I don't think Obama should go after Palin at all, at least not yet. She's trying to bait us

[mtnsnake]

into insulting her so the Repukes can go postal with imaginary charges of sexism.

I think the smartest thing Obama (and Biden) can do right now is simply ignore her and her feeble comments. Make like they don't even care about her....like she's sort of irrelevant.

When the reporters try to bait Obama or Biden into attacking Palin, they should respond with something like, "Well, I don't know that much about her, but she seems like an interesting person."....and leave it at that, like she's nothing much more than a curiosity and like she just doesn't really matter. There's no need for our candidates to go after her. The media can take care of that, and so can we. :smoke:

[livetohike]

1. I agree and Obama is doing this correctly

Palin is the bait to try and get Obama/Biden into a schoolyard fight with her. McCain is going to try to stay above it. It won't work. Palin is irrelevant. She was a curiosity freak show for the past seven days - nothing more. She speaks to the base. Anyone with a brain will figure out how extreme her views are.

Let the media do its job. Our guys keep talking the talk :-).

[texastoast]

2. Read his response to her on his website

Way to smart to take the bait. Still an ultimate class act and I don't expect less.

Now Hillary has the power. God, I wish I were Hills the next few weeks. What fun.

[gateley]

3. They're not going to.

And I keep saying about Biden, he's never attacked someone personally, despite all the lather here about being a pit bull. He attacks their POLICIES in such a way that he gets the point across. Obama is no slouch in that department, either.

Obama and Biden won't fall for that crap. They are WAY too smart.

[subterranean]

4. I agree, and I think Obama understands that, too.

So far he's been staying focused on McCain.

[subterranean]

5. I agree, and I think Obama understands that, too.

So far he's been staying focused on McCain.

[Thrill]

6. Thats a losing strategy. They better start firing back.

This country has proven over and over. They like to see the mud slinging. The Polls in the next few days will prove again how the idiots in this country respond to negative attacks.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

9. He should fire back at the person he's running against, not the gutter tramp.

Do you see either of them slinging at Biden?

[CakeGrrl]

12. Nope, I think they should stay on-point. Draw out the shit-slingers by ignoring them.

Don't think the MSM will suddenly start patting the Dems on the back for fighting back. As soon as they get a chance, they'll start with the "Dems attacking a POW and a woman" memes.

Obama's walking a tightrope, and doing it right.

What we don't see is the ground game. I trust David Axelrod and David Plouffe to give Obama the REAL data, not the yammering of the corporate MSM puppets.

[mtnsnake]

21. Not at her. She should be portrayed as a non-entity. Going after her elevates her status

and that could be dangerous for us. OTOH, our guys need to fight back against anyone else out there who happens to lie about them. Fuck Palin, though. They just have to make like she doesn't matter. Otherwise, she'll end up getting a huge wave of sympathy if the go after her this early.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

7. Roger 10-4, Good Buddy!

The line "Well, I don't know that much about her, but she seems like an interesting person.".... is gold.

[JBoy]

13. What would be even better would be to add:

"You guys should try to get an interview with her".

Delivered with a classy Obama knowing smile.

[JI7]

8. i agree, remember when Kerry brought up Cheney's daughter

being lesbian. and the phony outrage that followed. that's what they are looking for. they WANT this to be about personal things and try to make it like Obama is attacking her personally.

we have the issues on our side and can win there. that's why they want to do anything but discuss issues.

[JBoy]

16. I've been thinking about Obama bringing up McCain's black daughter.

Could they spin that one as an attack?

[JI7]

23. why do you want OBama to bring that up ?

there is no reason for him to bring it up.

[JBoy]

24. You're right, no particular reason to do it. Except for the potential to make McCain explode.

[creeksneakers2]

10. Her refusing to grant interviews is a trap

A big deal will be made out of her interview refusal which will build huge hype for her interview when she finally gives one. By that time her advisors will have her head stuffed with talking point and the media will hail the interview as a "giant success for Palin who showed her critics how much they underestimated her (with some correspondents adding that was because she's a woman).

[me b zola]

11. He'll go after McCain

This trash (meaning the statements) are coming from the McCain campaign that he is supposed to be the executive officer of. If people with bad judgment are doing bad things on behalf of the McCain campaign, then that reflects on the judgment of McCain for having them on the team.

[mtnsnake]

15. Going after McCain is good. Our guys need to keep peppering away at him mercilessly

They need to make like McCain is all that matters and that Palin just doesn't interst them.

[bigwillq]

14. Yup.

He needs to keep pushing what the differences are between him and McCain. After all this hoopla about Palin dies down, people are going to go back to caring about the issues. I really believe that. And a lot of people here want to keep pushing the Palin issue. That's what the GOPuke (and some in the media) want us to do. I don't think that is the right plan.

[patrice]

17. Don't become the thing you are against by acting like it. Obama knows this.

Don't play THEIR game.

