]

38. Debbie I have said I will vote for HRC, but she needs to

manage her surrogates better. I am not the only one she is offending. And this is not the first time they have made this personal.

Do you see Obama sicin' his dogs on Clinton supporters? I don't.

[noiretextatique]

45. the obama campaign did the same damn thing

with his snipes at babyboomers...and democrats.

[redqueen]

24. My latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing sister voted for Clinton.

I'm a single mom living paycheck to paycheck, and voted for Obama. I've never had a latte in my life.

So... more than being insulting as hell, his attack was just frickin stupid.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

46. I'm surprised. I thought you were leaning towards Clinton (having read some of your posts).

After Edwards dropped out my wife and I voted for Obama.

[redqueen]

49. I leaned Clinton for a while... but I kept flipping back and forth.

The past few weeks though, I just kept leaning Obama over and over. When I saw the polls as close as they are here, I knew what I had to do.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

54. I know what you mean. I'm in Illinois so it's not like it made a difference. But

after Edwards and Kucinich dropped out I did what I had to do.

[Renew Deal]

20. LOOKOUT!!!

[Johnny__Motown]

25. wow, that guy is an ass. I hope they put him on every news cast in Ohio

[MadBadger]

28. I thought driving a prius was a good thing? Does he want me to try a pickup? How bout an SUV?

[MadBadger]

30. Has the TV media talked about this yet?

[babylonsister]

32. Briefly; we heard him spewing earlier, but nothing since, at least

not here.

[K Gardner]

33. Yes, briefly. But I think it should be pushed a bit harder.. god knows, if

someone in Obama's camp had said that we'd be hearing about it nonstop. It'd be nice to figure out a way to get a clip of this ON THE AIR in Ohio.

[babylonsister]

41. MSNBC showing it again right now, 11:40amCT. nt

[K Gardner]

50. I saw it.. its scary. Did you hear them say Clinton said they were PROUD to have his support..

and that's all they said. PROUD. We need this Video. It needs to be You Tubed.

[madrchsod]

36. this guy makes me ashamed

that i was once a member of the union. when i was in the union in the 70`s the guy who ran the union was a die hard democrat that foretold the collapse of the middle class. this guy is as fucking pathetic as his candidate

[Ino]

39. I can't believe the Repuke attack machine...

will be any worse than Clinton's. She's eliminating one of her talking points -- that Obama won't be able to handle attacks from the right.

[babylonsister]

40. Great point! Clinton hurls this venom while

McCain calls Obama naive. He should be a cake walk, and if not, Obama is getting some early practice in.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3190140

[Beausoir]

51. Then you are incredibly naive. And you are in for the rudest awakening.

[Inuca]

43. Was this before the speech last

night that was interrupted on TV when Obama came out for his speech in Texas? If that's the case, no wonder that the Obama camp felt like a bit of a slap was in order. Serious question: what control, if any, does the campaign and of course the candidate have over what a surrogate of this type (union president, as opposed to spouse, etc.) says? I really do not know...

[K Gardner]

53. Yes.. the Junkyard Dog introduced her last night. Obama's camp would have heard it.

[MadBadger]

44. WHen Clinton Camp was asked if they agree, they simply said they were happy with the union's support

MSNBC just reported that.


They literally have NO shame.

[K Gardner]

52. Actually, they said "Proud".. unbelievable.