Leaked Clinton Camp Memos: Paint Obama As Foreign

On Friday the Washington Post reported that The Atlantic magazine got hold of internal Hillary Clinton campaign memos. Today the Politico posts a sneak peek. Some highlights:

On Jeremiah Wright: "Does anyone believe that it is possible to win the nomination without, over these next two months, raising all these issues on him? ... Won't a single tape of [the Reverend Jeremiah] Wright going off on America with Obama sitting there be a game ender?"

On attacking Obama's foreignness: "All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light.

"Save it for 2050. ... Every speech should contain the line you were born in the middle of America American to the middle class in the middle of the last century. And talk about the basic bargain as about the deeply American values you grew up with, learned as a child and that drive you today. Values of fairness, compassion, responsibility, giving back.

"Let's explicitly own 'American' in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn't. Make this a new American Century, the American Strategic Energy Fund. Let's use our logo to make some flags we can give out. Let's add flag symbols to the backgrounds."

On Clinton's confused message: "The internal discord over whether to attack Obama led some of her own staff to spin reporters to try to downplay the significance of her criticisms. The result for Clinton was the worst of both worlds: The conflicting message exacerbated her reputation for negativity without affording her whatever benefits a sustained attack might have yielded."

On the much-criticized 3 AM ad: "In the days leading up to Ohio and Texas, the campaign kept arguing over whether to air the [3 a.m.] ad. With the deadline looming, Bill Clinton, speaking from a cell phone as his plane sat on a runway, led a conference call on Thursday, Feb. 28, in which he had both sides present their case. As his plane was about to lift off, it was Bill Clinton -- not Hillary -- who issued the decisive order: 'Let's go with it.' "

Comments

[DXP]

It is unbelievable how completely inane most of the comments are. Now, I'm glad you are are all excited about an election, but soon we will be in the general election - a national election. Most seem uninformed as to the structure of the democratic party and government in general. If you want your candidate to win you need both the Clintons. If you want down ticket candidates to win then you need to NOT destroy the Clintons. Why be so Oedipal? And non inclusive? You are shooting us all in the foot with your vitriol and ignorant hate.

[JimR]

Why don't you just go and start a new party, the Clinton Party? Then you can go worship your idols and they can bask in your adulation and you can all be happy.

[redthreatchicago]

and people wonder why legacies were painted as r4cist... where would people get those ideas from? it's pitiful what awful things have been done to counter 0bam's rise in popularity. hopefully mccain will reap what he sows as well.

[wdw101]

nope, BO is being painted with his own words......

[JimR]

Examples, please.

[MoeB]

This is all media spin, folks. To get democrats divided heading into the Convention so it can make for better ratings!

I am really starting to HATE the MSM. This election is TOO important to americans, and the world, for that matter. Maybe we need more middle-class folk running the MSM, so that we can actually a VOICE in the media that speaks to/for US.

[DXP]

Yes, MoeB, It is time we all started looking deeper and not knee jerk every time a Clinton is mentioned. It is waste of time and also extremely destructive. Just seems to be too much easy fun for many on sites like this to resist. This is probably orchestrated by the DNC who are in a live or die mode from now to convention and the MSN is whipping the flames. Look at them, they have the National Enquirer editor on their panel discussions now doing investigative journalism. Do you obots get this? (not Obama supporters, just the rah rah rah obots) We have NO FREE PRESS.

[jpcline004]

Yeah the conservative MSM over at the Atlantic...umm what?!?!

[Actionmac]

Not MSM it's those enemies they collected over the years that hve been waiting to shut them down for good. I mean people that have been afraid to speak out. Him and her losing the primaries and then the vote to undermine the process with adding Michigan and Florida. These people see this as a golden opportunity.

IMO

[liseworks]

There is no spin on this one, sorry - it was authored by the top people in the dismal C campaign.

[Softnsweet]

And her supporters want her to be VP. I am so glad that Obama will not pick this woman and her husband.

[Myrell002]

Is anyone really surprised?!??!!? I mean come one! It's the Clinton's. They like to get down and dirty.

[aquarius2001]

This is OLD NEWS!!! There is no more "C lint on Campain" It's the Democratic Campaign...(led by Bar ack O)!!

