The Clinton's BOUGHT the Des Moines Register Endorsement!!

[Bullet1987]

The other day, as his sport utility vehicle idled outside, former President Bill Clinton held forth on a sofa in the publisher’s suite at The Des Moines Register, explaining why he believed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton should win the newspaper’s coveted endorsement.

Only nine days earlier, the Clintons had played host to a few top editors for drinks and appetizers at one of Des Moines’s fashionable new restaurants. But on this visit, Mr. Clinton was the closer in the exhaustive campaign of persuasion. Even after an hour he had not made his full case to Laura Hollingsworth, the new publisher, so he called back later in the day.

“Hi, it’s Bill Clinton,” he said, speaking slowly after reaching only voice mail. “I’m just calling to thank Laura for the meeting today. There was one more point I wanted to make, but I’ll keep trying to find her. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and I appreciate the time. Thanks.”

(snip)
Presidential candidates of both parties have long dutifully appeared before the editorial board of The Register, Iowa’s most influential newspaper. But this year the Democrats, particularly Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, have gone to extraordinary lengths to win over the publisher, the editor and the editorial page editor ahead of endorsements — one for the Republican field and one for the Democrats — expected to be published on Sunday, 18 days before the caucuses that kick off the voting to select the parties’ nominees

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/us/politics/15register.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin">New York Times

The DMR is going to have a lot less credibility if it's found out that other campaigns didn't have the same thing happen with them. Did the Obama campaign get to "wine and dine" with the editors of the DMR too (I haven't read the article yet...lol)?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

1. The Obama campaign was welcome to wine and dine.

[Bullet1987]

34. Where is this?

[ruggerson]

49. As you say, you didn't read the article before you posted your OP

Obama wined and dined them at a pricey nightspot also.

[Lucinda]

51. Well...he "watered" them at a pricey nightspot.

If I remember correctly, they all drank water.

[ruggerson]

53. yep

but one would imagine they ate something. You don't go to an expensive restaurant for two hours and drink water. :)

[Lucinda]

59. They only admitted to water in the article. :)

[ruggerson]

60. So, he watered and dined them :)

n/t

[Lucinda]

61. I sit, corrected.

:)

[earthlover]

62. but did they inhale?

[liberalpress]

57. Um...

"watered" is a euphemism for "bought food and beverages." Because a local tavern is " a favorite watering hole" for local politicians, doesn't mean they drink water out of a hole in the ground any more than "wined and dines" restricts beverage intake to fermented grapes.

[Lucinda]

58. My comment was literal. The article says they drank water.

[Bitwit1234]

40. Oh hell yes like Obama has bought each and every endorsement

he has got since she got that ring stuck thru his nose, you know the one she leads him around by.

[1corona4u]

2. I don't know what you're bitching about...

they have never picked a winner. Never.

[Cha]

5. The Bullet is bringing

facts on board.

[petersjo02]

24. You're right about that. n/t

[AX10]

3. Sour Grapes anyone?

[ronnykmarshall]

86. Shocking isn't it?

[Cha]

4. It's okay..it's just an

incestuous relationship.

[Zueda]

6. Something tells me that this endorsement will...

actually hurt Clinton more than it helps. Check out the comments left on the Register's site... none too happy.

[annie1]

12. just obama fans clinton hating. i don't know why they do that. ??

If Obama won i'd just say, alrighty. I'd prefer to see hil win the nom, so i'm glad about the endorsement, but i wouldn't be crying and ranting over it if it were Obama. what is up with that?

[Diane R]

83. I agree. The comments on the DMR site bode bad for Hillary.

[bullimiami]

7. i guess its too bad the other camps didnt have a bill clinton to help them.

hes one smart charming ex-president and thats a huge plus for hillary you can bet.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Stop...Hillary is not an unimpressive candidate

They obviously found her reassuring on some level. NO BIG DEAL.

What's striking about the endorsement is that it doesn't even acknowledge the negative tactics that many in Iowa have come to criticize and how divided the broader population is about her. It reads like an intellectually compromised document in that respect.

Now put the tinfoil hat away and go back to supporting your most excellent candidate.

[Cha]

13. Yeah, right..what they did

endorse her on has nothing to do with reality so Bullet is not such a tinfoil head.

