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[NewJersey]

I'm sorry how is asking for transparency negative?

March 16, 2008
Categories: Hillary Clinton

Clinton aides deplore negativity

Clinton aides Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson convened a conference call this afternoon to discuss John McCormick's report that Obama is preparing "a full assault on Sen. Hillary Clinton over ethics and transparency."

Clinton's aides seem to be alleging both that Obama is going shockingly negative and that there should be a higher standard for Obama, because he has promised to play nice. (The latter argument seems somewhat more credible to me.)

"This is a tried-and-true technique of the Obama campaign that has repeatedly shifted negative when they find the momentum shifting against them," said Penn.

I asked whether that hadn't also been what Clinton did when she found the momentum shifting against her.

"They have decided to go consistently negative," Penn said. "They have gone personally negative against Sen. Clinton repeatedly in this campaign, and that is a big difference."

 

[marybet]

Does anyone know the number of states that will have Nader on the ballot? I wonder if there is any way to keep him off? Nader isn't just an idiot he's an egotistical idiot!!! The sad thing is I don't think anyone could convince him not to run.

I also think that once we have our nominee we can start focusing on our strengths and McCain's weaknesses. I think the polls will be a lot different when Sept. rolls around.

Thanks for the good news about Oregon, every little bit helps.

 

[chris1gill]

Penn & Wolfson are ridiculous. Asking for documents is not negative. Heck, they even asked for documents yesterday that were already out there!

However, when one makes 10.6 million dollars a year, some eyebrows should be raised and ask where that money came from since a senator only makes about 150K a year....

I have no idea if you can keep a name off a ballot, somehow I doubt it

Onto a different subject, I found this.... I grew up in an evangelical home (sorry), what this person says is exactly what I experienced growing up, but here it is... it's an interesting read into the other side:


Obama's Minister Committed "Treason" But When My Father Said the Same Thing He Was a Republican Hero

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html

 

[chris1gill]

I'm sorry how is asking for transparency negative?

Oh, and just look how our current President has been in regards to transparency, if she cannot be straight coming now, will she be once President? I doubt it.....

 

[lilyv]

Oh, and just look how our current President has been in regards to transparency, if she cannot be straight coming now, will she be once President? I doubt it.....

Redacting pardon related information in the Clinton library, hiding tax info...the Clintons have never particularly thought the little people have any need for info. I guess I just worry that they have lots of friends in the DNC...and may yet eventually work out a backroom deal to be the nominee. In the meantime, McCain has a giant headstart.

 

[chris1gill]

Redacting pardon related information in the Clinton library, hiding tax info...the Clintons have never particularly thought the little people have any need for info. I guess I just worry that they have lots of friends in the DNC...and may yet eventually work out a backroom deal to be the nominee. In the meantime, McCain has a giant headstart.

I agree, the Clinton machine will make this work one way or the other. There was more to the story than said, apparently Obama launches personal attacks, but it's just not publicly seen... How is that an attack then?

If you guys go to the links I sent above, you will see that Obama has released the 3 years of tax document prior to '07 (the '07 is not listed yet)... so again, they are asking for documentation that has already been presented. How is it we should trust that Saudi princes each gave one million dollars to the library & they are not owed a favor?

Here's the rest of what's on CNN:

"There has been a pattern of him launching personal attacks that we think have not been as fully publicly seen or realized, as we move month to month in this campaign," Clinton chief strategist Mark Penn said.

Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson also responded sharply, saying much of the Clinton tax returns over the last several years have been made public already.

"I would point out there are 20 years of the Clinton tax returns in the public record, and as far as I am aware, there is one year of Senator Obama's tax returns in the public record — 2006," he said. "I would ask the Obama campaign if he or they are prepared to release all of his taxes when he was in elected office, so far the answer to that has been no."

And for the record, John McCain is the 8th richest senator, so there ya go, all 3 in a nutshell, who knows the average guy more? Look at Obama's income 3 years ago.... far less than it was 2 years ago or even 1 year ago.... yet average guys think he's for latte loving liberals, PLEASE.... I think when you're making 10 million dollars a year you don't give too much thought to the average working guy.

