Scaife Now Pushing Obama Attack Ads For Hillary

[KittyWampus]

Clinton's new 'friends' from Whitewater now pushing Obama attacks
by JedReport


During the 1990s, ultra-conservative Pennsylvania billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife funded what Hillary Clinton called a "vast right-wing conspiracy" to destroy her husband’s presidency.

Now, one decade after Scaife’s operation nearly removed her husband from office, Hillary Clinton has reached a rapprochement with the reclusive owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Last weekend Hillary Clinton accepted Scaife’s endorsement in the Pennsylvania primary, offered in the pages of the Tribune-Review. She had pursued the endorsement since last month, earning it after sitting down with Scaife and publicly attacking Barack Obama for attending Trinity United Church of Christ.

One day after Scaife’s endorsement, Newsmax, a Scaife-owned media outlet, began pushing a new negative smear campaign against Obama, attempting to portray him as "weak" on the war on terror because he opposes the death penalty.

At the center of the smear campaign is a television ad produced by an anti-Obama 527PAC called "The National Campaign Fund." (Although the ad is sinister in tone, it is so over-the-top that it’s actually somewhat humorous.)

The National Campaign Fund is headed by Floyd Brown, infamous for creating the 1988 "Willie Horton" spot that helped defeat Michael Dukakis. In 2004, Floyd Brown was a key player in the right-wing assault on John Kerry.

In the 1990s, Brown was also a key player in the right-wing campaign to destroy the Clinton presidency. According to Joe Conason, Brown and his sidekick David Bossie "served as publicity agents for David Hale, the crooked and discredited former Little Rock municipal judge whose allegations against the Clintons forced the appointment of an independent counsel." Hale was one of the most important early figures in "The Arkansas Project," the Scaife-funded effort to destroy Bill Clinton documented in the 2004 movie "The Hunting of the President."

Brown, who wrote "Slick Willie" in 1992, played an important role in shaping the media coverage of the Whitewater investigation throughout the 1990s, operating out of an organization called "Citizens United."

Newsmax, which is now hosting and promoting Brown’s new television ad on its YouTube channel (it has already received over 50,000 views), was founded by Christopher Ruddy, formerly one of Richard Mellon Scaife’s top "reporters." Ruddy spent much of the 1990s trying to prove outlandish conspiracy theories linking the Clintons to Vince Foster’s suicide and Ron Brown’s tragic death in a plane crash.

Scaife, one of Ruddy’s primary investors, owns the third-largest share of Newsmax.

Despite Clinton’s public embrace of Richard Mellon Scaife and her acceptance of his endorsement, Newsmax continues to pump out right-wing propaganda aimed at discrediting Democrats, including Barack Obama.

snip
On Monday, Keith Olbermann asked Clinton why she had accepted Richard Mellon Scaife’s endorsement given his history of opposing the Clintons and the Democratic Party.

Clinton’s answer offered quite a glimpse at her loyalty to the Democratic Party, focusing completely on Scaife’s support for her and completely ignoring the ongoing negative impact that Scaife has had on the party. "I do believe in redemption, Keith. I believe in death bed conversions and I think it's possible for anyone to see the error of their ways. So I'm bringing people together as we speak. Anyone who doubts my ability to bridge the most incredible chasms can point to those recent events."


It’s obvious that Scaife is using Hillary Clinton as a pawn with which to attack his real target: Barack Obama, who will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee in 2008. Apparently, Clinton doesn’t care. As long as Scaife isn’t after her, it’s not her problem.

That may be true, but Scaife is a problem for Democrats, though. Even though Clinton is so desperate for support that she doesn’t care where her friends come from, as Democrats, it is our responsibility to care.

Clinton’s ongoing embrace of right-wing thugs like like Scaife and her rejection of progressive stalwarts like MoveOn.org threaten to undermine our party’s bid for the presidency.

It’s time we step up and demand that Clinton both denounce and reject Richard Mellon Scaife and his endorsement.

We simply cannot afford his poison in our party.

[oviedodem]

1. And you want me to support who????? BS, a dem accepting endorsements

from RW crap. Hillary is wanting Obama to lose which is crap, even Reagan's son sees through this.

[Liquorice]

2. Obama used RW attacks on Hillary as a reason to vote

for him. He said it made her "divisive." He really has no room to complain when the RW starts attacking him in earnest. He'll just become "divisive" now too. Oh well. It happens to all democrats. Obama was certainly not going to be granted immunity forever.

[wisteria]

3. Clinton would lick anyone's a** to win. This proves it. Scaife is scum.n/t

[AtomicKitten]

4. I wonder if Scaife is responsible for this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5635159

[cooolandrew]

5. If people are maxed to Obama donate to moveon with a request to advertise for Obama.

[KittyWampus]

6. kick