Obama camp implicates Hillary policies in Bhutto assassination (Six degrees of Hillary)

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Obama Adviser: Bhutto Assassination Reminds Us That Hillary Made Wrong Call On Iraq War
By Greg Sargent - December 27, 2007, 2:49PM

Okay, the battling among Dems over how the Bhutto assassination will affect the Dem primary is officially underway. Today after Barack Obama's closing argument speech in Iowa, Obama adviser David Axelrod parried questions from reporters who pressed him on whether the killing could help Hillary.

Here's one key exchange:

REPORTER: But looking ahead, does the assassination put on the front burner foreign policy credentials in the closing days?

AXELROD: Well, it puts on the table foreign policy judgment, and that's a discussion we welcome. Barack Obama had the judgment to oppose the war in Iraq, and he warned at the time it would divert us from Afghanistan and al Qaeda, and now we see the effect of that. Al Qaeda's resurgent, they're a powerful force now in Pakistan, they may have been involved -- we've been here, so I don't know whether the news has been updated, but there's a suspicion they may have been involved in this.

I think his judgment was good. Senator Clinton made a different judgment, so let's have that discussion.

Late Update: The Hillary campaign has now responded, accusing Axelrod of "politicizing" the situation. From Hillary spokesperson Phil Singer:

"This is a time to be focused on the tragedy of the situation, its implications for the U.S. and the world, and to be concerned for the people of Pakistan and the country’s stability. No one should be politicizing this situation with baseless allegations."

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/12/obama_adviser_bhutto_assassination_reminds_us_that_hillary_made_wrong_call_on_iraq_war.php

[sandnsea]

1. Maybe they should tell Evan Bayh

Who already released a statement saying people needed to think about experience.

[ronnykmarshall]

6. But this different, right?

I mean it IS Obama. So that's ok.

[sandnsea]

11. When will you ever criticize Hillary?

Ever?

She Is Not A Diva.

[ElizabethDC]

16. When will you ever criticize Obama?

Ever?

He is not a rock star.

[Joe the Revelator]

54. And Hillary is not an effective statesperson

and Obama has never claimed to be a rock star. Here's a shock, his supporters like him for his style of politics and his policies. What is that so hard for you to understand?

[ElizabethDC]

58. I was actually responding to a comment

that says "Hillary is not a diva." I agree with you that many of his supporters support him for his style of politics and his policies, and I have no difficulty understanding that, thank you very much.

And yes, I'm aware that he's never claimed to be a rock star, just as Hillary has never claimed to be an effective statesperson. I suggest reading what I responded to before responding yourself.

[ronnykmarshall]

30. What's it to you?

Jesus Christ, you got out of your way to criticize her.

I didn't know I had some obligation to criticize her.

[Tellurian]

57. Axelrod is using a strategy ploy to get out in front of Obama's INEXPERIENCE!!

by blaming Clinton for a concocted apparition from the dark side of the Obama camp!

It's ALL smoke and mirrors from the Obama campaign...to save the empty suit from political embarrassment..

It won't work..

[Joe the Revelator]

52. I am so sick of this tactic by Hillary supporters

When called to the mat about the extreme hypocrisy of their candidate, they STILL try to swing the criticism back to another candidate. I'm sick of it not because I think its effective, but because its so damn transparent that I can't believe people that would claim to share the same ideology as me would employ it.

For shame.

[ronnykmarshall]

59. Do you go bare foot when you walk on water?

Or can you use shoes.

Wouldn't that fuck up the shoes?

[DemKR]

Oh god forbid think about experience! Think about Donnie McClurkin and mentorJoe Lieberman instead!

[sandnsea]

29. Sick. You guys are really sick n/t

[Joe the Revelator]

55. Team Hillary is scarping the bottom of the barrel this evening.

Its shocking in how disgusting it is.

[AX10]

2. Obama is a sneaky little sob.

[William769]

9. Yep he likes stabbing people in the back.

GLBT community baby boomer's just to mention a few.

[dionysus]

3. shameless. you must have gone to underoo man's headline fabrication school.

[rodeodance]

4. His advisor should have keep his mouth shut on this one.

[1corona4u]

7. Yes, he should have...

Let's remember also, that Obama isn't too popular in Pakistan....

