Political Punch

Call me cynical, but the timing on this serves Obama in two ways:

1. He can show he's dismissing someone for inappropriate behavior.

2. His campaign can disburse the content of the inappropriate email, as a form of transparency.

It's a brilliant way to spread negativity, while appearing to be above it all.

Please don't tell me that the Obama campaign staff is not engaging in tactics. The difference is that no one is calling them on it.

spock, Oh, I forgot...GWB is a uniter...Republicans vs. Democrats, liberals vs. conseratives are what is dividing this county. The "you're either with us or against us" mindset. Those who feed into are just making the divisions wider. Hillary, GWB, and all....

Enough is enough the group that is dividing this country is the liberals, not Pres Bush, Not any Conservative, The Libs!!

If Obama or Clinton get elected it will truly divide more then just Washington DC, it will split the people from Washington DC.

My question why would anyone work for Obama, if you try to defend him you have to resign!

Well The Democrats have a disgraceful party come one they made history, 2 Democrat Governors had to resign due to sexual misappropriation and a Democrat President got impeached!

Good Morales Libs

And Obama with his underhanded land deals and slum lording!

Thorne's comments sound like any number of comments posted on this blog and others, and milder than some. I wonder how many Obama (and Clinton, for that matter) surrogates are blanketing the blogosphere with this kind of vitriol, under the cover of perceived anonymity?

The media paints s very rosy picture of Mr. Obama. The media amplifies everything Mr. Obama does, thus placing him on a very high branch like Humpty Dumpty. Mr. Obama is the first presidential candidate to be on Washington media establishment’s affirmative action program. Mr. Obama is no MLK or JFK even Mr. Clean. Mr. Obama's campaign is full of people like Samantha Powers who are learning on the job just like Mr. Obama is going to do as president. Can we really afford this sort of amateurism?

PB...Supporters say a lot of stupid things during a campaign. Just read some of these boards. It seems to me that everytime an Obama campaign staffer says something stupid they resign. However, when a Hillary campaign staffer says something stupid they are mildly rebuked if at all. I will say it again Hillary's strategy is to divide an conquer. Portraying Obama as a black phenomenom plays to her strategy of driving white voters to her side. I do not see a strategy from Obama to divide the party because he knows he cannot win without white support. If blacks choose overwhelmingly to support him, so what? And just so you know where I am coming from...I am Independent voter, white male, former Edwards supporter who has decided to choose Obama over Clinton. The reason is simple. Clinton will divide this country the same as GWB has. That is a certain. Just look at what she is doing to the Democratic party.

tiffany, I disagree with you. It was the Clintons who started down this path ever since the South Carolina party. It is the Clintons who understand that marginalizing Obama's support as a black phenomenom plays to their advantage and are playing it for all its worth. That is why they have distanced themselves from comments such as Ferraro's. They are not drawing black voters anyway. Marginalizing Obama as a black phenomenom also has the undertonings of scaring white voters to her side. Some (as I do) view this as divisive and some of the worst of politics. I am not a Democrat. I am an Independent voter (middle-aged, white male) who has been stunned by the Clintons' calculating way they are driving this wedge into the Democratic party. I voted for Clinton twice and always felt they were persecuted by Republicans. I have come to realize that they are as nasty and dirty as any Republican and therefore brought much of the persecution on themselves. Since, the only candidates in the race are Hillary and Obama I choose Obama. I simply cannot support the Clintons anymore....ever. I don't understand how any true Democrat can support the strategy she is employing against another Democrat..

Tiffany,

People are starting to pay attention to Obama's racist tactics. Attacking Ferraro only moves more white, Latino, ans Women voters to her side. Obama cannot win all these black southern states in November.

"I admire someone willing to say the truth. Hillary has become a cheater and a lier. They did call the Canadian embassy first." -THEN YOU APPRENTLY DON'T ADMIRE YOURSELF. OBAMA'S PEOPLE WERE TO ONLY ONES TO CONTACT CANADA.

