Let's quit being political virgins here - we KNEW the cocaine story was coming...

[HardWorkingDem]

Now is the time for Obama to craft an answer that will last threw the general election. It's better to deal with this now than later and we all knew it was coming.

Hell, if I were Obama and won the nomination I'd tell the rethugs how funning I thought it was while they felt Shrub's cocaine use was off limits, his was not and aren't they the party of self-responsibility, forgiveness and redemption?

[Beaverhausen]

1. Just as the other thread was locked...

[MercutioATC]

3. Am I missing something? No threads with the word "cocaine" in them allowed?

[jenmito]

2. HE ADDRESSED IT YEARS AGO AND AGAIN WEEKS AGO TO SCHOOL KIDS!

HE put it out there! Have you been living under a rock?

[aquart]

9. YES! Obviously.

[HardWorkingDem]

12. Just how long have you been following politics?!?!?

And he is going to have to address it many more times. Get used to it and hope that he can draft a sensible reply. It is going to come up in the primaries and in the general. Do you really think that a Rethug is not going to bring it up later? That some shitty 527 isn't going to try to paint him as a crack head who sells his kids' toys for that next fix?

It's going to get bad and they will wring as much blood from this turnip as they can.

[jenmito]

16. I know all about politics.

It doesn't matter how many more times he'll have to address it. He wasn't trying to hide it. He was honest with no pressure to put it out there. He was in high school.

It is NOT going to get bad. Not with THIS group of Repubs.

[HardWorkingDem]

23. Remember to look beyond partisan politics....

Right now only the die hard political junkies and partisans are following this stuff. At some point Obama is going to have to talk about this in an actual debate to remove the stigma of his past.

Whether you like it or not, "admitting" it is not going to make it go away. If he does not nullify it quickly the Rethugs will hang it around his neck like a rotting Bush albatross and the next picture the general voter will have in their mind is him on some street corner trying to sell the family tv for his next fix.

[jenmito]

35. Remember to look at reality and the fact that his drug use is already out there AND directly

addressed AND documented. There will be no stigma when those who don't yet know learn that he's been open in offering this information YEARS ago, it was in his high school years, and it's over.

He didn't "admit" it. He OFFERED it. They won't successfully hang ANYTHING around his neck.

[HardWorkingDem]

37. Right, and I bet you....

didn't give a thought about Kerry's record being trumped by that of Bush.

My point is, these bastards we are up against will not stop at anything and to let your guard down when a blow you should know is coming, is foolish.

Hell, I can imagine the ads some 527s are going to run and when these people are done, if Obama does not deal with this successfully, will try to paint him as something he certainly is not.

It does not matter if this has been "addressed and documented." Kerry's whole life had been just that and looked what happened.

[karynnj]

44. Reading what you wrote - this will NOT be what they will you because it is predictable

and Obama has and will have smooth answers on it. In 2004, I doubt there was anyone here who thought they would touch Kerry's service - after all even the Nixon people did not dispute that he had been a war hero - even as they were on tape saying to destroy him and that he had been very effective.

I would have guessed they would attack his protesting, even though having been a college student of that era, no one affected my opinions of the military at that time than John Kerry. It is clear that Going Upriver was designed to answer those questions by making several things clear. 1) There was a virulent anti- war mood in the US when Kerry returned 2) There were many extremely angry vets who Kerry kept within the system 3) Kerry fought for recognition of Agent Orange and PTSD and spoke to the Senate of the inadequacies of the Veterans administration. Kerry NEVER was a leftie anti-war person, those on the far left didn't even like him. He was likely very prepared to address this and given what he actually did, he had more reason to be proud of this than even being a highly decorated officer.

My guess is that unless there is something seriously wrong with a Democratic candidate - they will opt to make something up.

[HardWorkingDem]

47. My goal with this thread....

is to remind people to remember Rethugs will do whatever it takes to win and if anyone did not think in the grasp for power that Obama's past drug use would not be brought up (either by a Dem or Repub) the people shocked by this topic are those who can't anticipate an attack anywhere.

Sadly, Dems have to inoculate themselves every where - which includea both the predictable and unpredictable.

It's best this topic re-emerge now, than later.

[blm]

25. Yep - especially since most of them SUPPORTED Poppy Bush's CIA drugrunning

operations that TARGETED black communities all over the country with TONS of cheap IranContra cocaine DUMPED into their backyards and their schoolyards.

