Obama Prepares For Full Assault On Clinton's Ethics

The Chicago Tribune reports that Barack Obama's is pushing this week for greater transparency in his campaign as part of a plan to launch a head-on attack against his opponent Sen. Clinton.

Sen. Barack Obama is trying to air his dirty laundry -- even some items that might appear just a little wrinkled -- as he prepares a full assault on Sen. Hillary Clinton over ethics and transparency.

On Saturday he invoked Robert F. Kennedy as he continued to try to distance himself from controversial statements made by his former Chicago pastor that are circulating on the Internet.

With a gap between campaign contests, Obama is trying to unload controversies. On Friday he held extended conversations with the Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times about his longtime relationship with indicted developer and fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

The Illinois Democrat is also expected to make public his tax returns for several years before 2006, documents he previously has provided to the Tribune and other news organizations.

The plan seems to be yielding dividends, if the Tribune is to be believed. After sitting with the papers editorial board to answer every question asked about his relationship with Tony Rezko, the Chicago Tribune had this to say:

When we endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination Jan. 27, we said we had formed our opinions of him during 12 years of scrutiny. We concluded that the professional judgment and personal decency with which he has managed himself and his ambition distinguish him.

Nothing Obama said in our editorial board room Friday diminishes that verdict.

We said in that same editorial that Obama had been too self-exculpatory in explaining away his ties to Tony Rezko. And we've been saying since Nov. 3, 2006 -- shortly after the Tribune broke the story of Obama's house purchase -- that Obama needed to fully explain his Rezko connection. He also needed to realize how susceptible he had been to someone who wanted a piece of him -- and how his skill at recognizing that covetousness needed to rise to the same stature as his popular appeal.

Friday's session evidently fulfills both obligations. Might we all be surprised by some future disclosure? Obama's critics have waited 16 months for some new and cataclysmic Rezko moment to implicate and doom Obama. It hasn't happened....

...Barack Obama now has spoken about his ties to Tony Rezko in uncommon detail. That's a standard for candor by which other presidential candidates facing serious inquiries now can be judged.

Comments

[the964kid]

Its about freakin' time! Obama tried to play nice but he should have dealt the knock-out blow many weeks ago. The Clintons have no ethics and there's a lot of ammunition to use on this point - this should be good!

[wantchangeforreal]

So many Bill's haters here who can't forget he reformed welfare system!

[awb]

authentic or inauthentic --- that is the question

TNR: THE SPINE
Marty Peretz
March 16, 2008

"I Don't Recall Mrs. Clinton's Engagement."

I knew that Hillary's shpiel about her experience in this and her experience in that was fake. Take, for example, her evidence for being an old foreign policy hand: she had been to 80 different foreign countries while her poor hubby was (alone) in the White House. This seemed to me to be a hyped-up version of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. How gullible does she think the American public is?

But there was one area in public policy about which I was prepared to take her at her word, and that was health policy. es, we know she did screw up in her first dip into those tempestuous waters. But, my God, she was intense about medical care, and she was intense about it every opportunity she had. And especially about coverage of children. Well, it turns out, she was hyping this, too. But she was -- how do I say this? -- lying.

The front page of Friday's Boston Globe has a measured headline: "Clinton role in health program disputed." But the article by Susan Milligan is devastating. The piece begins, "Hillary Clinton, who has frequently described herself on the campaign trail as playing a pivotal role in forging a children's health insurance, had little to do with crafting the landmark legislation or ushering it through Congress, according to several lawmakers, staffers, and healthcare advocates involved in the issue." Wow. This is a big lie.

"In 1997," she said in Iowa in one of her typical "me, me, me" claims," I joined forces with members of Congress and we passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program." The opposite was true. The Clinton White House was against the legislation, which was proposed by Orrin G. Hatch and Ted Kennedy. And what about Hillary? When asked, Ted half-shrugged and then said, "Facts are stubborn things." John McDonough, a Democratic health care specialist then and now, said, "I don't recall Mrs. Clinton's engagement."

