LOL! Scaife rag endorses Hillary!

[yasmina27]

In Pennsylvania's Democrat primary for president: Vote for Clinton

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/archive/s_563322.html

<snip>

She has a real record. He doesn't.

She has experience of value to a president. He doesn't.

Clearly, she's the wiser choice to represent Democrats this fall.

[Vinca]

1. Now that makes you want to run right out and cast a vote for her.

:rofl:

[Divernan]

34. But. . . . . but Dickie Scaife interviewed her personally !!!.

www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/185608.php
(click on the link for a lovely color photo of Dickie and Hillary, up close and personal at the interview!

you know, earlier today Hillary Clinton tried to stoke the Jeremiah Wright controversy by telling an editorial board meeting in Pittsburgh that Jeremiah Wright "would not have been my pastor" and then going on to note that she had denounced Don Imus in contrast to Obama's allegedly more tolerant attitude toward hate speech.

Later in the afternoon she repeated the same comments at a press conference and when asked why she had chosen to engage Obama on the Wright controversy she seemed to suggest that rather than being intentional she was only providing an answer to a direct question. "Well I answered a question in an ed board today that was very specific about what I would have done," Clinton told the reporter, "And you know I'm just speaking for myself, and i was answering a question that was posed to me."

Now obviously, Hillary's been in the political big leagues for a while. She knows how to deflect a question. But it's actually much richer than this. This afternoon Greg Sargent and I were talking this over and one of us realized that this wasn't just any Pittsburgh paper. It was the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the money-losing, vanity, fringe sheet of Richard Mellon Scaife, funder of the Arkansas Project, the American Spectator during its prime Clinton-hunting years and virtually every right-wing operation of note at one point or another over the last twenty years or more.

In fact, what I only discovered late this evening, when Eric Kleefeld sent me this link at National Review Online, is that not only was it Scaife's paper. Scaife himself was there sitting just to Clinton's right apparently taking part in the questioning.


This alone has to amount to some sort cosmic encounter like something out of a Wagner opera. Remember, this is the guy who spent millions of dollars puffing up wingnut fantasies about Hillary's having Vince Foster whacked and lots of other curdled and ugly nonsense. Scaife was the nerve center of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Those of us who spent years defending the Clintons from all that malarkey learned this point on day one.

But there's more.

Let's game this out. Hillary's saying this wasn't some planned thing. She just got hit with this question and she answered it. But here's my question. You think Richard Mellon Scaife might want to dig into the Jeremiah Wright story? This is sort of like, 'Hey, I go on Hannity and next thing you know he's asking me about Wright and Farrakhan. How was I supposed to see that coming?'

I don't know just how this went down. But the idea Sen. Clinton and her staff went into an editorial board meeting with Scaife and his lackey reporters without a clear sense that they were going to get at least one choice Jeremiah Wright question just somehow doesn't ring true to me.

[AllentownJake]

2. Other than

The student newspaper at Penn I think that is the only endorsement she has recieved.

[Buzz Clik]

3. And there it is. The icing on the cake.

It's been a busy campaign season with Hillary pandering to the right. She now has the support of the man who is convinced that Hillary helped plot the murder of Vince Foster. If Hillary wins the nomination, he will put that story on the front page again.

Good show.

[ScarletSniper]

12. "And there it is. The icing on the cake.

That's not just the icing, but the candle and the sprinkles too...


Got Ice Cream? lol

[Buzz Clik]

15. I hear that. It's party time. An endorsement from Scaife is the kiss of death.

:woohoo:

[Divernan]

32. This is not really a newspaper; it's Scaife's personal vanity press - loses $20-30 million a year.

This paper is such a losing rag that Scaife has had to subsidize it's publishing since the day he bought it!

www.post-gazette.com/pg/07259/817950-52.stm
The case could also affect the fortunes of Mr. Scaife's publishing enterprise, notably the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which, records filed with the divorce papers show, he has subsidized with more than $140 million -- Mrs. Scaife's lawyers contend the figure is $244 million -- from one of his trust funds over the past 15 years, and which has lost between $20 million and $30 million yearly since it was started in 1992.

