Feb 18, 2008 at 7:45 PM by Political Chase
Adam at Kos has a good breakdown on the "maneuvering" between John McCain and his banker that led up to the Man of Integrity deceitfully demanding that Barack Obama accept federal campaign funds.
Suffice it say, the Man of Integrity’s demands have nothing to do with taking the moral high in the name of campaign finance reform.
Update: Although Adam provides detail and supporting documents, Paul Kiel summarizes it well.
It’s an arrangement that no one has ever tried before. And it appears that McCain, who has built his reputation on campaign finance reform, was gaming the system. Or as a campaign finance expert who preferred to remain anonymous told me, referring to the prominent role that lobbyists have as advisers to his campaign, "This places McCain’s grandstanding on public financing in a new light. True reformers believe public financing is a way to replace the lobbyists’ influence, not a slush fund that the lobbyists use to pay off campaign debts."
Feb 18, 2008 at 5:38 PM by Political Chase
(Update below)
Obama says he should have credited his friend Gov. Devall Patrick in his speech Saturday night.
"I was on the stump, and, you know, he had suggested that we use these lines," Obama said at a news conference a few minutes ago. "I thought they were good lines. I’m sure I should have [given him credit], didn’t this time."
But when asked whether his words were his own, Obama hit back hard.
"Now hold on a second. I mean, look here, I’ve written two books. Wrote most of my speeches," he said. "So, I think putting aside the question you just raised in terms of whether my words are my own, I think that would be carrying it too far. Deval and I do trade ideas all the time, and, you know, he’s occasionally used lines of mine…And, you know, I would add that I know Sen. Clinton on occasion has used words of mine as well."
Update: I’m probably wrong here, but it seems to me Obama should have just let this stand with the response given earlier by his campaign. He has the frontrunner status, which means staying above the fray. If he had to give an additional response he should let a surrogate handle Wolfson’s petty attacks. Wolfson is a jerk, to put it mildly, and is very good at being a jerk. He’ll throw stuff at Obama all day long if he thinks he can get in his head.
Pre-Wisconsin primary anxiety I suppose.
Feb 18, 2008 at 5:24 PM by Political Chase
Obama and Clinton are locked in a statistical tie in Texas according to new poll.
Clinton drew support from 50 percent of likely Democratic voters, while Obama polled 48 percent. With the poll’s 4.5 percent margin of error, that put them in a statistical tie two weeks before the March 4 Texas primary.
The poll also shows McCain ahead with 55 percent.
Feb 18, 2008 at 5:00 PM by Political Chase
The Wisconsin primary is tomorrow and a recent poll gives Barack Obama a huge lead (53 to 40) in the state. Result: A Clinton blitzkrieg against Obama. She is attacking Obama for not committing to public financing if he is the nominee, but she will in turn not commit to the same. Her campaign is also feverishly accusing Obama of plagiarism, but will not deny Hillary has ever used the words of others, paraphrasing or direct quote, without footnoting it.
The bottom line is the Clinton camp is proving how desperate they are and will resort to any tactic, regardless of the merits, to stop the momentum. The question is, is this the type of politics we can expect from a Hillary Clinton White House?
Yesterday on Face the Nation, Howard Woflson, Clinton’s communication director, attacked (approx. 6:20 in video) David Axlerod, Obama’s senior strategist, for not accepting John McCain’s double-standard demand to adhere to public financing of the general election, if Obama is the nominee. But Wolfson refused to do the same. McCain’s demand is ridiculous to begin with giving his flip-flopping on the position, and Woflson’s demands are even more ridiculous. Is Wolfson working for McCain? He certainly doesn’t appear to be interested in helping the Democratic Party overall, regardless of who is nominated.
Politico adeptly characterizes Wolfson’s demands.
The Clinton campaign is seizing on the issue to try to dent the halo Obama has assumed as the proponent of a cleaner, more honest brand of politics.
In a speech Saturday night in Milwaukee, Obama addressed previous attacks from Hillary Clinton that voters could “choose speeches or solutions.” Here’s the video:
Transcript:
Don’t tell me words don’t matter. I have a dream’ — just words? ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — just words? We have nothing to fear but fear itself — just words? Just speeches?
Today, the NYT reported that Obama’s rebuttal was similar to one that Massachusetts Gov. Devall Patrick (D), an Obama supporter, used in his 2006 campaign. But as the Times reported, based on an interview with Patrick, there was no plagiarism or impropriety involved. Instead, if anything it was collegial.
Both men had anticipated that Mr. Obama’s rhetorical strength would provide a point of criticism. Mr. Patrick said he told Mr. Obama that he should respond to the criticism, and he shared language from his campaign with Mr. Obama’s speechwriters.
Mr. Patrick said he did not believe Mr. Obama should give him credit.
“Who knows who I am? The point is more important than whose argument it is,” said Mr. Patrick, who telephoned The New York Times at the request of the Obama campaign. “It’s a transcendent argument.”
That’s not how the Howard Wolfson of the Clinton campaign views it. Regardless of authorization and confirmation from Gov. Patrick, Wolfson blasted Obama accusing him of plagiarism and other heinous crimes in an interview with Politico today.
Wolfson made the explosive charge in an interview with Politico after suggesting as much in a conference call with reporters.
On the call, Wolfson said: “Sen. Obama is running on the strength of his rhetoric and the strength of his promises and, as we have seen in the last couple of days, he’s breaking his promises and his rhetoric isn’t his own.”
“When an author plagiarizes from another author there is damage done to two different parties. One is to the person he plagiarized from. The other is to the reader,” said Wolfson.
The Obama camp responded with a statement from Gov. Patrick and this:
[David Ploufe, Obama's campaign manger] argued that Clinton is not in a position to be outraged about plagiarism. This is a “curious charge coming from Senator Clinton when she has actually repeatedly throughout the campaign used the language Senator Obama has used.”
Plouffe charged several instances when he says “Senator Obama’s language has been copied by the Clinton campaign.”
When reporters asked for specific examples, Plouffe said they would be provided.
Obama campaign national press secretary Bill Burton soon sent reporters an email with Clinton quotes that he argued were copied from Obama.
Those phrases include: “Fired up and ready to Go”, “Bring our country together,” “Yes we can,” “We’ve got to turn the page on George Bush and Dick Cheney,” and “Turn the Page.”
Important stuff isn’t it? Clinton says she wants to address the issues, but instead focuses on petty and incredulous charges. Just what the country needs — four more years of mudslinging and polarization from the White House. I think fifteen years is more than enough. If this is all Hillary Clinton has to offer, it’s time for her to drop out of the race.