[AC500]

As Tracy Morgan said on SNL when asking what qualifies Hillary to be President:

"If Hillary’s last name wasn’t Clinton she’d be some crazy white lady with too much money and not enough love’n. That’s where I come in. I know women like that and you do not want them on the phone at 3 in the morning."

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=229454

[teamster4obama]

The Clintons have ethics?

[GeorgeKaplan]

Keep that rubbish rolling!

[Savanarola]

A full attack on Cinton Ethics would take five years. Maybe he ought just hit the " Best Hits of Clinton Ethics" a full, ten hour CD.

[uglybetty]

Funny you should say that !! Thats what I was thinking about Obama after watching his Mentor (so called preacher) .
If Obama has been with this man for 20yrs and as close as he himself says,I'd find it Very hard to believe that those same views are not also Obamas !!!
I don't think there are any ethics there to speak of !!!

[sklfcats]

Barak should talk ?!

[sklfcats]

The Obamas have ethics?
His preacher certainly does not.

[fignozzle]

i am so over what that preacher said.
alls i have to do is put myself in his shoes, (that preacher's shoes)..... and i get it.

[Blutus]

Clinton ethics?

Is this what they call a "target rich environment?"

[deutchs]

It's what is know as an oxymoron.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

exactly

[MysticMichael]

Either that or an oxymoron...

[debwarot]

Thanks, Blutus, for the chuckle!

[MikeB08]

The Clinton's have been fighting head-on attacks for many, many years. And they have always emerged barely scathed. Actually she seems to shine when she is under attack. I doubt she's too worried.

[2008andbeyond]

Those attacks could be blamed on the "right-wing" but this is a Dem primary following eight years of presidential secrecy and ineptitude. It's also the 21st Century, not the 1990's when citizens were over dependent on what the MSM fed them. We can research for facts and get instant results. People want and deserve more information so hiding from the light will only hinder Mrs. Rodham Nixon.

Tribune: "standard for candor by which other presidential candidates facing serious inquiries now can be judged." Hillary will have some explaining, not spinning, to do.

[gojackets]

Barely scathed? Her and Bill's negatives are both in the 40's. What would you considered "damaged"?

[the964kid]

she should be worried since she's losing this battle and has been since day 1 (Obama has had the delegate lead every single day since Iowa). this isn't going to help her...

[Bluesue]

Remember "Now the fun begins"? She relishes it and if everything was going smoothly, she'd instigate a crises. She loves and thrives on the turmoil.

[Independent voter]

Every time you shine the light on hillary you find more pond scum.

Why did hillary have Maggie purge Vince Foster's office?

Who pay's for the million dollar home that Huma lives in?

How much did the binLaden family give for the 'library'?

[drmavis]

She's not going to release anything. And the MSM, which is so "hard on her" won't push the issue. It's a lot easier for them to write stories based on Wolfson and Ickes' conference calls and her Hillary Clinton daily HUBdates. She'll call him Ken Starr, make up some more stuff about NAFTA and Rezko, and call it a day.

[DocR]

The Clintons may be finally shamed into releasing something - anything - eventually (hey, it's possible!). I don't know when "eventually" will be, but obviously if it advantaged them in any way we would already have their 2001-2006 tax returns (which might lead back to the Marc Rich pardon), the co-presidency documents (which might show Hillary's exhalted "experience" was ceremonial or nonexistent), and the earmarks back to 2001 (a potential treasure trove for progressives sick of DLC "Republican Lite" phonies). The Clintons are taking secrecy to new heights by not even telling the press corps covering their campaign where they are going until the last possible second. Eight years of secrecy and lies under Bush was enough. Vote the Clintons back into history's dustbin with Nixon.

[flyguy14222]

Since you are so adept at spreding information....do you even know how many years of financials Obama has released?

