Obama's opponents pushed Wright story, according to Politico

[Adelante]

The coverage of Wright's comments bolstered the effort by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to raise vague doubts about the judgment of her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

And it revived conservative chatter about Obama’s patriotism that has been fueled by rumors he does not put his hand on his heart for the Pledge of Allegiance (false) and stopped wearing a flag lapel pin (true).

-snip

The minister’s controversial history has been written about countless times throughout the campaign. Wright has ties to the Rev. Louis Farrakhan, the black supremacist leader of the Nation of Islam — a fact that has been noted in more than 100 news stories just in the past few months, according to the Nexis database of news coverage.

Opponents of Obama have constantly pushed reporters to write about the minister, which these critics considered a ticking time bomb for his campaign.

On Feb. 20, after a fiery guest sermon by Wright in Little Rock, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ran an article that said: “On Tuesday, Wright criticized the U.S. invasion of Iraq and likened the insurgents to the Israelites under Babylonian rule.”

At 9:20 that morning, Obama opponents were already trying to get Politico to link to the story.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/9051.html

[Joe the Revelator]

1. And if with the coordinated Hillary/McCain hit, Obama still comes out on top

The man is bullet proof

Next time they best bring kryptonite.

[Adelante]

6. It's the national security threshold, Wolsh

This is the big one.

[Sulawesi]

17. "The Big One"...looking for the magic bullet to destroy obama, hope springs eternal...

Do you honestly think Obama is a bad candidate on this issue, or is this a political issue. I remember when the Clinton's railed against the politics of personal destruction...I guess that only applies when they're in office

[Cha]

30. hilary and her little band of merry

marauders should be rather singed from all the BLOWBACK by now! And, how're those knots are their collective 'eads from the Boom Boom BoomerRang?

[Patsy Stone]

2. And now they've scheduled a media conference call.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[roguevalley]

24. don't worry. the way politics is played now, Clinton's time is coming.

what goes around usually comes around.

[Patsy Stone]

42. I'm not worried

No one's voting anywhere for another five weeks.

[SoFlaJet]

3. man all the negative energy

that the CC exerts with this constant barrage of bullshit would be better spent on their own mess that's coming. She is lucky Obama is a gentleman and won't bring up her brother selling pardons and her husbands questionable Saudi and UAE donations to his library.

[VolcanoJen]

56. Instant Karma

OK, well maybe karma might take a few weeks. But it's coming. And she's going to fuck it up the same way she did when she thought she'd be officially coronated on Super Tuesday.

[jgraz]

4. Oh no... Hillary had nothing to do with it...

The story just "happened" to come out right when her campaign was being exposed as the group of race-baiting thugs that it is.

Nothing to see here, move along.

[otohara]

5. Retaliation For Ferraro

that's my guess!

[earthlover]

16. I'd say it is a CONTINUATION of the Ferrarro meme..scaring people because Obama is BLACK...

and has a radical BLACK preacher....and he is...you know....BLACK! (gasp) with a radical unpatriotic minister...yadayada....ps... Obama is BLACK! Geraldine said so!

[MonkeyFunk]

7. why wouldn't they encourage the press to write about it?

You don't think Obama's team encourages the press to focus on negative Clinton stories?

It's not like the Clinton camp made this story up - the pastor was selling the videos on the internet!

[LisaL]

9. As far as I can tell, Fox put those videos on their website.

I doubt Hillary had to encourage anyone. The videos were for sale from the church itself.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. Not to mention that if the Republicans truly believe that Hillary would

be easier for McCain to beat in the GE, why wouldn't they try to get this info out to hurt Obama? The Obama camp keeps saying that Republicans are crossing over to vote for her for the same reason.

[Saturday]

8. Sorry to ruin your "it's all Hillary's fault" but these

videos were on the internet. ABC found them, not Hillary.

[LisaL]

10. Fox news put them on first, I think.

Doesn't matter either way, I suppose.

[kwenu]

13. This was Sean Hannity's baby with support from "loyal democrats."

[Seeker30]

11. Yep, its everyones fault but Obama

[kwenu]

12. Of course they did. This more of the same smarmy politics. Can't say anything bad about Obama so

they try to find someone to attach him to and try to claim he's really that person.

For what it's worth, this is good. This needs to be done now so the "charges" can be fully addressed before he takes the nomination and begins campaigning in earnest. Obama is taking swift action to answer this and move past this garbage which will drive his opponents absolutely crazy. They'll be foaming at the mouth to try keep this going as long as they can and of course will end up looking ridiculous in the end.

[DemGa]

15. Political opponents push damning story? Um yeah?

I'm sorry, but what's the point here?

[QC]

18. It must be somebody's first time at the rodeo.

A lot of people's, in fact, judging from all the boundless outrage at politicians doing what politicians have always done.