 

[lilyv]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/o...4400&en=81939ea581d561d4&ei=5087 &oref=slogin

Show us the money....

"Release of the tax returns should not be made conditional on winning the nomination, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has made it. Both Senator John McCain, the Republican front-runner, and she owe it to their parties and to voters to promptly make available their Internal Revenue Service filings, and to respond to any questions about them. It is true that as senators, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain are required to file financial disclosure forms. But those forms present only general parameters of family financial resources, not the detail available on tax returns.

The need for greater transparency regarding the income and overall financial dealings of candidates and their spouses was underscored by Mrs. Clinton’s recent decision to make a $5 million loan to her campaign. Such borrowing is a permitted practice under the campaign laws. But the campaign said the money came from her share of the Clintons’ joint resources, and that calls attention to the lack of information about their family finances. As a former president, Bill Clinton has been making millions annually giving speeches and traveling the globe. What is publicly known about his business dealings is sketchy, and clearer disclosure of them is required to reassure voters that Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy is unencumbered by hidden entanglements.

In the same spirit, the Clintons are obliged to make prompt disclosure of the major donors who have been backing the former president’s library and foundation. It is not even clear whether Mr. Clinton would disclose his library’s donors if his wife won the White House."

And another issue... the Clintons are beholden to many, may people and governments, worldwide. I don't have a problem with this...if a president retires from public life. It's another thing all together, though, when he has an extremely close family member vying for the office of president.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121402124_pf.html

"Clinton has been criticized for asking for donations, including from Saudi Arabia, at questionable moments. In an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal last year, former FBI director Louis J. Freeh said Clinton "hit up [Saudi Arabia's head of state] Prince Abdullah for a contribution to his library" during a meeting in which Freeh wanted Clinton to ask about the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. Clinton has publicly disputed Freeh's account.

Clinton has also been challenged by members of Congress for accepting a reported $450,000 donation to his library from the former wife of fugitive financier Marc Rich before he granted Rich a pardon for tax evasion in 2001. Neither Clinton nor the Rich family confirmed the donation."

 

[Laura]

 

[WildernessBride]

Hi all!!! Just happily checking in to tell you that I received my O'Bama shirt on Friday afternoon and was so happy it came before today!!!! I want to send a little luck of the Irish to the Obama campaign today!!!

 

[NewJersey]

Hi all!!! Just happily checking in to tell you that I received my O'Bama shirt on Friday afternoon and was so happy it came before today!!!! I want to send a little luck of the Irish to the Obama campaign today!!!

I think it worked since we got another super endorsement.

I'm hoping mine is at my house when I get home from work.

 

[WildernessBride]

I think it worked since we got another super endorsement.

I'm hoping mine is at my house when I get home from work.

My fingers are crossed for you....I am sure it'll be there...I was suprised how fast mine came in. I also got the "America's First Family" pin, I loved that one, has a pic of him and the family. I was so happy to hear about the endorsement, gotta love some good news!!! Yes We Can!!!!!

 

[Honu]

Oh, yeah. This is a plan. First, they start the dirty politics, then she directly mocks the supporters, now they want to try and flip those supporter/delegates to vote for her. I'm sooooo glad I threw my hat in the ring to run for a pledged delegate seat now. My chances are slim, there are lots of people running in my district, but I would love the opportunity.

Citing wiggle room in an obscure, 26-year-old Democratic Party rule, Hillary Clinton's campaign is leaving the door open to the idea of attempting to persuade Barack Obama's pledged delegates to switch their votes at the last minute and back the New York senator—despite fears among some party officials that it could throw this summer's Denver convention into chaos.

