Pelosi Tells Obama, Clinton: Quit Yer Bickering

San Francisco Chronicle:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged both leading Democratic presidential candidates to cease their bickering, warning that the escalating rhetoric could hurt the party's chances in November.

"I would encourage both of them, as I have, to remember we have to keep our eyes on the prize, which is the general election in November," Pelosi said Friday at a luncheon in New York sponsored by Lifetime Networks and the Hearst Corp., parent company of The Chronicle.

"We are all very passionate about our politics and the issues we believe in, but we have to be very dispassionate about how we approach winning. We have to lift the debate to a place that does not turn off the American people."

Read the whole story: San Francisco Chronicle

Comments

[tkk]

I just love how the Dem insiders created the whole mess by drafting Obama to run and then they keep telling Clinton to shut up.

[AnninCA]

Did they? Interesting.

[Ajita]

1. No one "drafted" Obama to run.
2. It was Clinton who was picked by the insiders. Wake up and smell the silver spoon.
3. Pelosi didn't tell Clinton alone to shut up. Stop using Clintonian tactics and twisting words to suit your purposes. She told both the candidates to stop bickering, a month too late.
4. Clinton has been spewing vitriol for the last 2 months. Obama just brought up her undisclosed past record which she refers to in resume building, and he asked for it to be made public. That scares the party insiders because there are some stinky ol' skeletons in that ol' Clinton closet. They just dont want to hurt the party.
5. If Obama was down by the margin that Clinton is, Pelosi would be asking him to quit. Meanwhile she gets to challenge party officials on rules she had already agreed to in Michigan and Florida, and they don't dare chastise her publicly.
6. Its about time someone told her to shut up.

[Fabienne]

So "drafting" is a synonym for winning the most pledge delegates and the higher percentage of the popular vote? Thank you, I never knew.

[Roose]

Nancy -- please you should get off your high horse and tell that barn burner Clinton to stop her nasty shenanigans and stop endorsing John McKeating and please get out of this race this instant.

[browndog2]

Huff's a tad inverted tonight.Istead of 15 humans they have 1/15th of a human trying to approve 48 comments on Pelosi.

[JoDeeVa]

Although Nancy Pelosi's comments today seem quite reasonable in urging civility between Clinton/Obama, keeping Democratic voters 'in the fold', regardless of whom the ultimate nominee is and the Florida/Michigan situation..she is hardly the voice of reason or credibility in her own role as Speaker! That she can dare to utter "...I can't have their - if you want to call it bickering - have an impact on my congressional races."..when her own failures won't impact those races at all, will they? I feel like we're living in "Bizarro World."

Jeez! Talk about a rich irony..if only she would do a bit more, a hell of a bit more bickering with the Republicans. She and the Democratic Congress was elected on behalf of those Democratic voters 'in the fold' who gave them the mandate of resolving issues such as Iraq, the corruption of the Bush administration/impeachment, Constitutional subversion, FISA/protection of civil liberties, economic stability andonandon it goes with the dashed hopes and failure to stem the abuses of the Republican administration. Get your own House in shape, Ms. Pelosi and then maybe you have the right, to go along with your temerity to call on the candidates to follow your lead and make nice with each other..then, again I guess your cozying up to Republicans makes you the expert on conciliation among rivals, eh? Way to placate the masses, especially those 'in the fold' who gave you your job along with that failed mandate! Way to be 'dispassionate about how you approached winning' against the Republican agenda. Such hypocrisy is as unbelievable as Pelosi's stab at sincerity..more like "Bizarro Logic!"

[Seattlelite]

I like and respect Nancy Pelosi a great deal, but perhaps she should have turned into Keith Olberman's Count Down show yesterday and today if she wants to know who needs to be called out regarding bickering, mud slinging, and dirty politics AND that is NOT Sen. Obama. That said I still love Nancy!

[browndog2]

Keep talking nancy, and you'll start reminding people why they loathe politicians. Winning? Staying in power,THE most important thing? Heard any speeches by Obama lately? Seen his poll numbers? It's no longer about "just win baby"', it's about doing your job! So you're passionate about politics,try getting passionate about spending $100 a week in gas for the privelidge of working!

[123xyz]

Hillary has now said on more than one occasion that she believes the Republican candidate, John McCain, is more qualified to be president than her Democratic rival, Obama. Sorry Nancy but that is not petty bickering, it can't be spun, it can't be forgiven, and I, for one will never forget it. On election day I will remember those who have, by their silence, given their approval for the use of such tactics against a fellow Democrat and the next time one of you think to again ask me for a donation (DNC included), please just don't bother, you've done nothing to earn it.

[Fresnobill314]

Bold talk for an invertebrate.

[geobushono]

Nancy- you have a bigger fish to fry.........get off your ass and impeach!
Pelosi is invested in business as usual, and that doesn't mean Obama.


Obama 08

[OnePartyEqualsTyranny]

Pelosi should remember her next election. She’s already in the crosshairs by many.

[ricchase]

That should read, "Reid."

[ricchase]

I think Pelosi and read have lost their ability to tell anyone to do anything. She should start by instructing her fellow congresspersons to stand up to BushCo, for real, for ONCE!!

[JerryJef]

I have not paid any attention to the campaign since March 4. Wednesday and Thursday I as heartsick and dejected at the turn toward slime taken in few days preceding Tuesday. But now I am livid. No Democrat ever in my lifetime that I can remember has ever said the Republican is preferable to his Democratic opponent. But yet Hillary Clinton has said just that.

I am one of those Democrats that by demographics should be supporting Hillary. I am an old, low income, white, Southern male. I go back to Adlai Stevenson as the first Democrat I supported. But I tell you, I find her comments on commander-in-chief and her preference for a Republican over her Democratic opponent to be intolerable in inexcusable.

[truthyguy]

Dear Ms. Pelsoi: In case you haven't noticed, Hillary is the only one bickering.


Of course, I realize you don't notice much because you are incompetent and only hold your position as Speaker because the Dems - as usual - have the misguided notion they have to be PC and have a woman speaker.

[thinkb4uleap]

Interesting timing Nancy Pelosi. Where were you when Hillary Clinton was employing her "kitchen sink" strategy against Barack Obama? If you had made a similar appeal at that time you might have more credibility on this issue now.