Atlantic Gets Hold Of Internal Clinton Camp Memos

Washington Post:

Just when you thought everyone had moved on... former advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are in a tizzy over an upcoming piece in the Atlantic Monthly that chronicles the inner workings of the now-defunct campaign.

Of particular concern are nearly 200 internal memos that the author, Josh Green, obtained -- 130 or so of which he plans to scan in and post online. When the piece is published sometime next week, readers will be able to scroll through the memos, from senior strategists such as Mark Penn, Harold Ickes and Geoff Garin, and see what exactly was going on inside the infamously fractured Clinton organization. That has some former team members in a panic.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[Cherlesq]

09:31 AM on 08/10/2008

Make no mistake Clinton leaked these memos to give McCain ammunition to fight Obama. She wants to run in 2012. She is completely untrustworthy and I would not want her or Bill anywhere near Obama or Democrats who want to win this fall.

[abby4ever]

09:43 AM on 08/10/2008

Have you seen the memos--or seen the article on Politico that claims to have some of the contents of them? They are all about H's inability to make a decision, inability to control her staff, and B's taking over on at least one occasion and calling the shots for her. She comes out looking less prepared to lead---be president--- than she said O was. She would not have leaked much of what Politico has, be sure of that, here's the link:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12420.html

Be sure and read the whole thing, the title is misleading, it's about much more than O being a foreign, in fact it's hardly about that at all.

[SaddieMcCall]

10:05 AM on 08/10/2008

Maybe Mark Penn is upset that he hasn't been paid? Hasn't he always been a republican strategist before? This could be a way to try to divide the dems again, to try not to have a unified party at the convention.

[AdamND]

02:58 AM on 08/10/2008

Politico has a new story out on it: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12420.html

To me it sounds like the whole story is about the dysfunctional Clinton campaign and about how they would smear Obama as foreign. To me if there was explosive new dirt on Obama that would be making the headlines. This just shows how bad the campaign got.

[abby4ever]

03:40 AM on 08/10/2008

Adam, it shows more than how bad the campaign got. If B doesn't have a heart attack when he sees or is told about this politico piece, it will be a miracle.

As for H, if this doesn't finish her off, nothing will, there is so much there about her inability to lead, decide, etc.

Leak, leak, leak, drip, drip, drip...

[AdamND]

03:48 AM on 08/10/2008

my guess is he probably already knew about it. Also since Obama is taking in insiders from Clinton's camp all this info was already known to him so he has something planned out.

[justwaitandsee]

09:33 AM on 08/10/2008

Well it looks likes Mark Penn handed over his play book to Johnn Mccann and Rethuglicans Party because it appears to be the exact same blueprint

You talk about Benedict Arnold and a Traitor well that would be definition of Mark Penn. This man would sell his soul to the devil if he could profit from it.

[abby4ever]

07:28 PM on 08/09/2008

To wang:
I just remembered something. In that interview where B said O was smart as a whip and could learn what he didn't yet know about being president, the woman interviewing him asked what he had meant when he said, in another interview, that he would have to wait until next year to tell the truth. He answered that he couldn't say now what it was 'because it would be harming to O'.

At first I thought: this is good, it shows he isn't really bent on harming O himself. But I now wonder if it was another one of those innuendos the C's are so good at, that he wanted to suggest that there was something that COULD harm O, if it came out now.

I just can't trust either H or B, I never will, for I think they will never change: they are, in my view, ambitious to a fault and even amoral, in that they will justify any action on their part if it will get them what they want and never seem capable of seeing any wrong in that action.

Abby

[belief08]

02:51 AM on 08/10/2008

Abby;

I saw that interview and he did not say it would harm Obama.