[ZHarris]

Do you even know?

[BigBen]

Make up more stuff you say . No need to make up anything.Samantha Power said it and Rev. Wright said it.( And his wife was ashamed to be American). Deval Patrick will make it up for him.Then he can say it himself. How about that?The New Politics of Hope how are you.

[nachtengel]

Good god, I hope Obama doesn't go after them to hard. I mean there are other things that need to take precedence and bringing this up on the Clinton's could take years...

I mean really where does one start...

Rezco ties themselves, pushing thru NAFTA for WalMart, destroying the environment with Lafarge, Yucaipa, Outsourcng jobs with Tata Consultancy Services, blood diamonds investmants with DeBeers, and taking money from Gupta/infoUSA swindling the elderly out of their savings, campaign finance fraud with Hsu, Peter Paul, and a long list of others, being on the take with Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon on 360 earmarks, worth a combined $2.2 billion from 2002 to 2006, projects not requested by the Pentagon.. Hillary's Senior Adviser Huma Abedin's family being financed by the financiers and founders of al-Qaeda "Abdullah Omar Naseef". 3.9 million from executive donors and $854,462 in campaign funding from the health care industry companies,

Wake Up.

And then Bill was paid $750,000 to advise top United Arab Emirates officials on how to sidestep and address growing U.S. concerns over the acquisition of the security contract for America's ports....

[outnow]

The biggest beneficiary of NAFTA was Wal-Mart. So that's why we didn't get health care coverage?

[uglybetty]

If you really believe what you said about NAFTA for Walmart, please also explain Michelle Obamas job for Walmart !! She was paid very well and only quit in May 07 when Obama decided to run for pres !!! You know very well about Obama and His (NAFTA game ) .

[JavaCityGal]

Excellent post, with one correction. The Clintons have received not $750,000, but TEN MILLION DOLLARS.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/09/wus609.xml

[accountability]

links please.
Non biased ones from non partisan sites.
Help people to make decisions or new decisions with facts not declarations.

Thank you so much.

[Nezua]

Uh-oh! This casts a light on the Clinton Camp that we all KNOW they will squirm away from. Expect lots of "Of course we will release them" type statements...followed up by...nada.

[Leda]

Sure go ahead with the mudslinging-- we're sure that If Obama ends up with any mud on his face it will be Hillary's fault....
that tactic can only work for so long--who are we kidding by warding off the inevitable? The Obama camp seems to think that nothing will ever stick to him

[kb]

Obama is not getting my support because of where he stands on two top issues. Ending The Iraq War and Universal Healthcare.

Obama's top foreign affairs advisor, Samantha Power said that his 16 month withdrawl plan was just a "best case scenario" and that it's just something he's saying as candidate for president. What? That sounds more like McCain's plan. We could still be in Iraq for years if Obama gets in office. I think she was fired for telling us what they discuss in private about Iraq and not the "monster" comment. Listen for yourself what they are planning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzy3lObigF0

In regards to Heathcare, Obama has plenty of negatives to tell you about Clinton's plan to distract you from the fact that there is "No Chance" we will see Universal Heathcare under his plan.

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/02/04/krugman-if-obama-is-president-theres-no-chance-for-universal-health-care/

Obama is not the agent of change for the Democratic Party. He never was. Hating on Hillary doesn't change that fact one bit.

[AguynamedWayne]

Attacking someone else's ethics? This coming from a man who attended an anti-White, Anti-American racist church for TWENTY years? Good luck!

[thomdavis1]

waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh your white entitlement is cracking! wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boooooooohoooo!

[Merin]

"blablablah - I regurgitate right-wing propaganda."

[keir]

And what was said that was racist? Not the 30 seconds but the whole that was said. Said with White members sitting in the pews. Its easy to make a statement..but when you do you take the chance of others saying, "prove it."

[psfurlong356]

"anti-white" not so, in fact the opposite if you would bother to look beyond the sound bites.

