(Locked from Breaking News, so hello GD:P) Obama Hits Out At Clinton For Negative Campaign

[Faygo Kid]

(Kicked out of LBN, kicked into GD Primaries. Works for me.)

Source: New York Times

PAOLI, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused rival Hillary Clinton on Saturday of shifting positions and waging a negative campaign as the two candidates sped across Pennsylvania before next week's potentially make-or-break primary election.

Obama, an Illinois senator who is the party's national front-runner but behind in Pennsylvania, hopes an upset will hand him the Democratic nomination and knock Clinton, a New York senator, out of the race to compete against Republican John McCain in the November general election.

He said the former first lady had adopted an attitude of, "We're going to throw whatever we want at Barack, whether it's true, whether it's false, whether it's exaggerated, whether it's relevant, because that's, according to Senator Clinton, what the Republicans will do."

"What's happened is that Senator Clinton has internalized a lot of the strategies, the tactics that have made Washington such a miserable place where all we do is bicker and all we do is fight," he told a rally in Paoli, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. . .

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-...
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POW!

[slinkerwink]

1. It's time to make Republicans worried about us!

[anonymous171]

2. Basically he should take an Edward's position, "Hillary is part of the problem, not the solution."

[jasmine621]

24. That's right, alienate half the people he wants to vote for him in Nov.

Hillary hate makes people brain-dead.

[anonymous171]

29. Hillaryhate? She is part of the problem.

No mistake. I don't hate her. It's not her fault, really, it's the only way she knows how to handle herself.

[QC]

3. He has certainly mastered the Rovian strategy

of attacking one's opponent for what one is doing oneself.

[anonymous171]

4. No that's Hillary.

Who has the "kitchen sink" strategy? Whose airing ads calling their opponent "out of touch and elitist"?

[QC]

5. Who has set out to smear the only Democratic administration most Americans remember

in order to gain a temporary advantage over a primary competitor?

Talk about damaging the party for one's own benefit--you can't get much worse than that.

[anonymous171]

6. That's not rovian though. It's just negative campaigning.

It doesn't matter anyway, because Hillary Rodham, a junior Senator from NY has no relation to Bill Clinton.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

9. The one whose coattails Hillary rides on?

[Name removed]

10. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandnsea]

11. Because Clinton laid the groundwork

that led us to where we are today. It's just true. China, NAFTA, welfare reform, cheap gas, flimsy environmental policy, deregulation -- we wouldn't be in this mess if Clinton hadn't capitulated to right wing ideology.

[QC]

32. Would you have preferred GHWB and Bobdole?

Those were our options at the time. I mean, I would rather have had Eugene Debs, but he wasn't running, having been dead for over sixty years.

Did Clinton disappoint me? Certainly. But he was the best game in town back then, and he is still the only Democratic president to be re-elected since FDR.

[sandnsea]

40. Now that's Rovian

The triangulator or the pile of shit.

How about the truth teller that has the will of the people behind him to fight?

You have a chance to do better now - and you're still going with the crap.

[QC]

42. How do you know who I am going with?

I cast my (meaningless) vote for the best candidate in the race, one of only two who could be called progressives.

You are the one forced to choose now between near-identical piles of shit. I have, mercifully, been spared that indignity.

[The Doctor.]

20. When did he lie or exaggerate about her?

Quotes please.

[Lerkfish]

43. ah! I see the new mimeographed talking points have been transmitted

"rovian strategy".... its the clinton supporter word of the day.

wazzamatta? realized "elitist" wasn't working?

pathetic, transparent.

[DemGa]

7. Stunning hypocrisy from Team Obama

As I cannot accept Sen. Obama is blind to his own actions and that of his campaign, I can only surmise he is purposely deceitful. Stunning -- and they fall so easily for it!

[anonymous171]

8. Care to elaborate on Obama's Rovian strategies?

[DemGa]

12. At this stage of the proceedings?

Shall we begin with the systematic smear campaign to paint Hillary Clinton as a liar since this campaign began? What could be more "Rovian"? It's a low as it gets.

But the assault was ready-made -- set in place by the former right-wing attacks. This must surely reach some pinnacle of dissembling.

[anonymous171]

14. Hillary did a great job of that herself with the snipergate gaffe.

Obama didn't push it. Unlike Hillary and the bittergate gaffe.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

27. Pointing out a lie is not Rovian.

Pretending that the truth is a lie- is Rovian.

[CakeGrrl]

13. Stunning projection from Team Clinton

Obama did't say anything that wasn't absolutely true about HRC, and if that's hard to take, then thank her, because she and her campaign did it all on their own.

"He isn't a Muslim...as far as I know."

HRC name-drops Farrakhan and beats the dead Pastorgate horse in a pile-on during a stacked debate while Obama says NOTHING negative about her blatant Bosnia lie, her NAFTA support, or her Colombia $$$ connections.

HRC goes two-faced on MoveOn

HRC milks "Bittergate" for everything it's worth in PA

So...

