"Obama faces off against both Clintons"

[Pirate Smile]

Obama faces off against both Clintons

By: Carrie Budoff Brown
Jan 20, 2008 09:19 PM EST



ATLANTA – Illinois Sen. Barack Obama launched Sunday what his top aides described as a more aggressive bid to challenge “unbelievable falsehoods” pressed last week in Nevada by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

With Obama’s new strategy, the Democratic nomination fight took on a new contour: It’s Obama versus two Clintons, not just one. And the line of attack emerging from his second consecutive primary loss appears to be this: The Clintons are a couple whose words cannot always be trusted.

-snip-
“People have heard a lot of things that just aren’t true from the mouth of the First Lady, from the mouth of the former president, from the mouth of the campaign," said Robert Gibbs, Obama’s communications director. "There is no question we will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

-snip-
He remained on the offensive at a rally Sunday night in Columbia, S.C., running through cases in which he believes his record has been distorted. (At one event in Reno, Nev., last week, Obama spent half his speech trying to correct the record.)

This time, he delved deeply into his praise last week of Ronald Reagan.

“What I said was Ronald Reagan, back in the 1980s, was able to tap into the discontent of the American people,” Obama said. “There were Reagan Democrats. So what I said is we need to tap into the discontent of Republicans. I want some Obama Republicans. I want ‘Obamacans.’”

“So when I see Sen. Clinton, President Clinton distort my own words, saying Republicans are the only ones who had good ideas since the 1980s — that is not a way to move the debate forward,” Obama said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/8002.html

[KennedyGuy]

1. He's playing with the big guys now..

Bill will spank him and send him on his way...

[gateley]

4. I've come to the conclusion that Bill shouldn't be part of this mix. It should be

between the candidates. Period.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

12. The kid doesn't know his way around yet

[jeffrey_X]

44. :rolleyes:

Yes...he's not been corrupted by the Washington establishment yet.

[niceypoo]

28. I will believe Obama when I see it

Thus far he hasn't stood up to anything on his own, just a lot of whining and hysterics from his supporters.

[JackORoses]

30. Bill would rather be spanked

You know it.

[karynnj]

35. Well, so far Obama is acting with grace and dignity,

it is Bill Clinton who is acting like a kid in need of a "time out". Using Bill Clinton as an attack dog is an unusual strategy. The danger is that his chips away at his value as a former President and elderly statesman. Initially, I thought his first blow up was caused by the fact that he has usually been treated by everyone in the Democratic party with the deference expected to a two term President. It now appears that they are doing this on purpose to put negatives out on Obama.

[marshall]

41. Shuckin' and Jivin'?

If you look the term up in Geneva Smitherman's book "Black Talk", it really is applicable to what Obama is taking on. She defines it as a technique of communication in which the speaker is opposite somebody who is much higher up in the social power structure. Her example is Frederick Douglass, who was "shuckin' and jivin'" when he got some white boys to teach him how to read (against local law) by pretending he already knew how to read.

The Clintons bring with them a huge cache of power and resources. Obama has to resort to alternative means to battle them in the primaries.

[angie_love]

2. good

Go get them Obama!

[Herman Munster]

3. he should have had the good sense to STFU about Reagan

He's too green.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[thunder rising]

7. Because when Hillary is involved the truth WILL be distorted

[Hieronymus]

26. Better green than jaded as the Clintons have become. Vote Edwards.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

34. Yes, it seems people can't handle the truth these days, he shoulda known better

then to expect that they could :sarcasm:

Seriously tho, i like the fact he is honest and says what he means *shrugs* If people don't accept him for who he is, well then thats their loss

[mitchtv]

6. Isn't it really "the Obamas"?

[thunder rising]

9. I'm by no means an historian, but I'm pretty sure Michelle has never been President

[mitchtv]

20. never said she was, but she is into the campaign

full time. Being an ex president doesn't mean he can't help, just like Michelle.The Obamas are OUT THERE CAMPAIGNING, just like "the Clintons"

[Evergreen Emerald]

8. "unbelievable falsehoods"

He runs the risk of exaggerating and losing credibility: Bill was right about the fairy tale the media let Obama get away with.

[jillan]

10. Is that anything like airing ads in espanol saying that the Clinton's

don't care about their kind :eyes:

[karynnj]

37. Obama did not do that, the union did after Clinton supporters tried

to disenfranchise them. That lawsuit happened and the people who brought it had provable connections to the Clinton campaign. I can easily imagine that the union leaders were shocked and angered when this happened in the week before the caucus, even though the plan was approved last March. In addition, to add insult to injury, Clinton people accused the union of rampant intimidation. (Not to mention that Mark Penn floated the idea that the at large caucuses would give Obama a 5% advantage, when the total possible delegates assigned to them was capped at 6% - and union endorsements do not end up with around 95% of the votes going to the endorsed candidate in the primary.)

