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

[Brothaman2k]

After seeing these statements can there be any doubt that there is ZERO difference between her campaign and the one that McCain is wondering right now.

And the Hillary supporters still have the frickin' balls to be shocked that Obama supporters are still angry at her.

[partyofone]

angry or disgusted?

[jazzman]

..."it was Bill Clinton -- not Hillary -- who issued the decisive order."

Therein lies the biggest problem that would have occurred in a HRC Presidency.

[pacats]

Exactly. it was a bogus campaign to have Bill run for a third term. Well..........., it's not going to happen. So, who disrespected the idea of a woman running for the highest office in our country.

[hudsuckerproxy]

Also, therein lies the biggest problem that would have occurred in a HRC vice-presidency.

[partyofone]

Bingo

[kevineight]

You mean Bill's third term?

[pupbayer]

So O goes to see his grandmother but he doesn't take his wife or children. What's that about? Think it was about getting the birth certificate straightened out? His grandmother wouldn't certainly know the story.

[kevineight]

How. Is. It. In. Anyway. Relevant?

[pupbayer]

What? I didn't hear you. Could you repeat that?

[pupbayer]

Typo...meant would certainly know...

[teron678]

what right-winger blog you get this information from ... LOL

[Flagal]

disregard the "Juris Doctor" part of my post, meant for someone else.

[Flagal]

Think its about school is about to start and he is trying not to disrupt his daughters lives any more than necessary?

By the way if your a "Juris Doctor" I'm Brad Pitt.

[ckfan]

If she couldn't even run a campaign, why did Hillary think she could run a country??????????

[liseworks]

That IS kindof the bottom-line, isn't it - (w/ way more bottom stuff, but ....let's not go there) -

[SCG2]

inflated ego?

[kevineight]

Bill told her so?

[BWonka]

Bill told they....er, she could.

[Dreamers 101]

Posted by Dreamers_101

John Mc’Cain is Panamanian and was never naturalized as an American citizen

_______________________________________________________________

BertrandRussell See Profile I'm a Fan of BertrandRussell
“He's born of American parents, therefore he is a natural born citizen. Doesn't matter if the birth took place in middle America or on the moon, children born of US citizens are US citizens”.
Posted 05:58 PM on 08/10/2008

_______________________________________________________________


NOT!!!!! You can be born by American parents but if you are born in a foreign country on foreign soil then you are consider a citizen of that country.

Case in point: illegal’s here in this country have always found a loop hole in the law because there children were born here that makes the child a US citizen and the child’s parent maybe illegally here but why would the US deport a US citizen to a foreign country even if it’s a child.

They wouldn’t because there child is a US citizen. Please educate yourself for the sack of or country.

[liseworks]

"Sake" - : )

[Dreamers 101]

Thanks I wouldn't want to sound like a tro// :)

[Brothaman2k]

Try getting some education yourself. He was born to American Citizens in the Panama Canal Zone on a US instillation. A US base, like a US conciliate, is US territory. He doesn't have to be naturalized. For all intents and purposes, no matter where the soil actually was, he was born in the US.

[Dreamers 101]

It would shock you tro// to do a little digging yourself and fact check that mouth of yours.


Trollology101


"It's like these guys take pride in being igno'rant"

[kevineight]

OK, we get it. After six postings, we get it.

[Dreamers 101]

Kevin this is not for you to understand but I will beat this over these tr//s and PUMA's heads until they stop there freaken li'es sorry if you have to get it a 7, 8, 9 or 10 times my fellow Dem.

[kevineight]

Let's see:

Kenya is prepared to recognize 0bama as a citizen.

Does that make him a citizen of Kenya?

I don't think so.

[SCG2]

Nuttier than a bag of walnuts

[liseworks]

Whhhhhaaa ? Explanation : The concept is nutty ? If so, ....agreed.

[kevineight]

I'll say.

[DXP]

Do you have links? Who said that about Kenya? Interested.