What "actions", other than shining a light on the growing pile of Clinton campaign dirt, is Obama or his campaign committing?

[DemGa]

21. To choose one example...

"while Obama says NOTHING negative about her blatant Bosnia lie"

You may recall that Hillary laughed a bit when Obama said he had not attacked her negatively on Bosnia-- that's because his campaign was certainly busy going negative over this very story.

All part of the charade -- Obama's hands are "clean." Quite the opposite is true.

[anonymous171]

That's not evidence.

[DemGa]

31. There's a pattern

Obama will tell you right to your face he doesn't engage in such attacks - and yet, his campaign is pushing the very thing he denies.

Now, is Sen. Obama a liar or is he unaware?

[Cant trust em]

34. Watching the debate when the Bosnia topic came up, I moved to the edge of my seat

Anticipating that he was going to clobber her over her obvious lying, he let it slide. He could have busted her out all over national television, but he took a pass.

[CakeGrrl]

37. That's not an example of Rovian smear tactics

For one, he's entirely right to go after that lie. It's a matter of her personal integrity and of falsely padding her "experience" and "readiness" resume.

And it appears that he is finally calling her out on it in PA this weekend and good for him.

Again, he hasn't said anything about the Clinton campaign's statements, actions or tactics that hasn't been true, whereas the Clinton campaign relies HEAVILY on true Rove-style guilt-by-association, not-quite-denial tricks to cast aspersions on Obama's character.

No one made Hillary pull that Bosnia lie out of the air. And pointing out the fact that she lied is not a fault on the part of the Obama campaign.

[quantass]

15. President Barack Obama -- has an AMAZING ring to it!

[QC]

17. I remember getting excited about the prospect of President Walter Mondale.

It was my first election. I got thrown out of the college cafeteria for distributing Mondale buttons. I just knew we would win it: Reagan was such an obvious fool and was trying his best to get a war going with Russia and the economy had sucked in RR's first term, far worse than now, so I just knew Mondale would win.

He lost 49 states. That was my initiation into presidential politics, so please pardon me if I'm less inclined to go on feelings now.

[anonymous171]

18. Who was his opponent?

An uninspiring, older than dirt Senator whose only claim to fame is being a POW?

[QC]

23. No, It was the oldest president in history, a man with obvious mental impairments,

who had presided over the worst recession in decades.

[anonymous171]

26. But was his opponent uninspiring, dull, and lacking of a core base?

[Zachstar]

33. Sounds like Kerry in 2004

I was on the other side of that one of course. But I remember how easy it was for the swift boats to take his campaign down. There seemed to be little unity coming from the democrats to defend him.

[QC]

35. We agree on Kerry. n/t

[Zachstar]

38. He was loved and being loved as an incumbant makes you hard to beat.

No what was needed was a dean or Obama or Edwards of that era to go against the Raygun machine.

[QC]

39. I think we need some old-fashioned class warfare in this country.

But then, I'm not a campaign consultant, so what do I know?

Regarding Reagan being loved, that's mostly spin by his cultists: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1832

[roseBudd]

16. Bam, out of the ballpark!

[Zachstar]

19. I like this. He is pushing back at Clinton without going into deep negitive territory.

He has to. As the polls show people are buying into the crap expressed at the debate. This is the only way he is going to be to effectively take the offensive again.

BTW get ready for Clinton supporters who stunned and dazed try to paint Obama as some kind of hypocrite. Even tho just a few days ago they were touting how weak he was.

Ignore them. They are panicking in my view because now Clinton is being exposed again.

Hey Clinton Supporters! This is NOTHING compared to what Obama can do if he goes deep negative like Clinton has. You ought to feel lucky he has decided to restrain himself. Otherwise Clinton would be lucky to hold on her senate seat. Much less a chance at the presidency.

Clue: Being to first to go negative fails unless you are squeaky clean.

[Bensthename]

22. yah it is too bad it has to come to this,, Obama could slam Hillary if he wanted.

[Zachstar]

28. Well lets see what happens in PA. If she wins under 10 then I think there is no need

Because under 10 then it is where it has been and it wont show the people are somehow responding to the negativity.

Nationally I will admit it is a problem. When fathers are calling their sons terrorists for supporting Obama it shows that it is a problem. However, That can be exposed and taken to the ground once Obama is able to take off the restraints when he goes after McCain.

Against McCain it is going to be a shitstorm. McCain is a flip flopping war monger that will be defeated easily. Obama will expose him from start to finish.

I hope Clinton will join him in doing so. For with her machine directed against the republicans they stand no chance at taking congress back.

America is going to get their ring fight.

[me b zola]

25. Linky no worky

[tammywammy]

30. recommended

[L0oniX]

36. So nice of her to do what the repukes will do ...oh geeze what did I expect....

of course she would do that being so f*cking right leaning. She can join up with Lieberman after she loses the primary.

[freeplessinseattle]

41. I believe everything primary related is supposed to be here

but it is hard to keep track, and read the fine print. it does seem like they are cleaning up LBN more and keeping it more "news" than just "new".