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Hillary Clinton's Samsonite Argument
April 17, 2008 8:54 AM
To me what was most interesting about the debate was that Sen. Hillary Clinton was so directly making her argument to superdelegates.
More so than to voters, quite often.
Call it the Samsonite argument.
"I've been in this arena for a long time. I have a lot of baggage, and everybody has rummaged through it for years," she said. Therefore, she argued, "I will be able to withstand whatever the Republican sends our way."
But it wasn't enough for her to say that -- Clinton pointed out all of Sen. Barack Obama's relatively unrummaged-through luggage. Including some misrepresentations of that baggage.
Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos brought up a number of issues that Obama's opponents have been making hay over -- and Clinton consistently added and elaborated about them.
Polls indicate that 72% of Democrats believe Obama has successfully distanced himself from Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but Clinton is apparently not among them.
"It is something that I think deserves further exploration," she said of the controversy. "For Pastor Wright to have given his first sermon after 9/11 and to have blamed the United States for the attack, which happened in my city of New York, would have been intolerable for me. ….. And I think that it wasn't only the specific remarks, but some of the relationships with Reverend Farrakhan, with giving the church bulletin over to the leader of Hamas to put a message in. You know, these are problems, and they raise questions in people's minds. And so this is a legitimate area, as everything is when we run for office, for people to be exploring and trying to find answers."
(For the record, "giving the church bulletin over to the leader of Hamas" is a reference to the church bulletin running an oped by the deputy of the political bureau of Hamas that had appeared in the Los Angeles Times.)
After Stephanopoulos asked Obama about his relationship with William Ayres, a former member of the Weather Underground with whom he is, according to his campaign, "friendly," Obama said "this kind of game, in which anybody who I know, regardless of how flimsy the relationship is, is somehow -- somehow their ideas could be attributed to me -- I think the American people are smarter than that. They're not going to suggest somehow that that is reflective of my views, because it obviously isn't."
Clinton immediately jumped in to point out that it wasn't just that Obama and Ayres were friendly, but that "Senator Obama served on a board with Mr. Ayers for a period of time, the Woods Foundation, which was a paid directorship position."
She then made quite a leap, tying a quote of Ayres that appeared in the New York Times Arts section on 9/11 with 9/11.
"If I'm not mistaken, that relationship with Mr. Ayers on this board continued after 9/11 and after his reported comments, which were deeply hurtful to people in New York, and I would hope to every American, because they were published on 9/11 and he said that he was just sorry they hadn't done more. And what they did was set bombs and in some instances people died."
Obama said that "by Senator Clinton's own vetting standards, I don't think she would make it, since President Clinton pardoned or commuted the sentences of two members of the Weather Underground, which I think is a slightly more significant act than me serving on a board with somebody."
His general reaction was to reject this kind of politics.
"I recall when back in 1992, when she made a statement about how, what do you expect, should I be at home baking cookies?" he said. "And people attacked her for being elitist and this and that. And I remember watching that on TV and saying, well, that's not who she is; that's not what she believes; that's not what she meant. And I'm sure that that's how she felt as well. But the problem is that that's the kind of politics that we've been accustomed to. And I think Senator Clinton learned the wrong lesson from it, because she's adopting the same tactics."
And, the Obama campaign says, this is why Clinton's disapproval ratings are so high.
- jpt
April 17, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (310)
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"I will be able to withstand whatever the Republican sends our way."
Trying to circumvent the actual votes for the nominee eh?
How can she think that she has the ability to win the general election when she can't win her own party's nomination?
I guess the same way she's trying to get the nomination...
Posted by: southernbell | Apr 17, 2008 4:07:52 PM
MarkD.... As I remember it, the Clintons were never 'cleared' of any wrong doing with respect to Whitewater. Rather, it was President Clinton's appointment as Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, who was rumored to be a former college roommate of Hillary Clinton's, that shortly after being appointed announced there was insufficient evidence to pursue further litigation against the Clintons. This is contrary to what employees at the time told with respect about the information and evidence that had been accumulated. That Chairman abruptly resigned shortly thereafter, also when it was became clear that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank at the time was not going vacate the post.
Reality....Clinton's dodged more sniper fire again.
Posted by: Littlepup5 | Apr 17, 2008 4:05:46 PM
Kim Jones-
You are exactly right I GUARANTEE you that not one of the people here complaining about the debate last night complained after the other debates when Hillary was the one getting hit hard with questions. But now they all cry fowl when their guy has to wing it without a pillow for a change.
Posted by: Kate | Apr 17, 2008 3:53:08 PM
Hillary didn' wear a flag pin.
The moderators didn't wear flag pins.
John McCain doesn't even wear a flag pin.
When eight Republican candidates debated last autumn, seven of them did not wear flag pins.
But Obama is a black man.
Posted by: marianna | Apr 17, 2008 3:41:29 PM
Come On.......now you are bashing Charlie and George?
I for one appreciated the questioning to force the candidates to "belly up" to their allegations against one another out on the campaign trail. They can always use their campaign staff to initiate a bad rumor, and then blame their own staff for it not agreeing with their views and values. Well, guess what....Senator Clinton kept hammering that Senator Obama was unelectable. But forced to answer the question in public, it was another one of her lies. Sorry, I mean't misstatement.
Thanks Charlie & George for hammering the candidates to stop the Political Spin and directly answer their dirty laundry/baggage accusations in the open air.
Posted by: Littlepup5 | Apr 17, 2008 3:41:00 PM
Littlepup5, If history serves me right the Clintons were cleared of whitewater which all arose from the Rose law firm. I was strictly speaking of being convicted.. forgive me for not being clear.