Hillary Clinton's campaign team has never told any Canadian officials that their candidate's anti-NAFTA statements are just political posturing, the Prime Minister's Office said Friday

Obama's campaign, with the help of the MSM and many in the blogosphere, have used dishonest tactics and lies to paint the Clintons as racists. They succeeded in winning SC and the rest is history. However, this is going too far and many people are coming to the defense of the Clintons the same way they defended Clinton in the days of the impeachment hearings. I believe the real losers will be Obama, Howard Dean and Donna Brazile, NancyPelosi, Harry Reid and the whole DNC for being a disorganized and week sham of a party. THEY have destroyed the party, NOT the Clintons!

i wish people would stop making these demeaning statements about hillary's voters being uneducated. College-degree or not, EVERYBODY's vote counts and is equal!

The fact that these people resigned because of their negative comment doesn't make Obama better than Clinton. They resigned own their own admittance that they were wrong by opening their mouth and running it that way. Obama who claims to be of the new positive politics have had more people resign from what i have read than anyone running for president. Maybe he should spend more time picking the right people to talk for him instead.

Hey, Hillary's camp is running her campaign the best way she knows. After all, she has had the 'master of sleeze' instruct her for over 35 years.

I admire someone willing to say the truth. Hillary has become a cheater and a lier. They did call the Canadian embassy first. Bill did commit perjury and settled a law-suit with another lover. They will do anything to be in power again, anything.

catiger,

Obama is the one who decided to run on a platform of a new kind of politics, hope and change. No one else signed up for his approach and he has effectively painted himself in a corner, holding himself to a higher standard that no one else *has* to participate in. Sure, I would say that Senator Obama has a higher standard of ethics, but I would refute the claim that Senator Clinton's is in the basement.

Who has the better judgment now? If he goes the least bit negative or if he doesn't keep other supporters' comments at bay, he is going to need a lot of towels to wipe all of that egg off of his face.

What specific evidence do you have to support that Senator Clinton is a racist? Or are you exactly what disgusts you most, a hate-mongerer?

"Obama is the one who decided ..."

So, you agree Obama's ethics is way above Clinton's?

Allowing such despicable racist comments happen in her campaign speaks really loud about her racist character. Just be careful, I don't think American voters are as racists as Clinton and her supporters. She will be rejected and she really has sinked to the lowest point you can every imagine.

For you Clinton supporters, if you are not a racist, you probably should think twice before you devote your loyalty toward her. She is a racist, plain and simple.

You Clinton supporters, Obama campaign resigned two advisors in a row because of their negative statement.

What did Clinton do to Ferarro's truly racist comments? Just so you know, Ferarro is the Chairwoman of Clinton's finace committee. And what did Clinton do to Howard Wolfson?

All these people, if they said same thing in Obama camp, would have been fired on the spot! They have absolutely no place in Obama camp. Yet, they enjoy huge popularity in Clinton's camp.

Her campaign is dirty and negative because she is dirty and negative!

Unlike you Clintons and Clinton supporters, Americans do have fairness in mind when they go to the polls.

Obama is the one who decided the "ethics" he wanted to follow. That's his own fault for setting a higher standard and naive when the rest of the political world recognize how the game is actually played. He has painted himself into a corner by forcing his campaign to hold the higher ground. If you want to whine about something, whine about the high bar Senator Obama set for himself. If you don't like the rules, then don't play the game.

OK, you clinton supporters, ask your campaign match the ethics of Obama. Fire those big-mouth trouble-makers!

You guys are just way below the standard. Clinton will be rejected for this reason alone. Don't embarrase other honest democrats, would you!

Voters do see the difference in style. Negative campaign against a fellow democrat can backfire big time.

Reading the posts from Clinton supporters, it is clear to me that they love their candidate to be negative and really go out of their way to justify it. They actually think double standard is justified. You know what, I don't think so. You and your candidate are not above law or above ethics. With your support, Hillary Clinton will be even more negative. Next time, put a photo of Ken Starr next to Obama. That would be explosive.

By the way, how much dirt does Clinton have in her backpack?? Do you guys have any idea?

I asked the same thing this morning as to why no one in the media went with this email from the Obama side, but they did not miss a heartbeat to go with the statements from the Clinton side.

I would really love to know the reason as to why the media is taking a hands off stance on everything with Obama, I don't want to believe that its due to the fact that they dislike the Clinton's so much, even the foreign media seems to be asking more questions on Obama, when the Asia Times of all places can question who this Obama is, and the US media is quiet I really have to wonder what is going on.

