Kerry Hits Clinton for Florida Flip-Flop

The Obama campaign just held a conference call with Senator John Kerry who slammed Hillary Clinton for abandoning her previous commitment not to contest Florida or seek its forfeited delegates.

The Massachusetts senator couldn't quite bring himself to call the reversal a flip-flop, opting instead for this phrasing -- "a switch of position, if you will" -- but called on reporters to cover the Florida beauty contest for what it is: "It is not a legitimate race. It should not become a spin race. It should not become a fabricated race."

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe called Clinton's campaigning-while-not-campaigning act "too cute by half."

"Our focus is on February fifth," he said. "Honestly, if she's spending a night in Florida instead of a February fifth state, that's just fine with us."

From: rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs

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Comments

[detriangulation]

This morning on MSNBC, Clinton surrogate Senator Bill Nelson, as part of a continued effort to hype Clinton's anachronistic FL "victory", highlighted her superior performance across all demographics---with one notable caveat. Nelson concedes Obama decisively won "THE BLACK VOTE" in FL that, looking ahead to Super Tuesday, only gives him marginal and inadequate "POCKETS OF SUPPORT."
This is further evidence that Hillary Clinton continues to rely on her establishment sycophants (including Bill Clinton, with his Jesse Jackson assertions after South Carolina, etc.) to pursue a Southern Strategy: a desperate, futile and shameless attempt to racially polarize the electorate and relegate Obama to the status of a candidate who is for, by, and of African Americans alone. This racial triangulation will continue to backfire because it outrages African American, white, Latino and Asian Democrats alike. Please make people aware of Senator Nelson's comments!!

[Nonamnesiac]

I've said from the very beginning that Edwards, Obama and the rest actually conceded the race to Hillary when they agreed not to campaign in FL and campaign or run in MI, as Hillary did not agree not to run in MI. She just agreed not to campaign in both, and broke that promise in FL, where she appeared publicly and attended two fundraisers on Sunday night.

Although I believe Obama probably wants to fire the advisors who told him to refrain from running in MI and discounting FL, as events showed him a much stronger candidate than the polls were indicating at the time he decided to not to run in MI or campaign in FL, it was obvious from the beginning that a deal would be cut to allow those 2 slates of delegates to vote -- as to do otherwise would insult the exact campaign workers necessary to bring out the vote in those 2 critical electoral states.

The Clintons have always been loose with the truth and shifty about rules. Whatever minimal scruples they may have once had have long been abandoned by watching Bush get away with breaking the law, violating the Constitution and employing outright, corrupt cronyism (with incompetent cronies to boot) and benefitting from it without ever having to pay for the thuggery and lawlessness he employs. (A signing statement exempting himself from an Act of Congress outlawing permanent bases in Iraq and signing a long term treaty with Iraq without Senatorial ratification just the latest of his condoned lawlessness.)

Unfortunately Presidential lawlessness is now institutionalized and none of the frontrunners from either party -- nor the parties from which they come -- intend to do anything about it -- either in primariy eletions, general elections or in governing in any of the branches of government - legislative, executive or judicial. More and more there is not a pretense that the U.S. is a democracy or abides by the rule of law.

Both major parties are giving us warmongerers as frontrunners (Hillary, Obama, McCain and Romney), none committed to withdrawing from Iraq in the near future.

[FogBelter]

Tim, If Hillary Clinton gets the Nomination by leveraging the Delegates from Michigan and Florida she wasn't supposed to be competing for in the first place ...

If the DNC caves to the Clintons and lets her win on the basis of those Delegates ...

I, for one, will not support the Democratic Candidate for President in November ... I will either waste my vote on a third party candidate, or will abstain from voting for President entirely ...

I respect Senator Kennedy, but this needs to be understood. Many Democrat Voters will NOT support whomever wins the Democratic Nomination in the General Election if the Nomination is gained in such a deceitful way.