"The choice, then, comes down to preparedness: Who is best prepared to confront the enormous challenges the nation faces — from ending the Iraq war to shoring up America’s middle class to confronting global climate change?"

3 issue hillary couldn't care less about.

[Auntie Bush]

32. Got a link for that? "3 issue hillary couldn't care less about."

Is that posted by another Obama supporter that never criticizes another Dem opponent?

[Cha]

71. Wrong again...I support Edwards

but think just because Clark supports hillary is no reason to ignore the record she's compiled for 5 years as my senator from New York.

[Donna Zen]

73. I read that line and headed for the fainting couch

Iraq War? Hillary Clinton has been very supportive of bush's policies, and has filled her team of advisers with those most likely to continue this war. And then of course there's the K-L resolution which has nothing to do with diplomacy and everything to do with pissing off the very people in Iran we need to talk to.

America's middle class: Heh? America's middle class can't take much more of the Clinton ideas about globalization. My little rural town lost its last manufacturing company to China last spring. Now, no one, not one person, has a job.

Global Climate Change: well, maybe that one...or maybe not. It all depends how it impacts her large corporate donors.

Team Clinton did a masterful job making their case to the DMR...good for them. Not many candidates have Albright and a former president on speed dial. Nevertheless, I will proudly reject this latest b.s.

[Cha]

74. Finally some Sanity!

"..heading for the fainting couch"! :) I wanna use that some time!

Thanks for explaining, Donna Zen, all those 3 reasons why the Des Moines register is so fulla corporateshite.

You think hillary would actually help Al Gore on his quest for US corporations to tone down their pollution in the name of Global Climate Change? From the more I learn about hillary..her little vindictive self wouldn't let her..but I'm only speculating on her previous actions.

[bvar22]

80. I agree. Good analysis on the 3 issues.

Of ALL the Democratic Candidates, Hillary is most likely to keep us in Iraq the longest, continue and extend the fucking of the Working Class, and NOT bother her Corporate backers with those pesky, profit reducing Environmental concerns.

[Zueda]

9. I wonder If Oprah wined and dined the folks

at the Globe? :shrug:

[Kurovski]

54. She left Pontiac G-6 midsize 2005 sports sedans under their seats.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. LOL

I love it!

I knew this place would explode if Clinton got the endorsement. I just knew deep down inside that I'd see heretofore-unseen levels of whingeing and unadulterated douchebaggery.

I'm not disappointed.

[Missy M]

15. I love it too.......

I was wondering how long it would take someone to post a "Clinton bought the endorsement", didn't take too long. Senator Clinton getting the endorsement made my day.

[terrya]

81. It never fails

The visceral hatred towards the Clintons some have around here knows no bounds.

[annie1]

11. Sounds paranoid. What would Obama say?

[ClarkUSA]

19. Obama would say, "The facts speak for themselves." And they do.

Oh, and welcome to DU. :eyes:

[JackORoses]

14. they're pulling all the tricks out of the bag over at Camp Hillary

they realize now it's Iowa or bust

they have lost all their firewalls
NH,SC,NV are all in play now

[ClarkUSA]

16. The Clintons also wined and dined the entire Des Moines Register staff 2 wks ago AND....

Hillary had a private two hour dinner with Yepsen last week, which coincided with two consecutive negative stories about Obama in a row.

Politics as usual.

[MonkeyFunk]

17. and

who did Obama blow to get the Globe endorsement?

[ClarkUSA]

23. Well, we know who Bill was dogging for The Des Moines Register endorsement, don't we?

As for your trademark asinine remark, why don;t you make up another touching OP where another "family" member slams Obama either subtly or directly?
Let's see... your "parents" have weighed in on supporting Obama despite his blackness and your "sister" thinks Oprah is shit.

Anybody else? Maybe your Monkey's Uncle thinks the Boston Globe is a right wing rag? :rofl:

[MonkeyFunk]

26. The question

remains - who did Obama blow?

I don't know why you're attacking me for what other people post. I've always liked Obama and have never slammed him.

but since you seem to think that an endorsement is only a quid-pro-quo, I'm wondering what Obama had to give up for the Globe endorsement.

[ClarkUSA]

56. Your "question" is slamming Obama

I don't buy your crap at all, so don't bother with the "I've always liked Obama" BS. The facts are Bill and Hill doubleteamed the DMR editors and staff
for this endorsement. And they got it. Your venal remarks are typical of Clintonian toe suckers.