I know I probably tried some of Poppy Bush's coke back then, since I lived in LA and NY in the 80s and 90s.

Many a black teen all over the country probably sampled it no differently than I did. But Poppy's operation wasn't TARGETING me.

[Capn Sunshine]

28. I've been following politics since 1960

And I think this ground was covered and recovered, both in writing and in recent statements. Only desperate hacks from other campaigns losing ground are intent on keeping it prominent on DU.

Which matters about zero in the real world.
Fortunately for us, the keyboard commando squad has no bearing on the on ground political reality. Forget it. This is not resonating anywhere except with Hillary's squadron of wired up goofies, who are trying to justify the inexcusable behavior they were called on.

[Capn Sunshine]

32. I've been following politics since 1960

and in the real world, I'm a active party member, State Central Committee member, AD delegate, and vet of many many presidential campaigns.

And I think this ground was covered and recovered, both in writing and in recent statements. Only desperate hacks from other campaigns losing ground are intent on keeping it prominent on DU.

Which matters about zero in the real world.

Fortunately for us, the keyboard commando squad has no bearing on the on-ground political reality. Forget it. This is not resonating anywhere except with Hillary's squadron of wired up goofies, who are trying to justify the inexcusable behavior they were called on.

[Adelante]

4. Do not be afraid

Republicans can't hurt you anymore

[FrenchieCat]

5. He wrote about it in his book.......and so for folks to want to use this

as a reason that we should'nt vote for Obama because of this are reaching.

[aquart]

7. It's in a book? Define "it."

A sentence? A chapter? A lurid dream sequence? What?

[FrenchieCat]

15. Here....

Effect of Obama's Candor Remains to Be Seen
Senator Admitted Trying Cocaine in a Memoir Written 11 Years Ago
Wednesday, January 3, 2007; Page A01

Barack Obama had this to say about himself: "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. . . . I got high push questions of who I was out of my mind."

The Democratic senator from Illinois and likely presidential candidate offered the confession in a memoir written 11 years ago, not long after he graduated from law school and well before he contemplated life on the national stage.
<>
"Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" has regularly been on the bestseller lists, with 800,000 copies in print. Taken along with his latest bestseller, "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," Obama has become a genuine publishing phenomenon.
"I believe what the country is looking for is someone who is open, honest and candid about themselves rather than someone who seems endlessly driven by polls or focus groups," said Robert Gibbs, Obama's spokesman. Gibbs said yesterday that Obama was not available for an interview.

Presidential aspirants tend to write more sanitized books for use as campaign tools. "Faith of My Fathers" by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) depicts his family's history of military service. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has reissued "It Takes a Village," which offers her views about child-rearing in contemporary society. In fact, Obama's latest book, "Audacity of Hope," lays out his policy positions.

But "Dreams From My Father" is not like that.
<>
"This is not the kind of book you would ever expect a politician to write," said GOP consultant Alex Vogel. "Anyone who has a career in politics has to be concerned with what's in their past, but there is no question that Americans have an appetite for redemption."
<>
In fact, Bush himself has been a beneficiary of those sympathies. He has suffered little criticism from his conservative base after acknowledging that he drank too much in the past and is now a teetotaler.

Obama's partisan opponents and experts said it is too early to know whether the admissions will be a liability because the public seems to be enthusiastically embracing his openness at this point. What's more, they note that it is better for a politician to disclose his own transgressions, rather than be put on the defensive by revelations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

[aquart]

6. Who knew? I didn't know. I know NOTHING about this.

Where am I supposed to go to know?

[jenmito]

13. Do you own a tv? Do you watch the news? Obama spoke to a classroom full of kids and told them

when he was young he smoked pot and used drugs in high school and realized before college that he was messing up his life, made mistakes, learned from them, and told them how it was a stupid thing to do. Reporters even asked a couple Repub. candidates how they felt about it, and Romney thought it didn't set a good example to tell kids about that, and Giuliani thought it was commendable to be honest and tell the kids so they could learn from his mistakes.

[Flabbergasted]

8. Unfortunately there isn't a documented admission from Bush.

Otherwise it would have come up already.


edit: Its Friday.

Obama should just take it in stride.