The question of whether pledged delegates must stick to the candidate they were elected to vote for has prompted party chatter for weeks. Clinton herself drew notice last week during a NEWSWEEK interview when she said her delegate numbers aren't "bleak at all," even though by most counts she trails Obama by more than 100. "Even elected and caucus delegates are not required to stay with whomever they are pledged to," she added. Although her campaign quickly denied it was waging any effort to "flip" Obama's pledged delegates, Clinton's remarks weren't academic. After the 1980 battle between Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy, her chief strategist Harold Ickes noted, the party changed a rule that required pledged delegates to stick with their candidates no matter what. The current rule, adopted in 1982, states that pledged delegates "shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them." A "good conscience" reason for a delegate to switch, Ickes told NEWSWEEK, would be if one candidate—such as, say, Clinton—was deemed more "electable." If delegates believe she has a better chance in November than Obama, Ickes said, "you bet" that would be a reason to change their vote. (He added, however, that the campaign is "focused" on winning over uncommitted superdelegates "at this point.")

Ickes's comments prompted a fierce comeback from Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "Despite repeated denials," he said, "the Clinton campaign finally admitted that they will go to any length to win." One party official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive matters, said the strategy behind Clinton's invocation of the 1982 rule was clear: "They're trying to open up a window for some of the Obama people to change their minds."

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

Hi all!!! Just happily checking in to tell you that I received my O'Bama shirt on Friday afternoon and was so happy it came before today!!!! I want to send a little luck of the Irish to the Obama campaign today!!!

Which shirt and when did you order it? I ordered a new one 2 weeks ago and I leave for WDW tomorrow morning. I was hoping to wear it one of the days I'm there...hopefully it'll be in the mailbox when I get home.

 

[WildernessBride]

Oh, yeah. This is a plan. First, they start the dirty politics, then she directly mocks the supporters, now they want to try and flip those supporter/delegates to vote for her. I'm sooooo glad I threw my hat in the ring to run for a pledged delegate seat now. My chances are slim, there are lots of people running in my district, but I would love the opportunity.

This is why it needs to end now!!!! I really don't want to see the party blow up, because if she attempts to do this and subvert the will of the people who cast ballots, she will do irreparable damage to the Dems chances of winning in the fall.

 

[WildernessBride]

Which shirt and when did you order it? I ordered a new one 2 weeks ago and I leave for WDW tomorrow morning. I was hoping to wear it one of the days I'm there...hopefully it'll be in the mailbox when I get home.

It was the St. Patrick's Day "O'Bama" shirt with a shamrock instead of a sun on the logo, and it's green. I think I got mine because the site had a note that they would try to get the St. Pat's shirts out before the 17th, I got mine in the nick of time. Good luck, I'll cross my fingers for the speedy arrival of your shirt, i love to think of you wearing it in Florida!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I ordered it on the 7th of March.

 

[NewJersey]

Oh, yeah. This is a plan. First, they start the dirty politics, then she directly mocks the supporters, now they want to try and flip those supporter/delegates to vote for her. I'm sooooo glad I threw my hat in the ring to run for a pledged delegate seat now. My chances are slim, there are lots of people running in my district, but I would love the opportunity.

Yeah, because her plan would go over SO well with the party. It was great seeing Hillary attack Obama on Iraq today - the more she talks about that, the better off we are since she was the one who VOTED for the war.

 

[WildernessBride]

All of this scares me though, what will her main argument be to undo the will of the voters???? I guess it won't be the "dream team" ticket she was promising last week.

I think it would be political suicide for some of these delegates who decide that they know better than their constituants (sp?), I mean who would reelect a representative or any other elected official who decides to play God with their vote as a delegate.

 

[chris1gill]

Oh, yeah. This is a plan. First, they start the dirty politics, then she directly mocks the supporters, now they want to try and flip those supporter/delegates to vote for her. I'm sooooo glad I threw my hat in the ring to run for a pledged delegate seat now. My chances are slim, there are lots of people running in my district, but I would love the opportunity.

This should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone.... it's the Clinton machine, they are owed many favors....

 

[NewJersey]

This should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone.... it's the Clinton machine, they are owed many favors....

The Democrats lost seats in the House, Senate, and Governorships during the first two Clinton terms.

 

[lilyv]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Obama_plans_major_race_speech_tomorrow.html

Obama plans major speech on race tomorrow.