Jake, why didn't other Media outlets cover this. Could it be because of their BIAS coverage. It seems anytime Sen. Obama cries wolf, the Media comes to his rescue. What this lady said about the Clintons was so hurtful, I'm so disgusted on how the MEDIA is treating the Clintons. I sometimes wonder if Sen. Clinton cries with frustration because afterall, I do believe the Media has made sexist comments of Sen. Clinton. CNN/MSNBC have criticized the fact that she always wears pant-suits to her laughter. Who cares? Yet, Sen. Obama gets praised for being charming and on Rolling Stone. I want an experienced leader in Office, not a Rock Star. I'm just glad she's a FIGHTER. If it would have been me, I would have dropped out a long time ago. MAY GOD GUIDE HER TO VICTORY!!! GOD BLESS YOU HILLARY!!

What rocks do these people crawl out from under.

The Campaign that taught our youth, that the Adults of the country,are, nasty, heartless and mean. They throw tantrums and lash out at people.

I am so sick of these candidates beating each other up publicly.

It is shameful.

Those who are to be the example for our youth to look up to.

Barrack Obama is in the lead for the worst candidate in history.

Hillary Clinton coming in second

McCain is left in the dust.

Why haven't we heard more about this in the media? If something like this came from the Clinton side we would never hear the end of it.

Or...., I was saying, I wonder what level of infilration the right has made into the Obama campaign, and what kind of intel they are developing for the fall. HILLARY can smell those folks a mile away. OBAMA has embraced a lot of unvetted newbies. He was the one that coined the term OBAMACANS. I wonder where these folks will be in the fall. I've got a hunch that come November, Obama is going to look up and nobody will be handling the oars on the ship, mass abandonment. HILLARY can pull this off and avoid that disaster, though. Signing off.

We all want something to believe in.

There was a woman at our precinct caucus in Washington who had a pretty good analogy for this election:

"Harry Potter got a lot of kids interested in reading again, but the Harry Potter story isn't the best literature out there. Barack Obama has gotten a lot of people interested in politics again, but he's not necessarily the best candidate."

They are both movements...fads. There is definitely a similarity between the Harry Potter fans and Barack Obama supporters. They are both interesting "reads" but I would be concerned about the novelty wearing off over time.

"O--Y",
I hope you don't mind the abbreviation. This whole painting of HILLARY as underhanded is totally baffling to me. Its another one of those "cult-type" attributes I worry about. To me, though, it seems like its more coming from right-wing posers, attempting to interfere with the Demo nominating process. There are some in the OBAMA camp that seem to have seriously bought in to that kind of thinking, or.....

Yeah, "LOM",
Its as if they believe they have a pre-ordained right to this election outcome. It's a bit scary, the whole cult thing. That actually worries me for the November election.

"Russell",
I don't care if the OBAMA campaign manages itself, but I really want to see the CLINTON campaign shine. I don't like to see these types of blunders coming out of the CLINTON side. I expect that the pressure of a long campaign is to CLINTON's benefit, based on the experience, and that we are seeing more cracks coming out of the OBAMA side now. Is it fair game for the CLINTON supporters to help the OBAMA team move forward with its crumbling?

WCM, I thought the "stolen election" reference was odd. It is almost as if some folks in their camp are expecting her to win the nomination. "Stolen" doesn't really conjur up images of positivity, but I think we all realize that isn't what the Obama campaign is about at this point.

Stolen implies that something was taken away that was yours. This nomination hasn't belonged to anyone to this point. Let the rules play out and let every delegate be counted.

Looks like the candidate of "hope" who was running a "new campaign" is just another disgusting two-faced politician. Even though I'm a lifelong Democrat who has never voted Republican, I reluctantly will have to vote for McCain this election if Obama is the nominee.

Westcoast: before every primary we have had a cry from the Obama camp if it was not Bill statement, it was the robe story, a photo was too dark, someone in Clinton camp made a racist remark and so on.

They had been doing this before every primary that has been run, they cry foul before the race begins and the media takes it and runs with it on every news clip, it never fails and am sure they will keep doing it for every other primary that we are having after this one.