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-03-pakistan-obama_N.htm

Yeah, that Obama, some uniter he is....

[RaleighNCDUer]

45. Nevermind that Bhutto herself agreed with him. nt

[William769]

5. Yep theres the man who calims to have the message of "hope and change".

Yea right. :eyes:

What a fucking dick!

[chascarrillo]

8. Invading Iraq pulled the focus off of al Qaeda: T/F?

This is an illegitimate issue in what way?

[William769]

14. This is a time of mourning not politicizing.

But then again when your campaign is in the toilet, you can expect shit like this.

[NYCGirl]

17. Then how would you have answered this question?

REPORTER: But looking ahead, does the assassination put on the front burner foreign policy credentials in the closing days?

[William769]

24. I would have answered with what I just said.

Whats so fucking difficult to understand about that?

[chascarrillo]

32. How would Evan Bayh have answered?

And what's so fucking difficult to understand about that?

[William769]

34. Who cares? I don't ive a rats ass what he says.

[chascarrillo]

41. No condemnation of Bayh for politicizing Bhutto's assassination?

Hypocrite.

[William769]

42. I'm a Hypocrite?

:rofl:

I don't like the SOB. want to try something else? Because everything you have tried here so far has failed.

P.S. you should understand what the word means before using it, then you wouldn't look like a ...

[chascarrillo]

46. Attacking others after doing the same thing yourself equals hypocrisy

That's rather simple.

[William769]

47. And how does Bayh fit in here?

[JackORoses]

61. but you care about Axelrod?

that is just like a Hillarite,
pay no mind to the problems in your own house, attack the neighbors!

[William769]

63. One is paid by the Obama campaign and one is NOT paid the the Clinton campaign.

Nuff said.

[chascarrillo]

23. Axelrod responded to a question re: foreign policy

You want he should shut up because it's inconvenient for your candidate?

[Scriptor Ignotus]

15. every single member of DU knows the answer is True

and yet...

[annie1]

53. and i think he should have said exactly that. 23 Dems voted yay on iraq...

and 3 of them are running. axelrod should have wised up and put it like that in order to tout Obama's judgement. he doesn't need to fall for the bait.

[BenDavid]

10. And here I was wondering who would be the first to blame Clinton,

"I don't see how this helps Obama. It can only hurt. Even if there is a connection between Iraq and Bhutto's death, this can only hurt. You don't blame your opponent for a political murder for which there is no direct connection between the assassin and your opponent. As for the Iraq invasion connection, that is tenuous. You cannot say but for the Iraq invasion, Bhutto would not have been killed. That is not the sole proximate cause of death. even HRC is not accountable for the supervening illegal acts of others."

"Wow! I can not believe he said that. Beyond the fact that the problems of resources in Pakistan are not related to Iraq (indeed, the Bush Administration has given away resources that the Pakistanis diverted to issues other than fighting Al Qaida), where was Obama on funding of Iraq and Pakistan for his tenure in the Senate? What did He do? According to Axelrod, is Obama to blame for the Bhutto assassination too? Outrageous stuff from the Obama campaign."

[killbotfactory]

12. What the fuck is this implicate shit?

nowhere did he say that Clinton should be blamed for the assassination.

The people who supported this stupid criminal war in Iraq do have some blame for diverting nearly HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS into a fucking quagmire while diverting resources to go after Al-Qeada in Afghanistan/Pakistan. That's undeniable. Spin it however the fuck you want, I'm pissed about it, and have been for the past four years!

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

18. Oh please... it's in black and white

Barack Obama had the judgment to oppose the war in Iraq, and he warned at the time it would divert us from Afghanistan and al Qaeda, and now we see the effect of that. Al Qaeda's resurgent, they're a powerful force now in Pakistan, they may have been involved -- we've been here, so I don't know whether the news has been updated, but there's a suspicion they may have been involved in this.

He is drawing a line from the IWR vote to Bhutto's assassination.