[aquart]

10. Okay, that probably isn't the sentence he'd want to use.

[FrenchieCat]

17. Actually, Bush has admitted to being a drunk.......

In fact, Bush himself has been a beneficiary of those sympathies. He has suffered little criticism from his conservative base after acknowledging that he drank too much in the past and is now a teetotaler.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

Bush has described his days before his religious conversion in his 40s as his "nomadic" period and "irresponsible youth" and admitted to drinking "too much" in those years. In Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President by James Hatfield, Bush is quoted as saying that "alcohol began to compete with my energies ... I'd lose focus". Although Bush states that he was not an alcoholic, he has acknowledged that he was "drinking too much" (as reported by Nicholas Kristof in How Bush Came to Tame His Inner Scamp, The New York Times, July 29, 2000), and that he couldn't remember a day when he hadn't had a drink, including his stay at Phillips Academy, where not only was he underage but alcohol was prohibited on campus, as well as at Yale where, conversely, "hard drinking" was considered a badge of honor (Hatfield).

December, 1966 (age 20), he was arrested for disorderly conduct after he and some friends had "a few beers" and stole a Christmas wreath from a hotel. <1> The charges were later dropped.
On September 4, 1976 (age 30), Bush was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He admitted his guilt, was fined $150, and had his driving license in the state suspended for two years. <2> This incident did not become public knowledge until it was reported in the press in the week before the 2000 election.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush said that he gave up drinking after waking up with a hangover after his 40th birthday celebration: "I quit drinking in 1986 and haven't had a drop since then." He ascribed the change in part to a 1985 meeting with Reverend Billy Graham, after which he began serious Bible study, as well as to gentle but firm pressure from his wife, Laura.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_substance_a...

[Flabbergasted]

20. Bush's alcohol use is well known...

His cocaine use is only through reliable sources, of which, was never picked up the MSM.

[Virginia Dare]

21. He claims he hasn't had a drink since 1986...

and that is a flat-out lie. He's been photographed drinking alcohol.

[FrenchieCat]

27. I believe that in the end, the fact that this was something done when

they were young makes it forgivable.

I've heard too many say they made a mistake on something much more serious than sniffing some coke in their youth....and everyone seems to have bought into that as an honorable thing to have done; admitted to a mistake. Add the fact that Obama did this many years ago, as opposed to say.....5 years ago adds credence that this is nothing relevant to be afraid of.

Obama is from a generation where Coke was prevalent. He is the only post-boomer candidate running, and so, I believe that he would get through this non-issue just fine.

[Cha]

11. In retrospect

Obama was brilliant in more ways than one to get this out years ago. Imagine if they had their dirty dog detectives on it and found something not kosher at Obama's high school or wherever the heck he was when experimenting with the nasty blow.

I'm thinking Obama will come up a zinger that doesn't go tit for tat against the loser frat boy.

[HardWorkingDem]

14. Agree completely with your first comment...

You are completely dead on....sooner or later someone would have found it.

And for crying out loud, if a fucking American can't learn from his or her mistakes as a youth, then there is no redemption for any of us.

Hell, I am amazed that in my 43 yrs a black American is the front runner for president. We are alive during a momentous time and should be appreciating every second of it.

[Cha]

24. That's why this is

so tragically lame for the hillarys to even be disecting this. They knew if billy shaheen brought this up then it would be out there ..yes, dirty and stupid but out there waiting for the eventual soundbyte that the gossipmongers would catapult.

But, that doesn't mean this won't come back to Bite them in their desperate, collective ass. As someone pointed out..the hillary campaign is built on dust..no foundation so they had to start having "fun".

Too bad hillary didn't have mark penn digging up dirt on a$$holebush when he was going in for a 2nd term or were they just waiting for the 8 years to expire?

[BeyondGeography]

26. Yes, and the small-minded wife of America's "first black President" is trying to piss

all over the moment.

Won't work though.

[joeybee12]

29. He pulled a John McCain....in 2000 McCain wrote in his book

about his extra-marital affairs...that said...it's a good idea. But come on, look what Bush did to McCain in South Carolina and the rumors of his illegitimate balck child (the girl they adopted). Repukes are as dirty as they get, and, quite frankly, everything will be fair game for them come the generl election.

[Cha]

42. Everything will be

"fair game" except the fascist pigs who represent the m$$$$$m..they'll be handled with the usual kid gloves like bush jr is.

[joeybee12]

30. He pulled a John McCain....in 2000 McCain wrote in his book

about his extra-marital affairs...that said...it's a good idea. But come on, look what Bush did to McCain in South Carolina and the rumors of his illegitimate balck child (the girl they adopted). Repukes are as dirty as they get, and, quite frankly, everything will be fair game for them come the generl election.

