Obama Campaign Circulating Negative (And Ultimately False) Story About Bill Clinton

[onehandle]

We've just obtained an email that shows that the Obama campaign yesterday circulated a negative, and ultimately false, story about Bill Clinton -- that he allegedly made money giving a speech on September 11, 2006.

Campaigns, of course, circulate negative stuff about each other all the time. This email is unusual in that it is flagging something potentially negative not about a primary rival but about the former President -- one who obviously isn't running in the Democratic primary and who remains popular with Dem primary voters.

Indeed, the email is particularly noteworthy in that it reflects one of the curiosities of this race -- that one of the candidates' spouses is a popular former President, and thus is playing a highly visible role in the campaign, making him a target for anonymous attacks from Hillary's rivals.

snip...

The email, which was sent out by Jen Psaki of the Obama campaign and circulated to reporters (not us) on an off-the-record basis late yesterday, details some things that the Obama campaign found in Hillary's financial disclosure documents, which were released yesterday. More after the jump.

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/jun/15/obama_campaign_circulating_negative_story_about_bill_clinton

[rinsd]

1. This is a sign that Obama thinks his campaign needs a boost.

Frontrunners don't go on the attack.

[SteppingRazor]

2. Ironically, just above this thread on the Latest Threads Page is...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1119117

[wyldwolf]

3. The Obama camp is getting sloppy and desperate.

[rinsd]

6. Sloppy...yes. Desperate...not yet

Going negative in such a manner is often a sign that the campaign thinks it needs a boost or has stagnated. That they did so in a slightly less public fashion then say Edwards in the last debates shows they are not quite desperate.

[Adelante]

9. I agree

This one is very poorly done. Team Clinton wins this round.

[Bucky]

11. Clinton is doing its job flawlessly

I take great solace from the fact that we are a messy party. But I gotta give Clinton props for her slickness.

[MGKrebs]

4. This is the perfect kind of story for the press.

THIS is why they want Clinton in the spotlight, not so much the whole "corporatist" thing. So many angles, so many connections, and new and unique perspectives on what would otherwise be the same tired old political meat grinder.

They must have anticipated this kind of story and expect to turn them to their advantage. It's going to be great drama, especially when the VWRC gets cranked up and they go toe-to-toe with the campaign.

[ieoeja]

5. So when can we see the email? n/t

[Tempest]

7. That's what I want to know

So far this doesn't pass the smell test.

[ElizabethDC]

8. This article has links to them

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/the-backstory-on-obama-clinton-attack-memos/

Scroll down and see the links to Memo 1 and Memo 2.

[AtomicKitten]

10. I realize gossip is the mother's milk of politics,

but I really hate this shit.

[ChiciB1]

12. ME TOO!!! Why Do WE Here At DU Keep Doing This??

Of course, I know many will tell me that the TRUTH needs to be out there, but HEY, these are OUR candidates!!!

[MGKrebs]

14. While I don't embrace it, I have come to respect it's function.

This kind of stuff really does serve as a test of certain qualities in the candidates. If you look at this process as the last bit of training before we send our representative out into a complicated, difficult, often antagonistic, and treacherous world, then in a lot of ways it is a good test. Sometimes it drifts way off base, but I think for the most part we end up with someone who is tough, smart, capable, strong, and dedicated. Unfortunately, we often also get untrustworthy handlers, egomaniacs, cold and ruthless dominators, and deceivers. Once we even got a mentally retarded, alcoholic, insecure, failed pretzel-wrestler. But hopefully that was an anomaly.

[bigdarryl]

13. This website has become the Underground for the Clinton's there has...

been over the last two weeks an increase of Clinton Posts and no other candidate is barely talked about.

[wyldwolf]

16. well, then, post something about your candidate.

[Adelante]

15. Kind of eerie, this

In the morning, he flew from Chappaqua to Washington DC, where, from 9:15 AM to about 12:00 pm, he gave a free speech to a charity called the United Jewish Communities Conference.

He then flew back to Newark, and from 2:15 pm to 3:30 pm, he attended the Struggle Against Terrorism Monument unveiling in Bayonne, New Jersey, where he delivered the keynote speech. Also in attendance were his wife and Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
LeAnn Rimes sang the national anthem.

http://www.observer.com/2007/bill-clinton-post

I didn't note this happening at the time, although I was living in New Jersey then, but coincidence-wise, it's remarkable. Just a hop across the bay from the WTC, it must have been quite a speech that day.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

17. So much for a "new politics" nt

[AnnieBW]

18. I wish that ALL of the Dems would talk about the issues

and their ideas, not fling mud at each other. The country needs serious discussions, not more wallowing in the mud. Don't give the Repukes more ammo for the General Election.

[Cameron27]

19. This doesn't make Obama look good,

and he may get some some backlash.

snip: The story spread about Bill ultimately turned out to be false. It ended up on Drudge yesterday, where it was given heavy play for many hours, though there's no proof that it was given to Drudge by the Obama campaign. After Drudge posted it, The Observer's Politicker blog thoroughly debunked the story, pointing out that Bill's schedule proved that he'd actually given the speech the night before, on Sept. 10.

Update: One quick clarification. The Obama people may well have thought the speech was given on 9/11, since it was identified that way in her disclosure documents. But The Observer debunked the story yesterday not long after it went up at Drudge, and to our knowledge the Obama people made no effort to retract what it had send out. Even so, the real material point here is the fact that the Obama campaign pushed a Drudge-friendly Clinton-gave-speech-on-9/11 storyline.


http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/jun/15/obama_campaign_circulating_negative_story_about_bill_clinton