One of the nastiest things I will always remember about the Bush administration was their plan to have the country in perpetual fear. After 9-11 they did everything possible to keep us terrified -to make us hate people from the Middle East, hate immigrants, especially those who are undocumented, to isolate ourselves as a nation. The were immensely successful - We were/are so scared we thought we should start constructing bomb shelters again.
Clinton's people must be talking to Karl Rove. They have launched a last ditch effort to save her faltering campaign by trying to frighten us. The thing is, I'm not so sure that works anymore.
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Clinton Ad Hints Obama Is Unprepared for CrisisBy Anne E. Kornblut and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, March 1, 2008; A01WACO, Tex., Feb. 29 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton launched an across-the-board assault on Sen. Barack Obama on Friday, questioning in a provocative new television ad his ability to keep the nation safe as her advisers sought to raise an array of questions about her rival's ethics and electability.
In the ad, a narrator says that a telephone is ringing in the White House and that "your vote" will determine whether "someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world" will answer it. In the last scene, Clinton (N.Y.) is pictured picking up a phone while the narrator says: "It's 3 a.m., and your children are safely asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?"
Obama (Ill.) dismissed the ad as fear-mongering. "The question is not about picking up the phone. The question is, what kind of judgment will you make when you answer?" he said in a meeting with veterans in Houston. "We've had a red-phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. And Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer."
The Obama campaign said it was putting up its own ad, with a similar script but a different ending: "Who understood the real threat to America was al-Qaeda, in Afghanistan, not Iraq?" the narrator asks. "Who led the effort to secure loose nuclear weapons around the globe? . . . In a dangerous world, it's judgment that matters."
With early balloting coming to a close in Texas, Clinton campaign officials tried to recast the importance of Tuesday's primaries and caucuses here and in Ohio; former president Bill Clinton recently said his wife must win both to stay in the race after 11 straight defeats over the past three weeks. Her aides said that the onus is on Obama to win both primaries to prove himself the front-runner and suggested that Clinton will stay in the race even if she loses one of the big contests. Rhode Island and Vermont will also hold primaries Tuesday.
"If you are acting like the nominee, if you are essentially declaring the race over, you ought to be able to win the contests that are coming up," Howard Wolfson, a senior Clinton adviser, said in a conference call with other senior aides and reporters that lasted more than an hour. "And if you don't, it says something profound about Democrats' unease with handing the nomination to somebody with such little experience and so many unanswered questions."
As their campaigns held dueling conference calls and released competing ads, Clinton and Obama nearly crossed paths in Texas before returning to Ohio and, over the weekend, heading back to Texas. Clinton attended a funeral service in Dallas for a motorcycle policeman killed in her motorcade last week. She also appeared at a half-empty convention center here in Waco for an event designed to highlight her national security experience.
Obama advisers continued to argue that Tuesday is Clinton's make-or-break day, her final opportunity to stop her rival's momentum and climb back into contention in the delegate count. But Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, sought to lower expectations of a popular-vote blowout similar to Obama's runaway victories in Wisconsin and Virginia.
Only in Vermont, the smallest of the four March 4 prizes, is Obama the clear favorite. But Plouffe asserted that even if Clinton performs reasonably well on Tuesday, winning at least one of the big states, her prospects for closing the delegate gap are remote, verging on hopeless.
"Our number one goal is to maintain and, if we can, build on our pledged-delegate lead," Plouffe said. The Clinton team, he said, is "fighting with every fiber of their being," but he added: "We think we're in very good shape heading into next Tuesday."
The Obama campaign also announced that it had won the support of five more superdelegates, including Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.).
The Clinton "phone" ad, produced by Texas advertising guru Roy Spence, bears a strong resemblance to a spot that Spence made in 1984 for Walter Mondale in his successful campaign to beat Gary Hart for the Democratic nomination. That ad featured a red phone and questioned whether Hart had the experience to be president.
"We've seen these ads before," Obama said during his opening remarks at the first public event of the day, a meeting with veterans at an American Legion post in Houston. "They're the kind that play on people's fears to scare up votes," he said. "Well, it won't work this time."
In their conference call, Clinton officials attempted to focus attention on Obama's relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a Chicago businessman indicted last fall on federal charges of business fraud and influence peddling, and berated reporters for not asking what they described as a "staggering" number of questions about it.
"Just a couple: Is there anyone on this call who knows how many fundraisers Tony Rezko has thrown for Barack Obama?" Wolfson said. "Is there anyone on this call who knows how much money Tony Rezko has raised for Barack Obama?"
Until his legal problems, Rezko had been a friend of Obama's and a financial supporter of his political career. The Obama campaign says it has given to charity more than $150,000 in contributions linked to Rezko.