[CharlesJ]

02:44 PM on 08/09/2008

Obama has given more wiggle room to Hillary than any candidate has given any other candidate during and after the primaries. I hope and pray for Hillary's sake as well as for Bills, that they wander off into the sunset before it is too late. I have always known deep down inside that this was going on, and now the proof will be coming out. Maybe not in full but out enough to really see what the Clinton's are all about and how underhanded, mean spirited they really are. These two people believed they were entitled and could not stand that a junior senator, a black man from out of no where came on strong and started handing them their a$$ on a platter.

[abby4ever]

03:03 PM on 08/09/2008

They'll never wander off into the sunset as long as people are filling their heads with the notion that O can't possibly win without them and their supporters. It just just inflates their already over-inflated egos. These are two people who just won't let go.

[closetodemfection]

04:36 PM on 08/09/2008

Uh, have you seen the polls? Mc Cain is +1 today again in the national. Exactly how is his un-electability a notion?

[trinity]

12:52 PM on 08/09/2008

I am not sure these memos would even matter...many of us who originally supported Hillary then switched to Obama, did so because we knew that this garbage was going on her campaign. It was obvious in the obsession over Rev. Wright and his so-called "anti-white, anti-american" sentiment (My white self personally met this former Marine and never got that impression of him), and the other pandering to the "white working class", hoping that they would never vote for a black man. As a long time admirer/supporter of the Clintons, I had hoped they were above that.

I think it would be a waste to publish it, the PUMAs will end up trying to destroy Obama with it anyhow (with the Republicans watching gleefully from the sidelines).

[doctorwang]

01:53 PM on 08/09/2008

Atlantic Monthly will have the option whether to publish the memos. If the memos are published, it will have nothing to do with O or the Democratic Party. The PUM@s are already trying to destroy O....I don't see how the outing of these memos will increase or decrease their attacks. What I do feel is important is, that if these memos do cast Hi!!ary and her campaign in a negative light, that O and his campaign ignore them. If need be, they should even do what they can to lessen the 'blow' to HRC & Co. O needs to stay positive in his attitude and message. If O and his campaign are even perceived to be taking advantage of a bad situation for Hi!!ary, it will only fuel the fires of those who are opposed to O. Be kind, and let them have nothing but Hi!!ary to blame for what is eventually revealed.

[mypov123]

12:10 AM on 08/10/2008

You're right, let Hillary's campaign goons, I mean advisers, have the burden of doing damage control.

[abby4ever]

12:06 PM on 08/09/2008

Words, whether they are about facts, are quotes, or just mere opinion, are some of the most damaging things on the planet. Whatetever is in these memos doesn't have to be true, or, where it's opinion, even reasonable. It only has to plant little seeds of doubt. Voter are very impressionable, if they weren't, nobody would bother to campaign.

Words can be like bombs: once they drop, the damage is done, and sometimes all the clean-up in the world can't make it right again.

Atlantic knows that.

If, suppose, they want to hurt O, they might, as I said before, wait until the last possible moment, at the convention or just before, to say what's in these memos. Depending on what it is, it might take O more time than he will have left, to fix it. Even when false charges are made against someone, it takes time to convince voters that they ARE false.

Atlantic knows that, too.

[mypov123]

12:41 PM on 08/09/2008

That's true. Some people here were wondering how the release of these memos could hurt Obama, but you've described it exactly.

[goldnchyl]

08:57 PM on 08/09/2008

Ok. I jumped in on the middle of this and as I scrolled down, I'm wondering, "just how will this hurt O?" Spin abounds!

[doctorwang]

02:06 PM on 08/09/2008

These are Hi!!ary's campaign memos. If there is anything in them that is negative towards O anyone with any sense will consider the source (of course that would exclude PUM@s). Most Democrats will not forget the unflattering way Hi!!ary ended her campaign. The things she said about O that are now being used by McC in his campaign ads. If I were you I wouldn't worry about a C!inton coup at the convention. These memos will likely end that hope for anyone who was still praying for a HRC nomination.

