Is Hillary playing by the Republican handbook- pandering bigots by circulating the Obama photo?

[Angry Mollusk]

If Hillary or anyone in her campaign was the one to circulate the picture of Obama regional atire in Somalia, the reason is obvious- to play on the fears of the radical Christian fringe who hates anyone who doesn't worship Jesus. I have a hard time believing that Hilliary would use a right wing tactic as pandering to bigoted Christians- but it doesn't look good..I really hope she wouldn't sink this low...

[maddiejoan]

1. Let's examine this shall we?

DRUDGE is accusing the campaign of 'circulating' the photo.

But all the article says is that a campaign staffer circulated a memo that somehow got leaked to a DRUDGE staffer --the attached comment something like "Wow" If this were HRC it would be all over Time Magazine".

right?

So all this tells me is what? That some staffer was sent a photo and responded to it. Hence 'circulating it".

A Photo that was already published in a Supermarket tabloid on Feb 4?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4759365&mesg_id=4759365

Where is the story????

It's a DRUDGE manufacture intended to slime Clinton and Obama at the same time.

The only difference is Obama's campaign is now using it to continue to slime Clinton.

[HeraldSquare212]

4. Why wasn't that explanation in their non-denial?

And why were they trolling freeper sites and looking for anti-Obama material?

[maddiejoan]

13. who says they were trolling Freeper sites?

a more likely explanation is some staffer was sent the pic --and he/she simply responded.

How do you suppose DRUDGE gets hold of this 'email' anyways?

[HeraldSquare212]

20. Well, I guess we'll see if the 'likely explanation' ends up being the actual explanation.

[maddiejoan]

21. So far

all you can safely say for certain:

A Clinton staffer responded to an e-mail with that pic and said "Wow. If that were HRC it would be all over Time Magazine"

everything else is speculation.

[EmilyAnne]

17. Well, in fairness, a lot of us take a peek at Free Republic, Drudge and World Nut Daily to check

up on any emerging strategies.

[Angry Mollusk]

5. Could the right wing have circulated this photo to get the Democrats to turn on each other?

I wonder if the right wing Republicans leaked this photo,with the hope that Democrats would turn on each other......
That must be it, I can't see Hillary doing this...it's too 'Republican' a thing to do (Circulating a photo in hopes of evoking hatred from Christian bigots)

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. It's possible but the obama supporters here won't even entertain that.

:shrug:

[scheming daemons]

10. This Obama started a thread saying exactly that......

....so there.

[marshall]

11. Isn't that the point--that Drudge IS the Republican playbook?

Otherwise the story would have been taken to the New York Times or some other reputable source.

[arewenotdemo]

12. Let's examine Maggie Williams' response.

"If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed."

That is no denial. It is a thinly-veiled confirmation.

[maddiejoan]

16. yes it is

BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE PHOTO.


sheeeeesh.

What's wrong is Obama's camp trying to puff this non-story into a scandal.

[debatepro]

14. or... they are triangulating...

in a desperate attempt to gain votes by the expanding their base of voters to those who would not vote for a Muslim (I know he isn't but some people believe he is or might be and some people actually hear this for the first time much later than the rest of us. My 85 year old grandma heard it for the first time a couple weeks ago)... then they are hoping to get some other voters who think its stupid to even respond to this kind of a attack.

Why did they send it out... they have nothing to lose and they knew someone from the Obama campaign would respond and they prepared their answer. It's not rocket science. We used to call this kind of thing a Yankee trap.

[maddiejoan]

18. You have no evidence that they "sent it out"

Just that it was replied to (circulating)

We already know the photo was published in The National Examiner on February 4th.

with a circulation of 3 million.

[meow mix]

2. its obvious to everyone, and its a "Call to the Bigot Vote"

shes building a new base..

[samdogmom]

3. Ummmm---did you see this:

Quote:

"Penn is a graduate of the Horace Mann School in New York City (1972) and of Harvard (1976), where he was the head of the College Republicans."

GET IT? COLLEGE REPUBLICANS!!!!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn

Need anyone say more????

[IndianaGreen]

6. Yes, that's exactly what she is doing!

And we haven't seen yet how low she is willing to sink.

[npincus]

7. Yes.

[apocalypsehow]

9. She learned well from the rethugs - her tactics are now indistinguishable from the worst of them.

n/t

[arewenotdemo]

15. agreed

[Tom Rinaldo]

19. What about the peope here who circulated it by posting it here to discuss?

You are playing the swiftboating handbook against Hillary here. A few of her staff discussed that photo with each other by email and thousands of us are discussing that photo of Obama on the open web? Exactly who is distributing it?

Not to mention that the Natinal Enquirer already published that photo on Feb. 4th with a circulation of almot 4 million.

[bigtree]

22. So much concern from these new posters

[Angry Mollusk]

26. I would think all new posters here would be concerned

QUOTE "So much concern from these new posters"

Yes I'm new here , and these issues do concern me...I hope everyone here is concerned.

[NoodleyAppendage]

23. YES. She is using prejudice and fear to win the WH. I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR HER...EVER.

Clinton can rot in hell.

J

[Ino]

24. Oh, she would sink this low...

http://tinyurl.com/2kxz4r

The former Bush White House communications director, who worked closely with Rove, said that Clinton "has almost operationalized the whole idea of turning your weakness into strength, message discipline that is almost pathological -- she does not get off message for any reason -- and never skipping an opportunity to exploit her opponent's weaknesses."

Clinton's campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, seems to agree with that assessment, having effectively vowed to run her operation much as Rove did his two successful national campaigns. "She expresses admiration for the way George W. Bush's campaign team controlled its message, and, given her druthers, would run this race no differently," Michelle Cottle writes this month in New York magazine. " 'We are a very disciplined group, and I am very proud of it,' she says with a defiant edge."


(snip)

The Clintons recognize the skill Rove has brought to politics and admire his craft, if not his ideology. Just days after the November 2004 election, Bill Clinton pulled Rove aside at the dedication of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas. "Hey, you did a marvelous job, it was just marvelous what you did," Clinton told Rove, according to the book "The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008," by John F. Harris and Mark Halperin. "I want to get you down to the library. I want to talk politics with you. You just did an incredible job, and I'd like to really get together with you and I think we could have a great conversation."

(snip)

And why not? Harris and Halperin wrote last year that Rove and the Clintons shared some of the same understandings of how politics work, and the two authors even crafted a list they titled "What Hillary Clinton and Karl Rove Know About the Way to Win the White House in 2008." Clinton, they wrote, has "borrowed some strategies" from Rove for dealing with the news media, enemies and anticipated attacks. "Like Karl Rove," they wrote, "Hillary Clinton knows that playing offense is better than playing defense. . . . Hillary Clinton obviously dislikes Bush's policy goals, but she appreciates some of the methods he has used to achieve them."

[MethuenProgressive]

25. It was in the National Enquirer (3 million readers) weeks ago. Why blame Clinton??