[killbotfactory]

22. It's in the fucking title

"Obama camp implicates Hillary in Bhutto assassination (Six degrees of Hillary)"

Are you fucking kidding me?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

33. He draws a line from Hillary's vote to Bhutto's assassination. It's hardly ambiguous.

[RaleighNCDUer]

48. As if she was the only vote that counts? WTF?

NOWHERE does Axelrod blame Hillary - he blames the Iraq war. He didn't say it was her fault; only that it would not help her - as Scarborough and others were claiming this AM (and BTW, WHY were RW hacks claiming that this would HELP Hillary? You wonder?)

Hillary IS responsible, just as are all the other senators who voted for the IWR, and all the senators who have continued to fund the clusterfuck since - INCLUDING Obama.

That's the facts, jack.

[jenmito]

35. Notice he changed the title slightly...

I guess he finally realized he went too far with that ridiculous claim.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

38. Yes, in response to complaints as to comprehension.

[jenmito]

44. I think it was due to complaints of a false statement.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

49. Implicating a person's actions as contributory to an event is what it is

But since words are supposed to communicate, when several people complain about the wording of something it is best to change it so that it will be better understood. So I did. Seemed like the best thing to do.

[jenmito]

51. Axelrod was pressed on whether the killing could help Hillary.

He answered appropriately and honestly. It is a fact that going into Iraq (voting for the IWR) took our eye off the ball re: bin Laden and al Qaeda-those most likely involved in the assassination.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

50. BTW, do you have any sense of irony?

You have been running around the board all day eagerly predicting Hillary's corrupt response, posting about Even Bayh's comments (which I condemned in your thread, by the way), and generally having a grand time playing partisan games with the Bhutto assassination.

Then your candidate's team goes WAY over the line (by any measure) in politicizing the assassination and you are indignant.

I criticized Bayh's comments. I don't know why you wouldn't see Axlerod's remarks as the same kind of dumb overly aggressive screw-up that is best forgotten, just like Bayh's tasteless comments were.

[jenmito]

56. It's not ironic. Axelrod didn't volunteer a statement about how this could help Obama or hurt

Hillary. He answered reporters who kept pressing him with the question of how it could help or hurt Hillary. That's a far cry from volunteering remarks about how this incident shows Obama should be president and Hillary should not.

[sandnsea]

31. This place has just gotten sicker than I thought possible n/t

[ElizabethDC]

40. Where/how? n/t

[TwilightGardener]

13. Areporter asked him a political question, and he advocated for Obama. Nothing wrong with what

he said. This IS a political issue--a juicy one.

[Perry Logan]

19. The OP was making a point about Obama people's behavior--a point which you've underlined nicely.

[chascarrillo]

28. Your behavior, however, has been stellar

Bwah.

[Perry Logan]

39. And I deeply respect your judgement on the matter.

[Evergreen Emerald]

25. of course not, had Clinton's camp made that suggestion you would be

screeching from the rooftops.

[TwilightGardener]

36. The OP says that Axelrod was dealing with questions about whether

or not the Bhutto assassination "would help Hillary". What was Axelrod supposed to say--"yes, Obama is totally incompetent in this area, I think Hillary is the best!" It was a dumb question, because I don't think it helps Hillary or any of our candidates for a foreign leader to be asassinated. But he responded to a political question, and I applaud him for not ceding any ground on Obama's behalf. He's a good advocate.

[Bluebear]

62. Axelrod might have said "that question is inappropraite today, thanks."

:shrug:

[K Gardner]

20. WTF??? Unbelievable. Exaggerate much? n/t

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

27. Okay, I added "policies"

[jenmito]

21. First of all, he responded to reporters who pressed him on whether the killing could help Hillary

He didn't offer up that statement on his own like Evan Bayh did when saying times like this remind us we need an experienced, seasoned CIC. And HOW did they implicate HILLARY in tje assassination?

[loveangelc]

26. bad move nt

[jenmito]

37. Bad move to answer a reporter's question???

[jenmito]

43. I guess Phil Singer wasn't aware Evan Bayh politicized the assassination without being asked about

it. Please. :eyes:

[CyberPieHole]

60. Kick n/t

:kick:

[MethuenProgressive]

64. Axlerod is to Obama as Shaheen was to Clinton.

Except Clinton had the sense to fire Shaheen.