[kevineight]

The RockyMountain news had a little feature Aug 6, "Things you did not know about 0bama".

On the list the assertion that he is a dual citizen of the US and Kenya.

Because, you see, Kenya is prepared to recognize anyone with ancestors in Kenya as Kenyans.

One of our more tiresome tr0lls was flogging this a few pages back, but it would appear that he has been scrubbed, as usual.

The point being that Kenya does not have the power to make people citizens without their consent.

[Brothaman2k]

More to the point, it's like one one here has ever heard of DUAL CITIZENSHIP. There are American citizens are are ALSO citizens of another nation due to the ancestry of their parents.

Let's get it straight. Barack Obama was born to an AMERICAN mother on AMERICAN soil, thus he is an AMERICAN citizen. Whether another country ALSO recognizes him as a citizen doesn't change the fact that he IS AMERICAN.

[kevineight]

Better than that, the fact that Kenya recognizes his citizenship rights does not make him a citizen, if he has done nothing to gain that citizenship.

[castlerider]

It's too bad Hill attacked Obama so stingingly. I cringed everytime she did. I can't believe that little ol' me could see all this, and her camp couldn't... If she would have run a respectable canpaign where she didn't cut him down, even going as far as to say that McCabin would make a good POTUS, then it would be all over with, as far as who's VP.
Whoever advised her in this manner was stupid, as we can all now see. If it was Bill, that's really disappointing.

[theone718]

Yeah I agree but Hillary could not have won without going negative. People tend to forget, b4 the whole Jermiah Wright fiasco Obama was literally untouchable and loved by every demographic (bar the racists) after it just gave (the racists and some skeptics) reason to move from his column.

[ckfan]

The Jeremiah Wright issue wasn't Hillary going negative (even though her camp leaked the tapes). What was negative was when she would hold press conferences and rant and rave like a lunatic about Obama', i.e, "he gave some speech 2 years ago," "she's ready to lead, McCain is ready to lead but Obama isn't", and I could go on and on. She was really negative. And her answer to the Muslim question, i.e, where she hinted that he wasn't telling the truth when he said he wasn't Muslim.

Hillary did this to herself. She crowned herself before the race began. And that was her downfall. She didn't raise enough money. She didn't respect those running against her. She didn't pay attention to what was happening in the country. Proving she wasn't ready to lead the country.

[Flagal]

theone718 See Profile I'm a Fan of theone718 I'm a fan of this user
Yeah I agree but Hillary could not have won without going negative

Actually we will never know.

[partyofone]

And Hillary Clinton is on video record saying going negative is "the fun part" of politics. Doesn't the evidence say that the Clintons are ruthless in getting what they want?

[macbabe]

with all her inside political experience, she should have known better...
it's been written she has a "mouth", she could have held her tongue and watched her Ps & Qs in her emails, at least until she got through her campaign!

[vonny]

Just today, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain News, we confirmed that Barack aka Barry Soetoro Obama was a citizen of Kenya since 1963. Barack has yet to stipulate when he renounced or relinquished that citizenship. That will be a distracting issue in the upcoming campaign. Americans don’t want to elect a Kenyan as President. It is that simple

[williamg]

Quoting Larry Johnson again (same guy who touted the "Whitey" tape)? You people are quite weird.

[Jinxykb]

speak for yourself.

[reliant1]

when will you stop pasting this idiocy? no one believes it and it does not distract like you want it to.

it's a simplistic and transparent tactic...and it doesn't fool anyone anymore.

[liseworks]

Vonny - You're a broken record - you posted this on the next page, an hour ago -
We gave you some attention then, you need more ???

Then try as best you can to t-h-i-n-k of something fresh & interesting to say ....

[kevineight]

Bon chance with that, sister.

[tellinya]

Put the meth down!

[Rianna]

It is a shame that Hillary's supporters cannot see this ugly side to her, and her campaign. They are willing to accept this vicious attack of one democratic candidate against another, and fail to see Rovian tactics here. I am glad that Hilary lost the nomination. She was willing to be divisive to win, and she would have continued these tactics if she became President.