[Submariner]

4. A Neocon endorsement of Hillary?

Well that pretty much shows where her political fortunes lie. The Rove wing of the republican party.

I'm betting she is calling her pal Scaife to please rescind the endorsement, since it is political death for her in the Democratic Party.

[lisa58]

5. that's got to be the kiss of death

[roguevalley]

50. birds of a feather flocking together. how much more does it take?

this fucker accused her of murder. he funded personal attacks on her daughter. yet she still sat with him and will take this gratefully. that it changes zip is the best part of all. serves her right. lay down with dogs, get up with fleas. she has no core, nothing sacred.

[Barack_America]

6. To all those Hillary fans who complained, "It's not an endorsement" after he praised her...

...a month ago.

It now is. And it certainly looks like she went there looking for one.

What say you now about your candidate?

[PA Democrat]

11. You should have read the LTTEs in the Trib after Scaife's interview with her.

Scaife's readers were OUTRAGED that he gave her positive press coverage. He's trashed the Clinton name for so long, that his own readers aren't buying his change of heart.

[ecdab]

24. She worked hard to get the endorsement of this RW rag.

You don't get to pick your family, but you do get to pick what endorsements you work for (and who runs your campaign) - odd choices Hillary, very odd.

[Maribelle]

26. Scaife was clear back then, that he had not yet interviewed Obama. Seems the interview with Obama

did not go so well for Obama, yes?

[CakeGrrl]

30. The Obama interviews certainly went well with all the other major PA papers

Clinton can have her Right-Wing endorsement. Let the voters make of that what they will.

[Maribelle]

31. So you agree Obama's interview did not go well with the Pittsburgh Tribune then.

[CakeGrrl]

35. Since neither of us actually listened in, can we really make this argument at all?

I just know that I'm glad that Richard Mellon Scaife isn't throwing behind my candidate, whatever was discussed in the interviews. Because there is no good reason, at least that benefits true Democrats, for Republicans and NeoCons to prefer one Democratic opponent over the other.

Do people really think the RW wants HRC because they'd love to see her as their President? Not the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mellon Scaife or the rest of the erstwhile VWRC now known as HRC backers.

[tabasco]

44. The RW wants HRC because they want McCain as President.

Wake up!

A ham sandwich could beat a candidate with 60% negatives.

[Divernan]

37. It appears that Obama never requested or granted an interview to this rag.

From the way the "endorsement" reads, the Trib-Review never talked with Obama. Got any links to indicate otherwise?

[Maribelle]

40. Wrong. While Obama has interviewed with the Pittsburgh Tribune during this campaign,

I cannot say if it was with the Editorial Board.

[NYCGirl]

45. You have a link for that? NT

[PA Democrat]

51. Obama has met with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, a legitimate newspaper

with twice the circulation of Scaife's rags. I couldn't find any evidence that Obama has ever met with the Trib. Please post your evidence to support this claim.

I don't see why Obama would meet with them. They endorsed McCain in the Republican primary, and they will endorse him in the general election.



Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette
Sen. Barack Obama meets with the Post-Gazette editorial board

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08107/873741-457.stm

[RamboLiberal]

47. Probably went too well for Obama

Here for you to chew on - what The Major Pittsburgh daily newspaper had to say this morning - The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 330,000+ circulation on Sundays. Scaife had to umbrella all his little town papers to get under 180,000.

Obama's moment: On Tuesday, Democrats should dare to be different

In this old commonwealth, the past throws a long shadow and what is familiar tends to muscle aside the promise of change. As Pennsylvania Democrats approach Tuesday's primary, they need to meet the historic moment with the historic courage it demands.

The safe and timid choice would be Sen. Hillary Clinton. Not surprisingly, the former first lady and senator from New York has the support of the familiar forces of the status quo -- party relics and old-style politicians for whom tomorrow is more about today and yesterday, the same old same old.

To be sure, Mrs. Clinton would make her own history if she were nominated and became president as the first woman to reach such heights. And as we observed in Wednesday's editorial endorsing Sen. Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton is thoughtful, well-versed on the issues and generally qualified to be president.

