Oh-eight (D): Hillary's personal scars
Posted: Monday, December 10, 2007 9:10 AM by Mark Murray
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BIDEN: Yesterday, Biden called for AG Michael Mukasey to appoint a special counsel to investigate the “CIA's destruction of videotaped interrogations of two suspected terrorists,” the AP writes. “Biden asserted the ‘easiest, straightest thing to do is to take it out of the political realm, appoint a special prosecutor and let them decide, and call _ call it where it is. Is there a criminal violation? If there is, proceed. If not, don't.’”
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign goes up with some new TV ads this week in Iowa.
CLINTON: The
New York Times’ Leibovich has been on "who is Hillary?" duty for the paper for some time. His latest piece delves into her ability to talk about her battle scars, while also "keeping [her] guard up." One interesting quote from HRC: “Mrs. Clinton said it is a constant challenge to protect herself emotionally and still connect with the people she yearns to serve. ‘It’s not easy, and I don’t think it’s ever been easy,’ she said. ‘You go out into public, and no one, whether you’re running for office, or going to work for a newspaper, or running a subway car, you never are open with every nerve ending.’”
The Los Angeles Times looks at the three generations of Rodham/Clinton women that hit the trail over the weekend. "Try as she might, Clinton found it difficult to overcome the reality that a certain supremely popular television celebrity was in the state, campaigning for one of her chief rivals.
Bill Clinton was also on the stump in South Carolina, courting black voters -- on the same day Oprah was in the Palmetto State. “Just because Obama has netted the endorsement of one of America's most influential black figures, the Clinton campaign isn't about to cede the field of black voters. Traveling with Clinton was Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a lion of the civil-rights movement. Without mentioning Obama, Lewis pointedly dismissed him as too green for the White House. ‘Hillary Clinton, like so many of us, is not a Johnny-come-lately,’ he said. ‘She believes health care is a right.’”
Bloomberg’s Al Hunt has some behind the scenes in "Hillaryland" claiming tension between Bill and the campaign. "There are also political strains with her greatest asset and surrogate, Bill Clinton. The former president was quoted last month as saying he had really opposed the invasion of Iraq from the beginning; he later claimed he was misquoted. Top Clinton campaign officials were privately furious at the former president, saying he had revived the complaint that the Clintons lack credibility, unfairly tarnishing his wife in the process.”
Hunt also notes this: "And her campaign has a near-obsession with what it perceives as a hostile press. They were incensed at a New York Times story that reported skepticism about Hillary's contention that her proposal to overhaul health care would help a lot more people than the plan of her rival."
Um, the Clinton campaign doesn't need more endorsements like the one Andrew Young gave to Clinton; the press has no sense of humor when it comes to Bill's personal life. Here's the full context of what Young said.
And the Clinton camp asked for the resignation of another Iowa supporter who forwarded the Obama-is-a-Muslim email.
EDWARDS: Kicking off his eight-day tour through Iowa, Edwards will say this, according to excerpts his campaign provided to First Read: “I grew up in a family where my grandmother walked to work at the mill every day wearing her apron. My grandfather, who was partially paralyzed, hauled rolls of cloth using one arm. My dad worked in those mills for 36 years, my mom worked too -- all of them for one reason -- to give us a chance to rise up and have a better life. That's the greatness of America - the promise that every generation will give its children the chance to rise higher, dream bigger, live greater.”
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More: “When I talk about the Two Americas, this is what I mean -- the very wealthiest and most powerful have manipulated our government for their own ends. They use their wealth and their power to keep themselves wealthy and powerful at the expense of everyone else. And when they do that, they're holding America back. But that's about to change. You can feel it here in Iowa. Because America can't be held back. Because America belongs to us.”
As mentioned above, actors Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins will be joining Edwards on part of his eight-day tour through Iowa. All Iowa Democratic caucus-goers have six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon, right?
At a fund-raiser for Iowa Rep. Dave Loebsack (D), Edwards took an implicit swipe at Clinton. “Edwards asked residents in the room that when they go to caucus, that they back the person they can trust,” the Des Moines Register reports. "We have to have a president that you can depend on," he said. "We have to have a president who will tell you the truth."
The hometown paper, the Raleigh News & Observer, checks in on Edwards' campaign. "Edwards' involvement in social issues is deeper than his critics acknowledge. Before entering politics, he served on the board of Urban Ministries, a local program that helps people in poverty, and he contributed $85,000 to the organization. Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, also spent several million dollars creating two after-school learning labs to serve primarily underprivileged children at two high schools in Raleigh and Goldsboro."
OBAMA: Per NBC/NJ’s Aswini Anburajan, Obama will head to the West Coast today to hold a roundtable on retirement security in Las Vegas, and then will attend a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles, which will include Scarlett Johansson and a performance by the Goo Goo Dolls. Also today, the campaign will file papers to run in the primaries in Rhode Island and New Jersey. And in Maryland, grassroots supporters for the campaign have arranged for Rep. Elijah Cummings (D) and 30 religious leaders to hold a press conference on why they are endorsing Obama.
Is it time for more vetting of Obama? No doubt the Clinton and Edwards camps hope so. Looks like some in the chattering class believe it's coming. The Des Moines Register's Yepsen asks: "Why is Hillary Clinton stepping up her attacks on Obama? Obama's ahead. She needs to cut him down to size. It's risky, because some caucus-goers don't like tiffs. Still, she can't just can't sit back and do nothing.”
“Despite the risks, it's important for Democrats to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. Clinton's negatives are well known, Obama's less so. Any shortcomings, inconsistencies or misstatements in Obama's past will be exploited by Republicans in the fall campaign if he's the nominee. It's best for Democrats to vet them now."