She mocked, attacked, smeared, and denigrated Obama, and deserved to lose.

[nunzia]

OMG - isn't this website done already with the hate-Hillary diatribes?
She didn't write that memo.
Obama has asked her and President Clinton to help him win the General.
If they're ok with Obama, why don't you people just give the damned hate-Hillary bullsh_it a rest.

[Prism]

I'm with you. It's beyond sickening and dangerous to crafting a coalition between camps with very real differences. It is not helpful to antagonize 18 million voters.

[Dreamers 101]

My fellow Dem has said it all for you here in the post below:

_____________________________________________________________

doctorwang See Profile I'm a Fan of doctorwang

Ask Atlantic Monthly- they are the ones publishing the memos. If you want to blame anyone, blame them. This had nothing to do with O or his campaign or his supporters.

Posted 06:21 PM on 08/10/2008

[ckfan]

LOL. It's called Politics. Obama is the new leader of the party so the Clintons are going through the motion. Obama needs them - they need him. These people are not saints, folks, their POLITICIANS.

[kevineight]

I don't see any hate in Rianna's post. It all looks pretty factual to me.

"she didn't write that memo'?????

And why did she not fire the author?

[Xenopus]

From another poster:

A must read........says McCain doesn't have the right stuff for President.
Says he is mostly an opportunist who has accomplished little.

And it is in the Wall Street Journal: Market Watch
by: Rex Nutting
"Why John McCain would be a mediocre president" 8-07-08

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7B4914192B-12AF-4623-AB18-5EFE91204B04%7D&print=true&dist=printMidSection

[nunzia]

Waitaminute. Waitaminute.
There's another hate-Hillary fest going on here.
Again.
Don't distract them with McCain.

[Flagal]

agreed

[doctorwang]

I don't hate Hi!!ary. However I'm glad that she will not be POTUS. If she couldn't get a grip on her own campaign staff, how in the world would she be able to run the Pentagon? Or the Justice Dept.? Or..............

[chosenson]

Everyone knows that the Democratic Primaries were brutal. So what's the point in publishing memos now.

Who's publishing memos from the Giuliani camp?

Or from the Romney camp?

I'm sure they had some zingers on McCain. This exercise is pointless, it's passe.

[reliant1]

No. It declaws Hillary and the PUMAs.

[liseworks]

This exercise is (as H. advised) cathartic.

[doctorwang]

Ask Atlantic Monthly- they are the ones publishing the memos. If you want to blame anyone, blame them. This had nothing to do with O or his campaign or his supporters.

[lordcopper]

Historical record.

[Grunty1]

G'uiliani? That is like wondering why no T'hompson campaign records were released.
It's not like either of them were awaken enough to write any.

In a way, this is good for O'bama though. Given that Hi'llary used all of the ammo and didn't hold back anything, I would say that all of his "scandals" are already covered.

[kevineight]

hydenorhare

"Holds both American and Kenyan (since 1963) citizenship."

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/06/things-you-might-not-know-about-barack-obama/

Posted 04:51 PM on 08/10/2008

I think one must accept the offer in order to be a citizen, under the circumstances. And I defy anyone to document 0bama accepting citizenship from Kenya.

All Jews, the world over, can be citizens of Israel. Not a fraction of them have accepted the offer.

[UnknownSoldier]

Not to get too technical, but Bill Clinton was in effect trying to violate the 22nd amendment to the Constitution which prevents a 3rd term for President of the United States. Secondly, this whole charade of Hill running for Pres, is entirely disrespectful to woman who deserve a real shot at the job.

[TXOBAMAGIRL73]

Any Girl Scouts looking for Troop leader Hillary will be availiable shortly.

[joeinvt]

What has been leaked so far shows just how lame HRC's campaign people were. Was that the best they coould come up with--Obama's foreign? It's no wonder that ploy was never used. Hillary needed people like Amaya Smith who could write a memo with real traction.