HuffPo, stop trying to start stuff!

[doctorwang]

Well it's back in the news.
Your blame should lie with Atlantic Monthly and whoever leaked the memos to them. 'Talk' to them. HuffPo had nothing to do with it. Neither did O or his campaign.

[caj]

Perhaps I am wrong here, but I am sure some kind soul with be only to happy to correct me. I was of the belief that Hillary "suspended" her campaign. Not quite the same as "no more HIllary . . . "

[liseworks]

Maybe so, but it just auto-quit, no more suspense.

[GravitonX]

Th Clintons had no problem with using their racial privileges when it served them, neither claiming it nor doing much to remove it but comfortable in the knowledge that they could access it when needed. Ah, the privileges offered by the latent constructs of racism are just too juicy to pass up. Meanwhile, tht Clintons claimed to be trusted friends of AfricanAmericans, then the truth came like a bolt from the blue; allthewhile, they were laughing at Black people who had thought of the Clintons as one of them, even made Bill their First Black President. To be played for fools. This is why Blacks turned from the Clintons, and this is why they lost.

[liseworks]

Yup. (Among many other atrocities) - Yup.

[TheBlackCat]

This story is 3 months too late. He won, she lost. How are the failed campaign tricks of a finished primary news at this point?

[abby4ever]

They just made news again, Wolfson is blaming Edwards now, see the new thread on the politics page.

[doctorwang]

How are the failed campaign tricks of a finished primary news at this point?
The memos show a glimpse of how and why the C!inton campaign failed. It was a inept campaign that did Hi!!ary in, not O and his supporters. With Hi!!ary due to speak at the convention in a couple of weeks this is important news. These revelations have put an end to any hope the PUM@s (and groups like them) had that Hi!!ary might get the superdelegates to switch sides. After reading these memos, they most certainly will not.

[AlwaysFairDem]

The Clinton's...please just go away!!

[liseworks]

God, really - !!

[TGCNY]

My grandmoma always told me God Doesnt like Ugly

[liseworks]

My "grandmaman" always told me you reap what you sow ....

[abby4ever]

New thread, Hillary the Victim is back, it's all the fault of Edwards that she didn't get the nomination says Wolfson:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/11/wolfson-edwards-affair-co_n_118109.html

[PoliJunkie]

ROFLMO!!!! The race where she lost 3rd, how does that equate? Please somebody tell them she lost because a lot of people just didn't want her! Still laughing.

[obamajusrocks]

All that matters is ensuring McCain doens't become president and truly turn this country and the world to the dogs. He is one scary dude - and is obviously not in control. McCain for president means having some unseen handlers pulling the strings and ruling by default.

Not again not ever.

[belief08]

Please not ever. His mentality is WAR and OIL and I don't think this country can take another hit to our economy if this guy is elected to office. He's out of control and that's a dangerous thing for this country.

We should be afraid, very afraid because he could bring 2 more wars upon us. Right now he is condemning Russia [Putin] and national television instead of trying to talk to the man. This man has nuclear weapons and I am damn sure McSame has promised Georgian President assistance if it came to it.

This is what Obama said about transparency, letting the American people in to his constituancy, tell us what we need know, tell us when things are bad. McSame has his secret closed door meeting with the Georgian government and all of a sudden now they are at war with Russia, that should make the US very afraid.

[AlwaysFairDem]

When I read this stuff and what I have seen the last week where the Clinton's continue to undermine Obama while giving him little credit just to give the appearance of a supporter, I wish they fall in their a$$ forever. That is why I say No to Hillary for VP ----------> Sign the Petition to NO TO HILLARY FOR VP!

[abby4ever]

Not to worry. There's a big difference between her undermining him and her getting caught planning to undermine him, and the difference is all to her detriment and none to his.

And anyway, the stuff in these memos that isn't about him but is about her and how unready to lead and make decisions she is, will finish her off.

[trinity29]

thats an excellent point that she cannot even lead her own campaign so how can she be expected to lead the country.

[AlwaysFairDem]

Sign the Petition to NO TO HILLARY FOR VP! ----------> http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-to-hillary-for-vp

[bbrecht]

bad, bad Clintons!