But Mrs. Clinton is yesterday's woman too, one part of a two-part act with her husband. While the presidency of Bill Clinton may seem a glorious time of peace and prosperity to Americans still suffering the disastrous reign of George W. Bush, the reality was not so rosy. The Clinton years were leadership delivered as soap opera with bitter, partisan division being its stage.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08111/874707-192.stm

[RamboLiberal]

49. Hillary was a jerk for going to Scaife - this is how he'd treat her in the fall

In the final days of the 2000 presidential campaign, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review publisher Richard Mellon Scaife, a longtime conservative activist, ordered all photographs and prominent mentions of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore removed from the front page of the paper. As a result, the paper’s pre-election Sunday edition had a front page featuring George W. Bush in every campaign-related headline and photograph. A story about a Gore rally held in Pittsburgh, originally slated to run alongside a Bush piece on the front page, was moved to the inside of the paper. According to an account in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review managing editor Robert Fryer ‘tried to dissuade Scaife but was overruled.’

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/395.html

[PA Democrat]

54. I have talked to people who work there. Their description made the place sound like Pravda.

[RamboLiberal]

55. Yep - my understanding of how the Post-Gazette got the scoop

was an embarassed Tribune-Review reporter leaking it to them. Says a lot about the Pittsburgh Pravda!

[democracy1st]

7. now that says it all

a true ultra conservative who hates liberal policy

[Adelante]

8. What a fucking embarrassment this is nt

[PA Democrat]

9. I don't think a Scaife endorsement helps Hillary in any way.

Thanks to the constant trashing of the Clintons by his paper over the years, most people who read that rag hate the Clintons with an intensity of a supernova. Most of my neighbors read that paper. They foam at the mouth at the mention of the Clintons.

[flpoljunkie]

10. We are shocked, shocked, I tell you!

[Clovis Sangrail]

13. she must be so proud /sarcasm

[Exilednight]

14. Take away the sarcasm tag. I honestly believe she is proud of this endorsement. n/t

[Yael]

16. LOL!! Unfortunately, it is highly doubtful that his subscription base will be

voting on Tuesday.

We are a closed primary.

;)

[Maribelle]

18. Do you realize how many newspapers in PA you are talking about?

[Yael]

20. 7. Do you realize that they are all extremely right wing?

You are ok with this?

[Maribelle]

23. You said 'it is highly doubtful that his subscription base will be voting'

You are wrong.

[Yael]

33. Um, we are a closed primary

Do the math.

[RamboLiberal]

48. As others have pointed out his readers are mostly

rabid RW Repukes. So unless they changed their party registration via the marching orders of their Reichmeister Limbaugh they can't vote for her. WE ARE A CLOSED PRIMARY!

[Divernan]

38. These affiliated papers are church social/local ads/high school sports reporting papers

which reprint the Trib-Reviews' editorial pieces, and some wire-service news. Their circulations are so low that they would have folded if Scaife weren't subsidizing them. It's basically one fringe vanity press publishing under different names in different communities.

From wikipedia:

Edward H. Harrell, the president of the Tribune Review Publishing Company, announced in January 2005 that most of the regional editions of the paper would have their newsroom, management and circulation departments merged and staff reductions would follow. The merged papers include the Tribune-Review of Greensburg, the Valley News Dispatch of Tarentum, The Leader-Times of Kittanning, The Daily Courier of Connellsville and the Blairsville Dispatch. The Valley Independent, the only paper with a unionized newsroom and contract, will not be affected. <17> The company incorporated as Trib Total Media in the summer of 2005, and purchased Gateway Newspapers, a community publication group servicing approximately 22 communities in and around Pittsburgh's Allegheny County.

Two managers were immediately laid off; the exact number of proposed redundancies was not announced. <18> In September 2005 Harrell announced his retirement as president of Tribune-Review Publishing Company, effective December 31, 2005. He had served as president since 1989.<19> Several staff writers were laid off in December, 2005, as two of Gateway's newspapers were discontinued.


See also

[Yael]

42. Exactly.

[Maribelle]

17. I guess then Obama's interview with them failed to boondoggle,yes?

Man Obama sure wanted that endorsement bad. Dang.