[BootinUp]

18. no shit. nt

[Virginia Dare]

19. I have to say, I can't condemn Obama for something I've done as well..

how many people out there can? At least he's honest about it, just imagine if the current abuser-in-chief had been honest.

[Bitwit1234]

22. Hell if Obama even gets close to winning a state watch the GOP

shit digging. They will find stuff no body, and I mean no body ever thought of...just wait...they did it to Hillary for 20 years, they haven't even got started on Obama.

[HardWorkingDem]

33. The sad thing is, if they can't find it, they will make it up...

Don't you just want to grab every Democrat by the throat and yell at them, "If the Rethugs can turn a proven COMBAT veteran into a charlatan when faced against a proven COMBAT coward, then think what they can do with a man who admits using cocaine!" (And not only that, I can see the same people who worked for Bush in South Carolina against McCain taking it one step further and creating more stories about a black man who used cocaine.)

These people are fucking vile. They are white males who see their extinction coming up and will do every thing they can to hold on to whatever power they can.

I jokingly tell people, but mean it, there is nothing more dangerous than a cornered, white male conservative.

[Capn Sunshine]

40. They won't have to- Hillary's campaign will do it for them

They will bring the shovels and even dig the freaking holes. because no way will that camp be a bunch of team player supporters for another candidate. No WAY.

Mark my words, you think you've seen shit flinging now that their campaign is going down? Wait until they actually LOSE the nomination. They will do anything to assure their candidate has a shot in 2012, which means doing whatever they can to undermine the eventual '08 nominee.

And public loyalty oaths means shit. That's their private message motto.

[Auntie Bush]

31. They weren't when it came to Bill Clinton. n/t

[babylonsister]

34. The story came and was written about. It was history until the smear started. nt

[Tom Rinaldo]

39. History? You mean like Kerry's Purple Hearts?

You do realize that was an issue that had previously been raised against Kerry and put to rest before 2004, don't you? History stop a Republican attack? Like the history that proves that there were Presidents other than Carter and Clinton to blame when ever anything goes wrong in America?

Seriously, has history ever stopped Republicans before? I believe Obama knows how to deal with this and he will do so effectively, but seriously; Republicans write their own fictional versions of history all of the time.

[Capn Sunshine]

41. In that vein, they will be remarkably civil- just watch

They don't believe they can win. They believe that the best way to continue fund raising is to have a liberal Democrat inthe White House. Granted their first choice is Hillary ( See Murdoch, R) but Obama has the right skill set to create all kinds of fear. They will need that because right now, the well has run dry.

I predict a very sedate Republican campaign, with very little hysteria.

and please Tom, remind me of this comment in the General. I want to see if my instincts are right on or not.

[Tom Rinaldo]

43. Interesting theory Capn'

I think they will fight hard, to preserve some of their down ticket seats if for no other reason. But I suspect you are right that they think they will lose. If that's the case either way, whether they fight or not, they will still have a "liberal in the White House" to raise money against. So I think they will fight, to lay seeds of doubt against who ever we run that they hope can blossem in the years after he or she takes office.

But you could be right. They may chose instead to chill the craziness that has given them such a black eye, so that they can more easily re-invent themselves for the next go around. Let's both try to remember this prediction of yours. I'm curious now also.

[babylonsister]

45. I never said the rethugs won't attack. I didn't find it necessary for a

Dem to do so.
I know what the other party is capable of, and I was and still am a major fan of Senator Kerry, so it was doubly hurtful.
Finally, I too believe Obama is more than able to defend himself effectively. I'm counting on it!

[Whisp]

36. it shouldn't have come from the Dem side.

that was stupid and crass and smells like a rove.
Want the favour to be returned and 'test drive' Hillary's weaknesses on the media like this piece of tripe has been bandied about there?

[DrFunkenstein]

38. Americans Forgive Past Indiscretions If The Candidate Has Mended

Their ways. Like Bush's alcoholism and Reagan's pact with the devil.

[rufus dog]

46. In a way team Clinton did do him a favor

As long as there is nothing more to the story the talking heads have now painted themselves into a corner, even Fucker Carlson. Since it is Clinton throwing the mud they are on record as saying it is a foolish issue, if Obama is the nominee and when, not if, the Repubs slime him with it they will have to either flip, Carlson, or say it has been covered, Tweety.