Believe me, the Democrats are going to need every vote they can get come November if they are facing a Republican ticket of McCain/Huckabee ... for instance.

So the DNC better use their head about seating these disputed delegates ... or they will pay for it in the General.

Payback's a bitch.

[newfapalooza]

I think the Dem party is stupid for not allowing the delegates to count at least partially but...once again this is something that was set up a long time ago and Hillary was fine with it until it suited her purpose to not be fine with it.

How in the heck are they going to seat those delgates appropriately after the fact? It is like betting on a ball game after you already know the score.
At least Obama & Edwards are on the ballot in Fl. They weren't even on the ballot in MI BECAUSE THEY WERE FOLLOWING PARTY RULES - so now they should be screwed because of it?
Regardless of who you support how is that fair?

[sugarmac]

It seems to me the huge Democratic turnout indicates that the people of Florida are angry at being deprived of their vote in the primaries. I don't blame them. Punish the politicians, if you must, but don't punish the voters. It probably will help her in the general election . .

[JackW]

Kerry needs to stop and look at his campaigns and promises made/broken before he cries foul. Same with Obama. He campaigned in Florida after he signed the deal with the DNC, which should never have happened.
I find it surprising that the DNC would want to stop the democratic process. Isn't that why the are cal the Democratic Party? I guess I got that wrong.

[ndolomar]

seems pretty simple to me: pro-clinton people don't see anything wrong with it; pro-obama people do. the rub is, would she have championed as hard for those delegates to count if obama were in the lead? i mean, after all, the decision to strip the states of those delegates was a unilateral decision by the DNC. there's some bad milk in the nordic region...

[rickroberts]

I'm IN Florida. When I saw Obama ads on TV, I was outraged. That aside, since neither Obama or Clinton campaigned vigorously here, they are on equal footing. Therefore, if Clinton wins Florida by double digits tonight, will the media narrative change yet again, or will the Clinton-hating media ignore or denigrate it?

[kishaaann]

The Clinton's dont play by the rules.. They change the rules in the middle of the game..

[ChrisO]

Can anyone tell me exactly what the "pledge" says? I don't mean characterizing it, but the actual text. I've searched the DNC site and Googled it, but so far I haven't been able to find it.

Hillary hasn't violated it by fundraising, any more than Obama did with his multiple fundraisers in the state after signing the pledge. Actually, the only difference between them is that Obama broke the rules by meeting with the press outside of one of his fundraisers, because he wanted to do the press a "favor". Please tell me you don't believe that. And Hillary won't be appearing in Florida until after the polls close, so she's not campaigning. So apparently her crime is to say she doesn't agree with the DNC's position, and she's communicating to the voters of Florida that she would like their support. Horrors! How slimy and Rovian, to use two of the terms favored by Obama supporters.

I'm sure she thinks this will help her elctorally. But it's basic campaigning. For a group that is supposedly committed to "unity," the Obama camp doesn't miss an opportunity to accuse the Clinton campaign of dirty tactics at the drop of a hat. Can Obama's people tolerate any signs of campaigning from his opponents? Geez.

[bach]

Yeah, Obama didn't campaign in Florida...just his TV ads!

[ProgressiveNotLiberal]

Just another do anything say anything to get elected Clintonian stunt. The Michigan and Florida delegates are tainted and Clinton didn't care about them until she was behind in the winning of delegates in the four states that did play by the rules. Hillary should be ashamed and the super-delegates need to see this for what it really is, the political stunt of a desperate campaign.

[Lon]

This seems a rather pointless move by Obama. I can't imagine the electorate, outside of Iowa and New Hampshire who have already voted, getting excited by it. And I can't imagine many voters seeing Kerry as the figure whose authority they should take on the matter.

But then maybe it is a good idea to use Kerry for the issues that won't matter and save Kennedy for more important things.

[raptor]

""a switch of position, if you will". Well, will YOU or won't YOU? Sounds like lawyers in court who say "I would argue". Either argue it or don't.