Don't dance to THEIR tune.

Don't let THEM call the shots.

I agree with all of this, though my personal tactic, as long as I am working PRIMARILY on MY goals and objectives, is to tweak a few references or word choices, if I can, to either block, counter, or explicate any oppo trash talk that's going on, but NOT to make these the main objective.

[Greg K]

18. I think her act will wear thin quickly

She'll have to get even more shrill and nasty, which will start to turn people off.

[stuntcat]

19. I think so too

He's better than stooping to their level. The sad part is that kind of fighting is what sways the voters. When it comes down to it people might be swayed more by the gay marriage issue than the environment, more by winning the Holy War than by kicking our addiction to oil.
I hope we can finally rise above that shit.

[Captain Hilts]

20. Agree. Both he and Hillary should let others do the dirty work. nt

[Kajsa]

22. I heard on NBC Nightly News tonight that Hillary

is coming back on Monday.

I'm sure she has plenty to say
about Palin- and she can pull it off
just fine!

:)

[Marsala]

26. The media is already going after her

Being denied access is like waving a red flag in front of them. Especially because they recognize that vetting her is actually important, more important than anything they have done since they totally let Bush lie to the world about Iraq.

If Palin continues to lie and hurl empty one-liners, the media will attack that. They've already started. Notice that they've been much harder on the Bridge to Nowhere lie than on most of Bush's lies already.

[mtnsnake]

27. Yes they are. So are the late-night talk show hosts. So are we. She'll be taken care of just fine

and Obama and Biden can continue pummeling away at McCain and tieing him to Bush.

[Kajsa]

31. Good point, Marsala.

It gives me hope that there is some sanity left
in this election process, with regards to the GOP.

The press shouldn't be afraid to counter her for one damn minute,
nor should anyone else!

She wants to rank above the 'good ole boy' network and be right in
the swing of things.She can shoot a gun and her mouth off better than
any guy( according to her).

Well- like Harry Truman said,

" If you can't stand the heat- get out of the kitchen"

[Cha]

28. Actually Hillary is reported to be only going after mccain, too..

as it should be. palin is nothing more than a baiter like the OP said.

kurth_ (116 posts) Fri Sep-05-08 08:43 PM
Original message

"Clinton set to strike McCain, not Palin"

Glenn Thrush
Fri Sep 5, 3:39 PM ET

Hillary Rodham Clinton has no intention of becoming a Sarah Palin attack dog — but has no qualms going after John McCain, people close to the former first lady say. “She’s not the answer when it comes to winning conservative women — she never was — and we’re not going to be anybody’s attack dog against Sarah Palin,” said a Clinton insider. “To be fair to Obama’s people, they haven’t asked us to do that.”

Slamming Palin to win back women already hostile to Obama is pointless, the insider said, because Clinton’s most loyal base is working-class voters, not women in particular. “Attacking Palin is checkers, attacking McCain on the economy is chess.” Clinton will continue to yoke McCain and Palin to President Bush on pocketbook issues. But sources say that Clinton, who supports abortion rights, isn’t likely to criticize the Alaska governor for her anti-abortion stance. She may, however, question Palin’s record on equal-pay issues.

The Obama campaign, alarmed by Palin’s instant popularity, has given Clinton’s staff a proposed fall campaign schedule in economically distressed battleground states — including Ohio and Pennsylvania — where she did well during the primaries, according to people familiar with the situation.

The former first lady, who is due to appear at an Obama event in Florida on Monday, hasn’t gotten back to them yet. When she does, she’s likely to add a few stops of her own — fundraisers, including at least one in Texas to help her repay more than $20 million in debt incurred during the primary. “They probably don’t want her in Texas, but, hey, that’s where the money is, so that’s where she’s going to go,” said a source familiar with travel planning.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080905/pl_politico/1...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6956339

[Kajsa]

32. I hear you, Zidzi.

As much as I'd like to see Hillary verbally incinerate this pain in
the butt,

their strategy makes a lot of sense.

[Thrill]

25. The media can't criticize her and they can't ask her questions. She just gets to attack attack

and no one can say a damn thing to her. Thats BULLSHIT.

They need to cut her down a few notches

[rhett o rick]

29. No way! I agree with the snakeman. Biden did an excellent job. He actually praised Palin and said

that she would be a worthy debate opponent. Don't fall for the baiting. The repukes will go for the sympathy vote. Obama and Biden should treat her as a viable opponent. The rest of us can have at her though.

[Cha]

33. Right..mcpalin is agressively courting the

"Sympathy vote" 'cause they're not going to get the intelligence vote.

[kestrel91316]

30. I trust Obama and Biden to handle her appropriately on their end.

We here on DU are "the rabble", and we can attack her all we want. Hell, we'd be derelict if we didn't.

[kwenu]

34. You're relying upon the media? Really.