[AguynamedWayne]

Yeah, and thats why he preaches that the evil white man created AIDS as a weapon to destroy the African American race. But why would anyone think that's anti-white? It boggles the mind, unless you've drunk a hell of a lot of that kool-aide.

[timm0]

It's almost too easy to say this, but it's probably true more times than not... anyone who pops a comment like wayne did is a racist himself. He may not realize it, but it is what it is. Make a judgment about someone else purely on the skin color and a few sound bites taken as gospel because it fits the preferred stereotype...

[deekay]

YES ANTI WHITE...WRIGHT IS A DISGUSTING HUMAN BEING. ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH HIM IS THE SAME.

[accountability]

please enlighten us with other information if you have it. I for one would love to hear more positive comments from Reverend Wright to refute the racist bias coming from so many others?

Please.

Personally I have heard preaching like this so I don't find it shocking. Ugly kind of, but not shocking.

Is it me, or would all the people who are now defending Reverend Wright be attacking him if he came from the Clinton campaign? Just wondering.

How do you spell H_Y_P_O_C_R_I_T_E?

[MsLiz]

Southern Baptists are anti-Black and think wives should submit to their husbands. Some of their members have Confederate Battle Flags. Should this cause McCain to withdraw? or is he generic Baptist? I know he never got Baptist baptized, so maybe it doesn't count.

[nazgul]

Excellent DailyKos piece on how Hillary admits she broke her DNC pledge:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/13/11136/3289/192/475758

[globality]

Here she is admiting that the Michigan primaries would NOT count

http://www.jabberwonk.com/flinker.cfm?cliid=zydzt

[gallo146]

thank you, the Clintons have be toying with the Democratic Party for too long

[Plowboy]

Hillary doesnn't consider that cheating -- except, of course, when someone else (obviously one of a low untrustworthy character. When she does such a thing, it shows her to be cunning and plucky; it's not cheating, but merely her way of campaigning hard.

[2008andbeyond]

Thank you. Like the tax return issue, until this is answered directly, without spin, she has no legs on which to stand.

[Polar]

Again, as a lifelong Dem I think we are headed for trouble.
Obama is going to attack Clinton on the things in her past. Whitewater...Travelgate...Lewinski...Flowers...Shady Pardons...Stealing White House furniture on the way out...etc. etc.

These people bringing this forward are the same people who would have raged if Obama hadn't run, Hillary had locked up the nomination, and the Republicans were putting that information out.

We need to be careful here. Hillary could still accidentally win the nomination.
It is going to be very difficult to feign outrage when the Republicans put this info out if they can simply point back and show we have done it ourselves. The hypocrisy will be glowing.

[nachtengel]

The Clintons need to go. We can't be hoodwinked to such an extent anymore. There is no difference between a Bush war and a Hillary war. We will be out of Iraq and into someplace else in months. She has too much invested personally, and is in bed with the oposition already. She is fighting this from both sides. Wake up people. Stop the madness now.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

There's enough to attack Clinton on in the last 8 years. Nobody needs to bring up the old scandals you refer to.

[JavaCityGal]

Totally agree, we don't need to bring up the old scandals, heck the Clintons do it themselves by calling Obama Ken Starr. But what the Clintons have been up to for the 7 years is important to know -- she must be vetted. It's not negative to ask for information, voters have a right to know.

[gallo146]

did we forget Monica?

[Blutus]

No. John McCain could "still accidentally win the nomination"!!

[accountability]

ummm, McCain has already won the nomination, accidentally or not.

[MsLiz]

Trial lawyers know it is best to have a witness disclose their weaknesses than to let the opposing attorney reveal it, because then it looks like the witness was hiding the bad stuff. Perhaps Obama actually released his pastor's sermons to get the issue out of the way.

HRC is acting like she has something to hide. Tax returns for 2000-2006 can be released within 24 hours. Do it.