West Coast Messenger: I am from Illinois----middle. I have been waiting for the MSM to pick up the Rezko story and run with it like they have decended on the Gov. Spitzer story----stories like that are drowning the Rezko trial story out----it needs to BE TOLD, loud and clear, and CONSTANTLY the media needs to be on it, every minute. Whether that's gonna happen or not, however....

"Talk about a double standard"

Folks, it cannot be a double standard. Senator Clinton is not the one who put herself on this high pedestal, declaring that she is going to run a positive campaign based on a new kind of politics, hope and change. That was Senator Obama. He has painted himself into a corner on this issue and if he doesn't want to look like a liar, he needs to make good on his word.

Now, if Clinton "will say and do anything to get elected," then this subject should be a moot point. The Obama supporters should expect this type of behavior from her campaign, so don't act like it's a big surprise when it happens and cry foul.

I have an idea, let's talk about the issues and figure out how we are going to put a Democrat in the White House this Fall.

"O--Y"/"LOM",
I concur, you both seem to have a similar opinion. The one line that stood out to me was the line about a "stolen election". That part does not seem to be a re-hash, that seems like it is fearful and looking to the future. I could be over-analyzing this one, and I'm pretty much done with it, but I think we're seeing some evidence of crumbling. Thank you for the engaging conversation.

How on earth are we going to make it to april this is going to be a long six weeks

WestCoast: I re-read the e-mail; it is obvious that it re-visits all of the old stuff the Clintons went through in the past, in a nutshell.

I feel it's just an attempt by the obama campaign to re-hash it as a big negative against Hillary, even if it's slightly guilt by association with Bill's stuff brought up. The e-mail looks carefully composed, in-depth, and thought-out, for sure.

I do think you have something, though----I believe that the obama campaign is running scared, because they tied their own hands and took an oath "not to attack", and Hillary's constant criticism is working. And, we haven't visited Florida and Michigan, and yes, obama would compromise principals, or seem hypocritical with regard to those states' decisions......he knows Michigan and Florida are not in his favor, and he's shaking in his boots....

Ugh. I hate it when I make grammatical errors. "...things aren't going your way."

As a Clinton supporter, I wouldn't want to be construed as uneducated and stupid.

WCM,
I have NO clue what his rant was about. I know that both sides have folks who are passionate about their candidates and get caught up in the frustration. Frustration generally happens when things aren't going you're way.

Without really knowing what he was thinking about (which was obviously NOT the ramification of typing that in a not-so-private domain), I can only speculate that perhaps it is finally sinking in that the possibility of an Obama nomination is not necessarily a sure thing.

When he says "this should affirm the end of her campaign" and then list off the already public dirt of their past, my only guess is that he is wanting to (and urging others to join him) do their own version of throwing in the kitchen sink in hopes to get her campaign to collapse once and for all.

IMHO, he just seems bitter about something and probably had a bad day. I don't think it's that big of a deal. He is entitled to his opinion...it just didn't happen to be a good one this time.

"SJ", I'm not tracking with you on the racial stuff. Can you clarify?

"Alison", what about these eruptions coming out of the campaigns, on almost a daily basis. It is coming out of both camps, but seems to be happening with a greater frequency now with the OBAMA camp. I'm still wondering if OBAMA has been lucky, lacking any controlling authority in his campaign, other than someone like Axelrod, that shoots from the hip. If that is the case it could get worse. Would you agree?

More like convenient vetting, they are throwing things up in the air where it falls it falls, they are all aware of what they are doing no doubt about that.

The problem is if the MSM would take it up and run with it as it they do when the Clinton camp does something they would stop, but before every primary they have played some race issue, not one primary has gone without a hint of it from the Obama camp.

The other news of the day, like this rant, and the Ferraro story almost drowned out Mississippi. I don't think the momentum has shifted back to OBAMA since Texas and Ohio. This gets to what I believe is truly worrying the OBAMA campaign. First you will have a Pennsylvania T.K.O., followed by a Florida knockout. I think those folks are worried that HRC will pass them on the final lap.

COVERSELY
Geraldine Ferraro is working on the Clinton Campaign and is one of the chairs of the Finance Committee on thier printed literature

And she remains on the campaign--

Talk about a double standard

the guy was not on the campaign

he was a non paid member of the LGBT advisory board supporting Obama

Would be like expeting either campaign to decry some of the baloney posted on blogs like this

"SJ", I agree it is a mad rant, but if he put it on a listserv it would have to have been that welcomed that kind of messaging. I could be wrong but this is rather bizarre messaging coming out of a campaign. Is there zero vetting going on over there, in terms of the messaging?