I think that ad was too strong and the comment you mention uncalled for - but if you were a union leader, how would you have felt towards the Clintons at that point? My guess is HAD the Obama people been behind it, it would have had a different tone. (Defending themselves and hurt that they were attacked by a man they had supported for over a decade.) As to intimidation, the results show that either it was not prevalent or it was exceedingly unsuccessful.

[jillan]

43. I am really disappointed in both campaigns.

The adults are out of this race, and the kids don't know how to get along.
I just pray that they can figure out how to win - because I have my serious doubts.

[polichick]

11. At this point, I'm sick of Obama AND the Clintons...

Maybe we'll get that brokered convention ~ and choose a candidate who's not afraid to be a true blue Dem!

On second thought, make that a TRUE BLUE LIBERAL!
<>

[Yael]

13. Yay!! Another thread about this!

:woohoo:

:popcorn:

[dempartisan23]

14. lets call another truce

i would lke to see bill clinton, hillary and barack obama have a private meeting and settle all the animosity in a friendly manner. is there a democrat elder statesman that can bring this about? jimmy carter?

[karynnj]

39. I think Kennedy would be more likely

The Clintons never were close to Carter. They never let him speak at their conventions. Clinton did like Kennedy and spent time with the whole Kennedy family on Cape Cod vacations.

[Cha]

15. I think we know

that ignoring lies from the candidates' opponents are done at their own peril.

As an Obama supporter I am wildly appreciative that he is exposing the lies on a national level.

[silverweb]

16. Good for him!

Fight back for and with the truth!


GObama! _YES, WE CAN!_

[Cha]

19. Yes We Can~Si Se Puede!

Nice link, silverweb.

[silverweb]

22. Si, se puede!

Thanks, zidzi. I'll change it if and when a better vid clip comes out, but this is my favorite to date.

:hi:

[Cha]

23. I'll be watching for it!~

:hi:

[oasis]

17. Obama's praise of Reagan turned out to be a train wreck, so now blame

the Clinton's?:wtf:

[Apollo11]

32. Obama did not praise Reagan. Stop spreading lies!

Obama simply said that Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America.

He did not say that Reagan had changed it for the better.

[bluedog]

36. he should just to shut up about Reagan

many many voting Democrats do not even want to remember that Era ........

[oasis]

42. Obama slyly lumps Nixon and Bill Clinton together and then goes on to gush over how Reagan

sparked "Dynamism and enterpreneurship". That's sounds a lot like "praise" to me.

[creeksneakers2]

18. What about unity and the politics of hope?

Why hasn't Obama changed the race with speeches like MLK gave?

[BootinUp]

21. I don't think this will help him. nt

[jlake]

24. Obama should STFU and take his dirty Chicago politics home.

[krabigirl]

25. Great. He wants Obama Republicans. No thanks. puke.

On edit: shouldn't he be waiting for the general election to get Republicans to cross over? This is the primary season.

[Apollo11]

33. It's not too soon to talk about how to win back the Whitehouse.

Every primary season that I can remember - one of the biggest issues that we all discuss is which candidate has the best chance of beating the Republicans.

Hillary says she is the most electable because of her experience - she is "Ready for Change" and ready to be President on Day 1 (January 20th, 2009).

Edwards says he is the most electable because he already won a Senate seat in a red State which means he could compete with the GOP nominee across all 50 States.

Obama says he is the most electable because of the evidence showing that a lot of independents and (former) Republicans are responding to his message of hope and unity.

It's perfectly legitimate for candidates to talk about how they will increase the number of blue states by reaching out to folks who haven't voted Democratic before.

[aquart]

27. "Obamacans."

Because he can't count on getting the Democratic vote? Or because he hasn't figured out that Reagan Democrats were supporting Reagan's coded racism? Reagan's America was a white America. Or was Obama too young, too out of the country to notice that?

Is he also unaware that Reagan NEEDED to appeal to Democrats because there are MORE DEMOCRATS THAN REPUBLICANS and there was no way for a Republican to win without them? There is ZERO NEED for any Democrat to appeal to the Republican voters. We do not need their votes. They, however, need ours. Which is why they steal them.

[karynnj]

40. That has become progressively less true

The oldest generation include a substantial number of people who saw what FDR did and thingk with very good reason, that he is the greatest President. They also represent a time when most people declared themselves to be one party of the other. The youngest voters are much more likely than the oldest to register as independents.

Additionally, though I cannot prove it, I think an observation of a college daughter may have some merit. Though she attends a Jesuit college with a very strong commitment to social justice (a huge % are involved in community action efforts in their town), she sees that many in her generation are libertarian. Her belief is that many reacted to the legitimate criticism of the government expressed by their mostly liberal baby boom parents as a rejection of government as a solution. (This was a campus where many kids were still teary eyed 2 days after the 2004 election when she went for an entrance interview.)

[Marie26]

29. "Obamacans"? nt

[sunonmars]

31. Christ if he's complaining now about 2 Clintons

He's gonna cry if the Republican RW machine gets hold of him.

People want a fighter in the WH. This just made him look like a wimp.

[Inuca]

38. Fighting back

makes him look like a wimp?