[goldnchyl]

09:22 PM on 08/09/2008

There can't be anything in the memos that hurt O. H and B hurled everything ... incl the kitchen sink! If there were ANYTHING to be told, they would have

[mshazen]

11:41 AM on 08/09/2008

All I know, is none of this is good for our party period, those of you hoping it makes the Clintons look bad and my guess is it probably will campaign tatics on the inside are I am sure not pretty. Will be happy for a moment but it will just cause more drama and make the party look terrible once again in the midst of Edwards one more srong voice for our party being torn apart is bad new for us all.

So I would not be happy about any of this no matter what side you have been on. Our goal is to win in November and the MSM has found another underhanded way to do that.

[nellie]

11:58 AM on 08/09/2008

I actually think this might make her look better. She got rotten rotten eggs rotten advice from her consultants. And I don't think the campaign reflected at all the best she has to offer. Or her resume. Or her political philosophy.

My question is why she would hold onto these crappy advisers. Her trust was misplaced. I think the Clinton machine took over. And we never really saw Hillary.

[aflyinyoursoup]

12:13 PM on 08/09/2008

I certainly hope you are right, but you know the MSM will run hard with this one while they run interference for Gaffe-and-Lie a Minute Johnny.

[closetodemfection]

04:50 PM on 08/09/2008

The guy who's releasing these emails wrote an earlier article about Patti Solis Doyle's backstabbing of HRC. HRC trusted her deeply because of their 20 year friendship and Solis Doyle completely betrayed her - mismanaged funds (i.e. "the debt) and lied to her. Then oddly she went to work for O. My guess is these emails have something to do with her or that time in the campaign. And possibly O or Axlerod having something to do with it. Just my guess. And you are right - HRC didn't fully take control of her campaign until after Iowa - which is when she started winning.

[doctorwang]

02:10 PM on 08/09/2008

"none of this is good for our party". I don't see how Hi!!ary's campaign (and it's memos) has anything to do with O's campaign and the Democr@tic party. If the memos show Hi!!ary and her friends to be unscrupulous, it will only prove the point that the Democr@tic voters made the right choice in picking O for their nominee. Good thing, too!

[FACINGREALIT]

04:54 PM on 08/09/2008

I agree - I believe this will affect Hillary and her supposed supporters more than anyone because it will probably give insight to the campaigns thinkin that some states count and other don't. It will probably expose a lot of infighting and how the money was wasted. Strategy plans to lie about this or that to get the sympathy vote.

I really believe this will put PUMA to an end as Hillary and Bill's thinking will be exposed to the negative. It will probably clear Obama in a lot of ways and actually unite the party even more as people realize they have the right candidate.

[abby4ever]

10:49 AM on 08/09/2008

It may be that the Atlantic is not more specific at this time because they know that timing is everything and that, supposing they have anything really damaging to O, it will have much more impact if they wait until just before the convention starts.

[oxford]

10:44 AM on 08/09/2008

Wouldn't this be the perfect time to release just the ones that put down Obama with suggestions, innuendo, rumors, whatever. Then the stuff will be around in the media, and the damage to Obama will be fostered by the PUMAs. Convention time and the coup will begin. HRC forces a roll call and guess what?? Be prepared for what happens next. WHEW!!!

[superbust]

10:24 AM on 08/09/2008

My guess is when these memos come out there will be much in them referring to playing the r-a-c-e card.
Time will tell.

[olivia]

10:43 AM on 08/09/2008

Leaked so far:
.

3. Something about him being black. Cn plese Mandy and Howard meet on this and get back to me with somethingg sculpted but definitive? "Don't vote for teh black man" tested well in Chicago malls but won't play on coasts.

.

If Clintons are not racists, they are willing to promote racism and exploit it for their personal ambition.

[superbust]

10:59 AM on 08/09/2008

Oh, I dont think the C's are ra=ci-sts. I concur with your post that they had no problem using ra-ce for political gain. But I will say there are many people who will view the use of ra-ce for political gain as -r-a-c-i-sm. They might be right, after all this is a very subjective subject.