[roseBudd]

19. Don't you know it is Hillary Way or the Highway, white females are owed this election

Salem Witch Trials & Spanish Inquisition. They died in the millions hundreds of years ago, some in Europe a few in a town called Salem

In 1692

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Move along. Nothing to see here. There are poverty stricken elderly white women that need saving.

[tishaLA]

20. "Opponents" is too vague as a term

I know that the guy on FOX "News" whose name rhymes with vanity has consistently said that we would stay on this until the MSM picked up on it and started covering it. The Vanity guy could be that opponent, but knowing the Vanity guy, he was led to it by someone else cuz he's never had an original thought in his life.

[ecstatic]

21. It's now official...and I never thought I of all people would say this

But Strike 1: Was the IWR vote
Strike 2: Was conducting herself in such a negative fashion during the first half of this race
Strike 3: Regurgitating the Wright scandal

She will never get my vote. I feel like a hypocrite because I always criticized people who said stuff like that. But HRC has created conditions in which Obama will never have a chance, and neither will anyone else of color.

[Window]

23. ..

[IdClaire]

22. its a vast left wing-right wing you name it conspiracy..

to get Obama. All the bad people in the world in other words Hillary's campaign has cooked up this whole thing. He has nothing what so ever to do with it. Forget everything you've seen and heard on this and just repeat, "it will all go away" while covering your ears and closing your eyes.

[laugle]

62. Playing the

blame game does nothing to change the facts........perception is everything now, people will draw their own conclusions...............

Damage control is what's needed, not more whining.........

[golddigger]

25. Politico...is a right-wing rag.

[KoKo]

43. EXACTLY! Right Wing Rag...funded by Bush Bot Fundraiser/Insider. n/t

[2rth2pwr]

26. Holy Cow! I thought this was all Axelrod.

now I'm really confused.

[krkaufman]

27. "opponents pushed Wright story" .... Ummmm.... duh.

Were we supposed to think that Obama's campaign would do so?

What is unknown is which group of opponents pushed it, and whether it is linked directly to any campaign. And it will remain unknown.

I'm starting to wonder if Obama's campaign and supporters shouldn't start pushing this stuff even more, to saturate the smear to the point where it becomes ridiculous. (e.g. "Obama is actually an interstellar alien.")

[TheDoorbellRang]

28. Actually, I do think the Obama campaign was wily enough to do this

Think about it. They had to know this sh*t was going to come out at some point. What better time from their POV than now? They've got more than a month to diffuse it before the PA primary (and from what I saw last night, Obama is diffusing it beautifully). Now the Clinton campaign can't drop it as a bombshell the week before PA, as they did the NAFTA smear right before OH and TX. McCain can't drop this bomb in August -- swiftboat season; it'll be as stale as his affair with the lobbyist.

Obama has shown himself to be the superior chessplayer in this campaign over and over again. He was not my first choice for president because I didn't think he was wily enough to play the D.C. game and win for Dems -- the more I see him thruout this campaign, the more firmly I support him.

GObama!

[krkaufman]

33. I don't discount the possibility.

(well, I guess I do discount it; but I don't rule it out.)

[EFerrari]

29. Well, duh. n/t

[K Gardner]

31. We saw this develop here at DU.. from our merry band of Hill Thugs, doing the bidding of the most

nasty and divisive democratic campaign waged against a democratic opponent. Ever.

[Eric J in MN]

32. What a badly written article.

"Opponents of Obama" - he has at least two major opponents. If Mike Allen doesn't want to name individuals, at least he could tell us if he means the McCain campaign or Hillary Clinton campaign.

[BenDavid]

34. Let me see if I've got this straight....

He attended the church for 20 years...
He considers the man his mentor....
He was married by this "minister"....
His children were baptised by him as well....
His wife has never been proud of her country....
He refused to say the pledge of alligence...
He won't wear a flag pin on his lepel....
He never heard these comments...
He never knew his minister's views....

So either he is a liar or he is totally stupid....

Either way..... not fit to be the nominee

[anonymous171]

36. His wife has never been proud of her country? You sound like a RWer.

[Warren Stupidity]

38. Nice list, wrong board.

[scheming daemons]

39. "he refused to say the pledge of allegiance".... LIE... how do you sleep at night?

Other than the "Obama is a secret muslim"... where have you gotten this? He has NEVER refused to say the pledge of allegiance....


It's bullshit... and you know it... go to snopes.com and look it up.

[Warren Stupidity]

41. And who cares? And at least spell LAPEL right.

What the heck are these clowns going to do when Obama wins the nomination and they can't post this crap here anymore?

[alcibiades_mystery]

35. Phase 1A

[Adelante]

61. Where did that come from?

[bunnies]

37. Of course they did.

I'd expect nothing less from the Clintons. Scorched Earth '08.