Wolfson said Obama has "skated by" in the campaign so far, a common refrain from Clinton advisers who argue that Obama has not been vetted enough to survive a general election.
Another issue raised by the Clinton campaign was a report that an Obama adviser, Austan Goolsbee, had quietly told the Canadian consul in Chicago that Obama would back away from his criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement once he took office.
"The story's just not true," Plouffe said. "No one in our campaign has said or otherwise implied that he would back away from his position on NAFTA."
The Obama campaign, for its part, sought to revive two disclosure issues believed to be Clinton vulnerabilities -- the fact that she has not released her tax returns, and the White House records involving her that are stored at her husband's presidential library.
The campaign noted that for the 2004 Democratic primary season, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio), Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) and Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) released their tax returns in April 2003 -- a year earlier in the process. Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) released his tax returns in December 2003, and retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark released his in January 2004, the campaign memo said.
It continued: "As her top Ohio supporter Governor Ted Strickland said in his 2006 campaign, if a candidate is not releasing his or her 'tax return, what is he hiding? We should question what's going on.' "
cartoon: http://www.warrentoons.com/WT%20Political%20Cartoons%20Page/2004%20Toons/Toons/Toon%20-%20I'm%20Hillary%20Clinton.jpg
for link to original WP article click the title of this post
5 comments:
A less biased person would view this ad as being about experience in foreign affairs and not to "scare" people. Democrats should not be afraid to debate national security. It is a legitimate topic of inquiry as the Republicans well know.
I think its quite effective and reminds people of Obama's dearth of experience in national security. Even when he had the chance to beef up his national security credentials as chair of the European Affairs subcommittee, Obama didn't bother to have even one substantive hearing on the issue especially when NATO forces are in Afghanistan. During the debate in Ohio, he said he was "too busy" running for President to worry about it.
Also, its just foolish that Obama supports allowing mercenary firms like Blackwater to have a continued presence in Iraq. Hillary has already cosponsored legislation to block this.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080317/scahill
C_D
Perhaps I am very sensitive about the whole idea of a politician telling us we should be afraid. That seems to have been the mantra of the past 8 years.
You have a point about Obama not being as savvy in foreign policy. Clinton does have much more experience in that area, and would probably negotiate well with the Congress.
I have been hearing some negative things about Obama re: his view on Nafta, the Blackwater issue, and some idea that he "doesn't like Latinos or people from Latin America for that matter."
But then there are lots of negative comments about Clinton too...
At moments I wonder if we (as a nation) are reacting to her being a woman, and how she is getting more shrill as her campaign falters. That combined with Obama's charisma makes it hard for a lot of people to look at the issues with any type of depth.
hard to say at this point.
thanks for your comments.
I should have mentioned media instead of person as being biased. I do apologize for that, I've been extra sensitive to the media's piling on to Clinton this primary season and I over-reacted here (I do consider you to be part of the media).
It just seems that when she draws contrasts (and yes she does attack sometimes, she's a politician after all) the media breathlessly condemns her, but when Obama launches barbs or attacks (like the Harry and Louise/NAFTA attack mailers - Obama's strategy is to sound nice on TV but have mailers and surrogates do the attacking), the media doesn't bother to report it.
Interesting factoid, Hillary's ad person, Roy Spence, was the same person who made the Mondale "red phone" ad against Gary Hart. This new ad is modeled after the "red phone" ad but with children present to provide a more feminine/motherly touch. Pat Buchanan also mentioned this on television.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0208/Mondale_Red_Phone.html
C_D
Funny, I had not thought of dreamacttexas as part of the media. but I guess it is... only that our idea has been to "counter" the media.
The media does (in general) seem to be bashing Hillary and fawning on Obama. Some people have said that maybe it's a set up because Obama can't win against a white male Republican.
I do think that we as an American society still have some kind of deep seated thing against women in power or leadership positions.
My son, who has lived in NY for several years says that the word there (even among the Republicans) is that Hillary is very competent and has done a great job in the Senate. He says that if she doesn't get the nomination he'll vote for McCain.
Hopefully you will continue to be watching for imbalance in reporting the campaign...
Well, I don't think your part of the traditional media, but I think your part of the new media on the internet.
As for McCain, could we really trust him on the Dream Act after what he did during the Dream Act vote? He was there to vote for a judge but then immediately left DC an hour later because of a campaign event. If he does this to bills he cosponsors, I wonder what he'll do to legislation he "supports."
I do wish Clinton and Obama can be combined into one person. That would make a great politician. Oh wait, maybe we can ... a Clinton-Obama ticket? (I put Clinton on top of the ticket because as they say, ladies first...)
C_D
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