[hydenorhare]

10:22 AM on 08/09/2008

Hillary must be absolutely furious that any memos critical of Lil' Bama were written, let alone leaked.
It's just not like the Clintons.
BWAAAAAH !

The memos aren't going to say anything we don't already know. They were saying he's unelectable.

Besides, if any of the memos had any really juicy op research that wasn't already used, Atlantic likely won't tell you now.

[superbust]

10:39 AM on 08/09/2008

what a du-mb post. you dont know jack sp-it

[olivia]

10:45 AM on 08/09/2008

The Clintons will have to denounce these memos, and thereby the people who worked on their campaign - people they hired.

Just like they have to denounce the PUMAs.

The "we can't control it" baloney doesn't fly. Nobody believes it. They hired these people.

[NotMcCain]

09:38 AM on 08/09/2008

If the Penn/Ickes emails in anyway undermine OBAMA or the Obama-Clinton appearance of unity at the convention, suspicions WILL be raised.

Specifically the questions, "Did Mark Penn himself give these email to Atlantic Monthly?" and

"Have Mark Penn and Charlie Black been working together ALL ALONG to help McCain beat Obama?"

This kind of STAGED "leak" to the press definitely says "Karl Rove" all over it.

[abby4ever]

09:57 AM on 08/09/2008

No it doesn't, if it happens it will, have H and B themselves written all over it.

[Kally]

09:59 AM on 08/09/2008

Gee I guess flaming and slurring and lying on Hillary Clinton trying to sneak the sneak obama in, wasn't enough for this site they have to continue to slur and flame and lie....but then that's what we have come to expect from obama supporters. The worst.

[PoliJunkie]

10:02 AM on 08/09/2008

Those C's can never do anything wrong in your eyes? Just goes to show you how unbelievable that HRC's supporters call the O supporters kool-aid drinkers. Projection at its worse. Did you really pay attention to the primaries, or listened to everything she told you?

[abby4ever]

10:11 AM on 08/09/2008

There is never any need to slur H and B or lie about H and B, there are enough facts about them, most all of them negative, to work with.

[abby4ever]

08:49 AM on 08/09/2008

Yesterday I did a little imaginary story, in a post, about H and B having something on O and letting it leak out just days before the convention...just days, so that he wouldn't have time to fix it before the vote. So that H would end up getting the nomination.

I now wonder just how imaginary that really was.

[olivia]

10:46 AM on 08/09/2008

You're prescient. It would be so like them.

[stepintothelight]

12:18 PM on 08/09/2008

And so began the Revolution Redux!!!

[SamiNJ]

07:57 AM on 08/09/2008

More sick of this woman and that campaign I could not be.

[donttasemebro]

10:55 AM on 08/09/2008

Thanks, Yoda.

[SamiNJ]

11:48 AM on 08/09/2008

:) Actually it was Elaine from Seinfeld.... "More sympathetic I could not be." But same difference I guess. :)

[PennP]

02:11 AM on 08/09/2008

Rush Limbaugh is intimating that HRC/Bill leaked the memos. They reportedly containt "bad" things about Obama, but they don't seem to be bombshells--just the usual sneering and belittling comments we saw from their campaign before it was suspended.

I guess this is one way to perpetuate sliming Obama, and on the cheap. By recycling the memos, they get the benefit of the nastiness without having to pay the authors of the memos a dime in royalties., residuals, or extra consulting fees.....

[abby4ever]

07:50 AM on 08/09/2008

Gee, what a surprise, H and B trying to undermine O while, at the same time, campaigning---or maybe I should say 'campaigning'--- for him, as H will soon be doing in Nevada.

I'm just floored.

(Sark, sark, sark.)

[Leota2]

08:02 AM on 08/09/2008

You listen to and TRUST, Limbaugh?

[abby4ever]

08:59 AM on 08/09/2008

Point taken, but even Limbaugh, even Drudge, as we know, even Andrew Sullivan, do sometimes hit on the truth. We will find out soon enough.