[Yael]

21. Yeah, just as much as he is courting Hannity and Coulter.

[Maribelle]

25. Obama was begging Republicans and Independents to register as Democrats

In western Pennsylvania these folks read Scaife's papers.

[Kokonoe]

19. It does not endorse her for president of the U.S.

"Clearly, she's the wiser choice to represent Democrats this fall."

It falls a little short for hillary and mostly attacks Obama.

[Berry Cool]

22. Actually, that's a very telling phrase, isn't it?

"Clearly, she's the wiser choice to represent Democrats this fall."

As in..."Clearly, she's the more beatable Democratic candidate for the hero we will ultimately endorse, John McCain"?

Congratulations, Hillary. One of your worst enemies has just pronounced you the Very Best Tomato Can in the Land!

[Hepburn]

27. The RW extremists just LOVE Hillary...

...that should give any real Democrat a mega clue as to why no one should be supporting her.

What does it take? Another shitload of RW bricks to fall on these people for them to see the reality of Little Miss RW Hilly?

[Maribelle]

41. How does Obama differentiate when he goes begging RW extremists to vote for him in the primaries?

Do the ones he gives his "be a democrat for a day" brochure to, have a brand on their foreheads or something?

[Yael]

43. Put the koolaide down

He is talking to disaffected Republicans, not "RW extremists".

If you don't know the difference, then I simply don't know how to explain it to you. Just put your hand up and some nice DUer will be along shortly to try a different approach.

[City Lights]

28. Wear that sucker proudly, Hill! The VRWC endorsed you.

How the times have changed. :rofl:

[Demeter]

29. But You Knew That Was Coming, Right?

After she got all lovey-dovey with Richard....why else would she have bothered with such a turd? Hillary sucks up to power.

[nichomachus]

36. Bottom line: The right-wing wants to run against Hillary. What does that tell you?

[LTR]

39. Hillary thinks they're her friends now

If she got the nomination, they'd rip her to shreds in the GE. Then they'd rip her some more.

Hillary has no friends. They want to give her enough rope to hang herself.

[yasmina27]

46. BTW Dick, it's DEMOCRATIC, you asshole! n/t

[DevonRex]

52. Where will all Scaife's insane friends make all their money

if the Clintons exit the scene? LOL.

[Sparkly]

53. Perhaps they're trying to sink her.

:shrug:

[anonymous171]

56. Hillary is now the Right-Wing Conspiracy's candidate of choice.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

57. Scaife likes her repeated lies about Bosnia and NAFTA?

[elleng]

58. They said this about the PA Dem primary:

he is extremely knowledgeable on crucial foreign issues. Meeting with Trib editors last month, she ticked off an impressive list of international challenges and the solutions. (In Wednesday's Philadelphia debate, Obama praised George H.W. Bush's foreign policy -- apparently not realizing that one of its architects was then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, a man he regularly excoriates.)

As we noted at the time of that meeting, Clinton's decision to sit down with the Trib was courageous, given our longstanding criticism of her. That is no small matter: Political courage is essential in a president. Clinton has demonstrated it; Obama has not. . .

Those who have endorsed Obama have rhetorically swooned, too, designating him the future of American politics, while denigrating Clinton as a relic of politics past.

How ironic, since Obama owes no small part of his success to the grooming and support of Chicago's old-line Daley political machine.

In policy terms, relatively little may separate these two. Obama ranks as one of the most liberal U.S. senators, but Clinton is no conservative. Determining how they differ is difficult, though, because Obama is long on soaring rhetoric yet painfully short on record. . .

Everyone utters stupidities now and then. Yet taken together and uttered repeatedly, they sound like a pattern of thought in the Obama household. It's a pattern the nation can't afford in the White House.

In sharp contrast, Clinton is far more experienced in government -- as an engaged first lady to a governor and a president, as a second-term senator in her own right.

She has a real voting record on key issues. Agree with her or not, you at least know where she stands instead of being forced to wonder. . .

She has a real record. He doesn't.

She has experience of value to a president. He doesn't.

Clearly, she's the wiser choice to represent Democrats this fall."