[citizen snips]

40. No it was Wright 's incendiary comments that pushed this story.

[KoKo]

44. Crickets don't want to hear that one. Blame a messenger when they knew Repugs were

waiting with this one.

[Forkboy]

46. Koko, do you honestly believe that the Hillary people are really interested in HELPING Obama?

Do you truly believe that's their intent with pushing this story? No, they're praying this is the silver bullet to kill Obama with. The "vetting" shit is just that....shit, and a cheap way to hide one's true intentions. Acting like they did this as a favor to Obama is amazingly naive.

If you do believe this is all just trying to help him out then I hope to see you be consistant when Obama supporters post stories about the Hsu, Tan, the Clinton library, the tax returns....after all, Obama fans are just trying to help....right?

[KoKo]

47. I believe the GOP and Repug Ops are colluding with the media...

and while not every leak comes from the Repug Op's and Bush funders like Politico ...much of it does.

Remember...I don't care for either Obama nor Hillary...but sometimes I feel the Clinton folks here need help because the Obama people overwhelm the Forum. If I see something that bugs me because it's so one-sided, I pipe up.

You don't remember when I used to get into it with DU poster Wyldwolf who was the biggest Hillary supporter I've ever seen on DU... I used to go after Hillary all the time, here.

It's all gotten so one sided when both candidates have big baggage. Whatever...

[Forkboy]

51. I believe that as well...but also believe the Hillary campaign is hardly clean on this.

Anymore than I'd believe the Obama camp is clean on some of the negative shit about Hillary. I also think constantly blaming just the Repubs for all our ills lets us off the hook of responsibility, and lets us avoid actually looking at ourselves.

[KoKo]

52. Ha! "Ourselves" are "EVIL"...we also have a hand in this....

Hey Reverend Wright and myself could really get into it!

[citizen snips]

49. I am a secularist.

I think we should expose all indoctrinating religious leaders. My criticism of Wright has nothing to do with Obama.

[Forkboy]

50. Well that's fair enough.

I'm an atheist and like most of what I've read that he had to say, and understand why he said some of it. The quotes in your other post strike me as pretty damn accurate.

I don't sing God Bless America either, or stand for the Pledge, or put my hand over my heart because this country has fallen so far from what it could be, and what it should be. I don't like all of what I've read, but most of it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

[KoKo]

53. Well...if I said I was an Episcopalian and Rev. Wright strikes me as "inflammatory" could

I be credible, too?

[Forkboy]

55. Not getting your point.

[citizen snips]

67. It is ok for him to dis-like america. However, it was wrong for him to bring up 9/11

[Forkboy]

45. If that was the case why did it come out when it did and not when he actually made them?

You're truly politically naive if you think it was just his words that got this story rolling. The comments sat there for awhile before someone decided they could be used against him.

[citizen snips]

48. its been an ongoing investigation.

After Wright's retirement, copies of his sermons were offered for sale. News organizations like ABC News bought them and searched them for more controversial material. The ABC News Blotter website, edited by reporter Brian Ross, found "repeated denunciations of the U.S. based on what he described as his reading of the Gospels and the treatment of black Americans." In addition to providing his comments after 9/11 that had been previously publicized, the site also quoted Wright as saying "The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Wright

[KoKo]

54. I think that there were "some" waiting to see how far Obama could go in support before

this was exposed. Just like those waiting to reveal that Bill has been doing what Spitzer has been doing.

It shall ALL BE REVEALED ....just in time for the ELECTION... What kind of party doesn't check these folks out?

[Forkboy]

57. The kind of parties that run in every election in every country that has them.

[citizen snips]

66. While that my be true.

It is all speculation.

[Vinca]

58. Hillary is running an amazing, Republican campaign.

And all the while she's protecting herself by refusing to release anything that will shed real light on how the Clinton wealth skyrocketed in such a short time.

[goldcanyonaz]

59. OMG! Hillary MADE him attend that church!

The horror!

[IamyourTVandIownyou]

60. Ohh yea, let's play "Six Degrees of Louis Farakhan"

Man, as soon as that Ferraro comment went global, somebody countered with Wright, to limit the damage imho.

Looked eye for any eye to me.

[rodeodance]

63. Oh gawd---all the little crickets gather round now and blame Hillary. idiots!

[madrchsod]

64. big john defended barack......

where did the attack start? who does it benefit at this time? if it was from the right why would`t they wait? now the issue is dead to them...

[candice]

65. The Wright issue has been out there for awhile. It was the IRS investigation

that got it more interest...one can buy the tapes at the Church, it is not as if Wright's message is a deeply kept secret.

[texshelters]

68. Check out my post or myspace blog for what I feel about this "scandal"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Tex Shelters