LOM: I agree with you! I have to change the channel when that guy comes on, because all he talks about is Pro-obama----he can't even think or act objectively.....

I do feel they wanted a blow out today in Mississippi but unfortunately they did not get that

"LOM", help us out here on this JAKE TAPPER punch topic today. What was OBAMA's advisor after by sending off this hate message to his own people? Shouldn't somebody be asking the OBAMA campaign that question? The advisor expresses overt anxiety about the HRC threat. Is this nuts, I mean he's doing it within his own campaign group. What would somebody be after with this kind of messaging?

Westcost: I have no idea what that man is trying to say, I don't know what the incident of Bill/ Monica has to do with Hillary's ability to lead, its just a nasty letter that was placed on a list sever that can be accessed by any one in the world, that is why I cant understand why all the crying over the statements of today.

The obama campaign may be trying to prove a point, that if they try to squash negativity coming out of their campaign, either controlled or uncontrolled-----they are showing all that THEIR campaign people are canned or resign after they are chastised for "going negative on them"----that puts pressure on clinton's camp to follow siut, or look bad.

I just think it over-reactive and out-of-place AND out-of-context that this gay male who is identified as the leader of the GLBT part of the obama campaign can come out and say what he did---his complaints were not even in the context of anti-gay clinton stances (though Hillary has none, anyway)----the e-mail was just ranting and raving about things other than gay issues, for a gay leadership person to be even over-reacting to.....

Jamal Simmons should be removed from CNN because his way too overt support for Obama is enough to make me puke a little bit in my mouth. They always have to introduce him as a "democratic strategist and barack obama supporter (more as a caveat rather than a formal introduction)."

He is the one that SNL should poke fun at--he is so in the tank for Obama, it's almost comical. Don't get me wrong, it's great for Obama to have such an avid supporter, but come on, let's balance it out a bit. Lanny Davis is a Clinton supporter, but he is not nearly as nutty as Jamal. He tries to stay on issue and talk about the relevant points of this election...Jamal talks to hear himself talk.

At least he got a good whooping the last week during the Ohio/Texas/Rhode Island/Vermont elections by Lanny Davis.

"O--Y", you got pinched, not sure why. From your perspective this sounds like business as usual, and there is really no controlling authority coming out of the OBAMA campaign. Tapper and others seem to have cited HRC for not having controlling management over her trusted advisors, but the reverse may actually be the case, and it is OBAMA who has been operating by luck up to this point. What do you think?

"SJ", you may be missing the point. The OBAMA advisor may have plenty to talk about, but would you say he is demonstrating some abnormally heightened fear over the threat that OBAMA faces from CLINTON? Or is it a reasonable level of fear? What was he aiming for with this type of communication. JAKE TAPPER needs to find this one out. This has definitely woken me up. I think fear is starting to run deeper in the OBAMA campaign. This is on a day where OBAMA has won another small state.

"Al", how did OBAMA get the reputation of being cool under pressure, as Larry David claims, if he rattles so easily? Did you read OBAMA's response to the VP proffer as being a bit rattled and defensive? I think this may be more evidence that HRC has him on the run. What do you think?

Yes its trench warfare now I see hillary winning but not till august.

Ok, so it seems the obama campaign can't make the transfer from checkers to chess, what do you expect he has no experience at this level nor do his people.

Obama has one real bad weakness he raddles easy, Tom Brady he's not.

"Al", did you hear what I said? This member of OBAMA's GLBT council indicates he believes that CLINTON is taking the election away from OBAMA. This shows high level worry out of the OBAMA campaign, would you agree? You better stop worrying about the house and start worrying about the whole, big election!

Look the reason that Hillary won't release her tax returns is that she and bill have made alot of money and it would make her look bad its that simple. So that said why won't Obama release his real estate purchase records with rezko. Why for the same reason, its gonna make him look bad. The question is how bad?

Hey "Al", you are changing the subject of the post. Something just occurred to me. This apparent high-ranking GLBT adviser is worried that HILLARY CLINTON is taking the election away from her opponent. This is the first time that I know of that there has been that leval of spillage from his campaign. In essence, this joker is communicating at absolute level of fear! Where did the hope go? Wow. HILLARY CLINTON has her opponent on the run.