Posted by: MarkD | Apr 17, 2008 3:34:34 PM
concerned --- YES. Thanks for posting the long list of Obama's highly *questionable* contacts. More Americans should be worried about this, and asking questions! Thank goodness the Hillary supporters and ABC and others are telling this story. Be careful who you vote for is RIGHT!
FYI, I also heard B. HUSSEIN Obama was involved with:
Darth Vader
Voldemort
Sauron
Omarosa
the Decepticons
John Rocker
Gargamel
Khan
Tell your friends! This man is NOT ready to be President!
Posted by: dan | Apr 17, 2008 3:32:47 PM
If you are going to defame Senator McCain over the Keating 5 fiasco, let's make sure we are fair and give the same amount of time to disclose the true personal and professional involvement the Clinton's played in the Rose Law Firm's questionable dealings and relationships with the failed Morgan Guarantee Savings & Loan in Arkansas, and the former Best Bank in Aurora, Colorado.
Tisk - tisk!
Posted by: Littlepup5 | Apr 17, 2008 3:28:37 PM
do you believe Reverend Wright is as patriotic as you are?" Huh? What kind of question is THAT
That is a softball question. Giving Obama a free pass on his patriotism (which he later lied about). Obama hurt himself by repeatedly having to have the last word on every question- stealing "airtime" by expanding on his first response and digger himself deeper.
Posted by: geevill | Apr 17, 2008 3:25:07 PM
Jorge, we can't eat hope, hope will not run our cars, educate our children. You vote for OBlama for your country, Hillary is best for our country.
Posted by: democraticprocess | Apr 17, 2008 3:19:37 PM
MarkD
Old news.
Incorrect news.
Irrelevant news.
Can't you do better?
Posted by: S | Apr 17, 2008 3:16:31 PM
This was the best that ABC could do? Gibson should be farmed out to do the weather in Little Rock, and George should be fired, outright. The interrogation was sleazy, slimy, biased, trivial, and --as someone has noted -- ABC managed to injure ten million brains last night, while offending everyone. Shame on you.
Posted by: Bob | Apr 17, 2008 3:14:32 PM
Was it just me that noticed Senator Clinton trying to crouch behind her podium when Senator Obama was being grilled for not wearing a flag pin on his lapel?
Where was Senator Clinton's United States flag pin I ask?
I thought so too..................
Posted by: Littlepup5 | Apr 17, 2008 3:13:24 PM
McCain was not cleared in anything related to being a member of the Keating 5. He was forced to pay a $112,000.00 fine. Wasn't the amount that taxpayers lost but it was the amount he was payed by Mr. Keating. Sadly the fine didn't include all the perks of being in Mr. Keatings pocket. Trips, private jets, meals in 5 star restaurants.. the list goes on.
Posted by: MarkD | Apr 17, 2008 3:11:17 PM
Obama’s excuse for Ayers is he was only a young boy when Ayers bombed the U.S.
Why didn’t Obama tell the REST of the story?
In the 1990’s, Obama served on a board with Ayers, the Woods Foundation, which was a paid, “underline PAID”, directorship position. They worked together and attended fundraisers together. Ayers held fundraisers and was a contributor to Obama’s Chicago campaign, plus the Obamas and the Ayers visited each other quite often. ENOUGH SAID!
Obama’s associations with Wright, Ayers, Sinclair, Farrakhan, the Black Panthers, Rezko, Meeks, Malley, Auchi, Khalidi, McPeaks, Nadhmi, Said, and Michelle Obama, among others, deserve being vetted. What’s their fear? DON’T FORGET THESE PEOPLE.
BE CAREFUL WHO YOU VOTE FOR!
Posted by: concerned | Apr 17, 2008 3:03:49 PM
MarkD
He was cleared in court and in congress.
Maybe you should get a better search engine!
Posted by: S | Apr 17, 2008 3:03:48 PM
I think Obama looked presidential and gave eloquent answers in the face of absurd accusations. Hillary has no chance to win the nomination even if she wins in a landslide in Pennsylvania. It's over Hillary. You cannot change the rules of math.
Posted by: MarkD | Apr 17, 2008 2:59:22 PM
From Amsterdam I say: I trully hope that Obamas means what he says and I really hope America changes their international policy. NO MORE SHAMELESS WARS FOR OIL!!! the americans are the true threats of the world. Bush was reelected because of paranoia, I truly hope that this time you choose Obama because of... hope!
Note: Im not religous, Im white and never saw a bomb!
Posted by: Jorge | Apr 17, 2008 2:59:01 PM
I almost felt sorry last night for OBama. His performance was so poor and he seemed to be floundering in the face of Clinton's sure-footed style - remember everyone, she's had everything thrown at her in the last few weeks!
My sympathy disappeared this morning however when I saw how busy TEAMOBAMA is in spinning last night's debate. The blogosphere is full of "she was so negative, and she'll lose support because of it" and "he was blindsided by biased moderators" to the delusional "he did a great job".
Clinton by the way looked sad or perhaps embarassed for him.
Obama supporters had better be hoping that Pennsylvania voters were not tuned in last evening. If they saw what we all saw, he's going to lose big.
Even Axelrod can't convince anyone who saw his performance that they didn't see a trainwreck in the making.
Posted by: s. valenti | Apr 17, 2008 2:55:50 PM
excuse me S? are you claiming that McCain wasn't a part of the Keating 5? If so Google should be your friend.
Posted by: MarkD | Apr 17, 2008 2:55:28 PM
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