[MonkeyFunk]

78. My question

is just turning around your baseless accusation so you can see how stupid it is.

I have always liked Obama - you can find dozens of my posts here saying so, going back many months. Your anger is blinding you.

[AX10]

22. Well...

how much did Obama pay for the Globe's endorsement?

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AX10]

31. MonkeyFunk asked the same question.

I will alert the mods to delete your thread.
Obama is quite the shill too. He speaks of getting along with the GOP :puke: and then attacks Hillary. Yes, Obama started this in August.
:thumbsdown:

As someone who has both supported AND voted for Black candidates, I must say you are full crap to make such slanderous accusations against me!

[earthlover]

63. So Democrats wine and dine...I guess they are no longer beer drinkers!

Used to be Democrats represented the working stiffs. Working stiffs don't wine and dine...or even water...at the most expensive restaurants in town.

[JohnnyLib2]

18. Hell, man, tell us how much it cost!

We can line up the next purchases and get 'er done.

[MadBadger]

20. I'm not gonna touch this either.

[tired_old_fireman]

21. I don't agree with the endorsement, but

this is what it looks like going against the Clintons. Bill is an enormous asset and a persuasive politician and that is what Obama, Edwards, and the rest are up against.

The point this drives home for me is how little Bill Clinton did for Kerry in '04. Imagine him putting this much effort into that election? The war would probably be over by now.

[billbuckhead]

39. Bill Clinton had heart surgery in 2004

[Lucinda]

47. And STILL campaigned for Kerry afterwards. :)

[karynnj]

76. But he hurt Kerry by insisting on putting his book out in July 2004

The lead up to the convention is usually filled with stories on the candidate. Instead the talk was Bill Clinton - with people proving they know how to look up the letter "L". Also, had they cared to look up "Kerry", they would find that Clinton liked his 1996 opponent, Bill Weld better. He explains that he didn't want to lose Kerry because of his experience on technology and the environment. He also mentioned that Kerry had worked for decades to help underprivileged youth, but their were no votes in it. What he didn't mention was Kerry's foreign policy expertise, even though without it the reopenning relations with Vietnam, a Clinton accomplishment would not have happened. (Clinton credits McCain and only lists Kerry in the middle of a list of Senators who were veterans.) He also didn't mention that Kerry was the most prescient Senator on terrorism

Now, the point of BC's autobiography was not to detail everything Kerry did - but excluding him on Vietnam and damning him with extremely faint praise when speaking of 1996 was not done innocently. Clinton was editing after Kerry took the nomination.

Oh, as the comparison with Weld:
- Weld vetoed the MA health insurance bill, though he was overridden; Kerry and Kennedy used that model in writing the precursor bill to SCHIP - you would think this would be a reason to prefer Kerry, but it is not mentioned - even though HRC now says she created S CHIP.

- Weld stonewalled Kerry on getting records on the Contras who were drug running and gun running using a base in Arkansas. Kerry's investigation made this public and stopped it. You would think a governor would prefer the guy who stopped the drugs coming in.

Bill Clinton campaigned enough to get credit. Though his and his allies whining to the press that Kerry wasn't following his advise on speaking about domestic issues only.

[Tom Rinaldo]

25. this year the Democrats, particularly Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama,...

...have gone to extraordinary lengths to win over the publisher."

So Hillary wasn't the only one, eh? This is part of how the "game" of politics is played, and it is reassuring to see that Obama realized how to play it also. You win some and you lose some. Obama won the Boston Globe.

[DemKR]

28. Puhh--leeezzz

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. So Much Hate...So Litttle Time...

~

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

35. Your tilde's gettin' a work out lately

[ElizabethDC]

30. LOL!!!

You guys just can't stand it, can you? I love the spin.

:rofl:

[forsberg]

33. those are some nasty bitter rotten grapes

[DemKR]

36. its funny how the globe endorsement ohhh thats diff This will help us in NH and MA yadayada lol

[bonito]

37. USAtoday has the same CEO.

[OHdem10]

38. Accoriding to B. Snyder, CNN all candidates particularly

front runners, note s on runner, courted the Newspaper for
the Endorsement.