Jamal Simmons the CNN Obama supporter says all Obama did was buy a house. OK then just release the records and why is Obama calling a normal house purchase a bone headed move?

The GOP syas they would rather run against Hillary but its disinformation. The idea of running against Obama is their dream, why did MCCain stay in the race. Why beacuse he sees that he can acturally win

If its a normal real estate purchase why has Obama called it a bone headed move. What it tells me is that when he bought this house he had no intention of runnung for president. I think he was pushed into the race by his "friends" If Obama loses to McCain he will have the title of Mr. Spoiler, the man who gave the GOP four more years.

Hey "Malania", I believe you are wrong about TAPPER being pro-Obama. He just pulls it from the pipeline the way its spewing out. I support HILLARY CLINTION 100 per cent, and I'm not seeing any bias. He is definitely not pro-Clinton either.

Hillary will release her tax records when Obama agrees to release his records on his Chicago real estate purchase with Rezko.

follow the money, If its just a home purchase whats the big deal?

Obama has tried to paint himself as a new politician but now we are slowly seeing that he is nothing but new, in fact it appears he subscribes to old school politics whose doctrine is tell em what they wonna hear.

Also on what G. Ferrero says about Obama being black, how many white candiates have gotten 80 percent of the black vote?

VITRIOLIC OBAMA supporters are not convinicing me to support him. All these negative emotions are spilling over the landscape and in turn paint him negatively to me. This Gay/Lesbian/Bi-Sexual, Transgendered aide to Senator Obama should have been better vetted before being allowed to join the campaign. Frankly, it is irrelevant that this person is GLBT, I'm not sure why that is even being reported -- I don't really care about this person's sexual identities, but the uncontrolled, hateful emotions are worrisome for someone who can be so influential in a campaign.

I think that prety well sums her up....
She would say the same and no one would do a thing after she has put the crap out to the public then she would come forward and say I don't agree with that
The Clintos are dirty people I can not really tell you what I think of them on the net.UGHHHHHHH God help this country if she is every in the White House again....

I want to know why Obama has not denounced and rejected his wife's statement about the same thing:

"If you can't run your own house, you can't run the White House." (video can be found online)

reported Aug 21, 2007.

Where is your holier than though attitude now Senator Obama?

BHO has put himself in a bind by taking the high road... too high in my opinion. He may take his all-too-ethical nomination out of the Dem race. HRC is showing to the Party Leaders that if BHO faces McCain, he'll be trounced. This is her only way of getting the election, if the super delegates agree with her assessment.

Tax records are for spin... how much did she donate charity... what charity? How much does she actually make... to paint the distinction between her salary and the salaries of her base (mostly workig-class people).

What are her sources of income? Are they linked to firms that can be smeared... these are the reasons to get tax returns.

MR. TAPPER:
I've read your blog over time, and I'd have to swear you are an Obama Supporter. Never a tiny word that might upset the Obama campaign, only typical Hillary rant. Is it you've succumb to that of which all Media has postured this election year?

When the next 4 years to not live up to our expectations, will it be the Media we blame this time? For you have all spun the web the way you've wanted.

Sad.

What did he say that is wrong? or innaccurate? As a non-gay male I can say these things .... I don't get it.

Yes. what about his tax returns from 2005. 2004 and 2003. and his earmarks. and why hasn't anyone asked why he is demanding Hillary release her tax return early? What exactly does BHO believe they show?

With all these resignations from the Obama camp... is he gonna have any one left?

Is this the new tactic? Let the pitbulls out and let them fight it out... but Clinton takes her rabid dogs back while Obama puts his down.

Thorne is a total nuthead, but you gotta give the Obama campaign credit for taking swifty reponsability and action after Thorne sent this e-mail.

I'm a Clinton supporter but disagree about her campaign's reaction to Ferarro's truly despicable comments. But maybe (I hope) the'll get back to that and set things straight.

Ouch. I don't know why she should resign for expressing her opinion though. As Clinton said, both sides have some overzealous staffers, but it's the real issues that matter.

The guy was LYING. The Canadian PM said that only Obama did that.