Let's be honest, it is expected.

HRC inspires CONFIDENCE. This is how a lot of Americans.

[beaconess]

41. Oh, please

Obama didn't get the endorsement - it happens. It doesn't mean that he was cheated.

Jeez.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

43. Ha

Do you like basketball?

ESPN used to have a message board which has since been closed because no matter how much they tried they couldn't erase all the truly offensive stuff that was posted, much of which was homophobic, misogynistic, or racist... I digress...

Anyway, after a big game there would always be those who would post within seconds of its conclusion that a winning team's win was tainted by incompetent refereeing or referee bias... I would think we were better ands more mature than that...

If the people here represent the left I am truly , truly disappointed...

[beaconess]

45. Scary, ain't it?

Funny thing - when Obama gets endorsed, we'll see the flipside - and I'll bet some of the same Obama folks who are now whining about a fixed process will think that the processes that lead to the endorsement of their guy is just peachy. And, of course, the more rabid of the Hillary supporters will be jumping up and down that they wuz robbed!

[Cameron27]

42. I didn't she know she got the endorsement, but

congrats to Clinton. Your OP stinks, try a little graciousness next time.

[joeybee12]

44. Pathetic post...if something goes against Obama, then there

must be something wrong with the paper or whoever didn't agree with his saintliness. Reminds me of Rush and his ilk bashing the Nobel Committee because they didn't agree with Gore winning.

[Evergreen Emerald]

70. That is exactly what I thought

This is getting so ugly it is embarassing.

[Tom Rinaldo]

46. "it would be disingenuous to pretend that we haven’t actively sought it"

Earlier Saturday, in Waterloo, Obama told reporters that he would like the paper’s endorsement.

“I think it would be disingenuous to pretend that we haven’t actively sought it but I don’t think it overrides whatever work has been done out in the field.”

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

48. As always, the man has more class than his supporters. Good on Obama.

[Lucinda]

50. Yup. And the paper said great things about Obama. But they will dump on the editors anyway.

Ahhhh well.

[liskddksil]

52. Thats a good thing

Because while she wined and dined with the register, the rest of the candidates were talking to the voters.

[fightindonkey]

55. Obama = Oprah

Can't wait for the Obama fangurls to jump out the proverbial window when he loses. LMAO!

[sniffa]

66. more brains

[sandnsea]

64. Oh who cares

Obama got the Boston Globe and I'd take that any day over Des Moines. Let it go. Can't win 'em all.

[Gman]

65. You must think the editorial board is composed of complete idiots

I'm so tired of this shit here.

[THUNDER HANDS]

67. do newspaper endorsements really matter though?

Kerry won a lot of endorsements in 2004, and that didn't seem to help him.

[cali]

68. That really makes me furious.

No not the courting of the editors. The idling SUV. That's just pig, pig piggy.

[bvar22]

84. LOL! Only the "Peasant Class" turns off their engines.

When you are a member of the Overloard Class, you can afford to publicly waste gas.

Maybe some crumbs will trickle down for those Americans who Work for a Living.

[MaineDem]

69. "Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, have gone to extraordinary lengths to win over the publisher

And that is quoted from the OP.

Good grief! They both (all) do it!

This is sour grapes at its ultimate.

(And I support no candidate yet.)

[MethuenProgressive]

72. More negativity from ObamaNation.

:puke:

[Occam Bandage]

75. "The Democrats, particularly Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama..."

Sounds like your boy tried to buy it too.

[BenDavid]

77. obama whiney-To complain or protest in a childish fashion.GOI

[Beacool]

79. Oh poor Obama, he didn't get the "gold seal"

from the Register and now his fans are calling it a bought endorsement. Too funny!!!!

So, pray tell, why did the mighty Oprah endorse him? No, don't bother answering, we all know why.........

[SaveElmer]

82. So predictable...I'm beginning to think there is an ObamaBot out there...

That just automatically trolls the blogosphere for pro-Hillary posts and generates predetermined criticism based on what it finds...

Too funny!!

:rofl:

[ronnykmarshall]

85. Now what a SHOCKER!

:wow:

Obama supporter on DU pissing on the DMR's endorsement of Hillary.

:wow:

[Renew Deal]

87. Have you looked at who they have endorsed in the past?

It's a kiss of death.