ABOUT FIRST READ

First Read is an analysis of the day's political news, from the NBC News political unit. First Read is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director

Mark Murray, NBC Deputy Political Director

Domenico Montanaro, NBC News Political Reporter



Obama camp: 'different standard'

Posted: Friday, March 07, 2008 3:43 PM by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
The Obama campaign responded on Samantha Power’s resignation and said there “seems to be a different standard in the Clinton campaign” on personal attacks.

“She made the right decision,” Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe said of Power, a Pulitzer-prize winning author and Harvard professor who helped shape Obama’s foreign policy, before describing her as “a brilliant person.” But “we cannot condone those types of comments.”

He continued though to say that there “seems to be a different standard in the Clinton campaign.” He cited supporter Bob Johnson, who alluded to Obama’s drug use in South Carolina; Tom Buffenbarger, president of the machinists' union, who vitriolically trashed Obama in Ohio; and Tom Vilsack, who attacked Rudy Giuliani on the number of his marriages and the relationship with his children.

“It took them days to admit they were offensive comments,” Plouffe said of Johnson’s comments. And on Vilsack’s comments on Giuliani, there was “no action there,” Plouffe said. Clinton, Plouffe points out, never apologized for Buffenbarger’s remarks -- calling Obama “Janus, the two-faced Roman god of ancient times” and attacking his supporters as “latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies” -- at an event she was at and later followed him on stage.

“Apparently there are different standards here as it relates to people outside the campaign,” he added.

On Obama's 16-month Iraq withdrawal plan, Power told BBC that it was a “best-case scenario,” that nothing firm could be decided in March 2008 without seeing the situation on the ground in Jan. 2009 and that "He will, of course, not rely on some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator." When asked about it, Plouffe defended Obama's plan and deflected by pointing to retired Gen. Jack Keane's comments on Clinton’s own intentions on withdrawing troops from Iraq.

“He did not believe that she will pursue a quick withdrawal,” Plouffe said of Keane, who he said Clinton has developed a “close relationship” with.

Keane told the New York Sun this past weekend: "I have no doubts whatsoever that if she were president in January '09 she would not act irresponsibly and issue orders to conduct an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, regardless of the consequences, and squander the gains that have been made."

He also said Clinton "generally supported the surge strategy in the sense she wanted it to succeed but she was skeptical about its chances."

Plouffe also hit Clinton in his opening remarks again on what he called “a pattern of secrecy,” re-iterating his claim that “Sen. Clinton is one of the most secretive politicians in America today,” he said -- though note the amending that she is “one of” not “the.”

“In recent days and weeks,” Plouffe said, “the Clinton campaign is trying to suggest there are unknowns about Obama. This is an absurd claim. … There has been enormous scrutiny.” Plouffe cited that this has been a more than 13-month campaign with newspapers from around the country and world who have looked at the candidates’ records.

“The point of vetting and scrutiny raises questions about them [the Clinton campaign],” Plouffe said. “They act like any question about them” is off limits.

He went on to cite again that the Clintons have not released their full tax returns, including “schedules” for the past six years. “They can go to Kinko’s and do that,” Plouffe said. He said the tax returns could answer questions about Hillary and Bill Clinton’s “relationship with individuals who have ethical digressions.” He added, “We want full and complete accounting, including schedules. If they don’t do that, it raises huge red flags. …”

“At same time she’s trumpeting her experience, she’s preventing the American people from reviewing that experience by releasing these documents. If she’s not open and honest in this campaign, you have to wonder if she’ll be open and honest as president….

“We don’t need more George Bush secrecy in the White House.”

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OBAMA'S CAMP IS DESPERATE
Ah, there we are!  Let's start waffling on the Iraq withdrawl.  BozObama doesn't have a clue how he's going to get us out of there.  All the generals are standing behind Hillary formulating a plan.  All the morons supporting Obama are standing ready to chase the windmill.  
So how does it feel Obama camp?

For months people have been harrasing hillary and now that the rolls have reversed you don't like it.

I didn't see you complaining when Clinton was being bashed every day.

“We don’t need more George Bush secrecy in the White House.” Absolutely right. These past few weeks have really given me the chance to see how Hillary operates & I don't like it. I want the change that I believe only Obama can catalize. But I trust John McCain to be honest with the American public more than I do Hillary. Her lies & dirty tricks are NOT ok with this voter.

Well, Chris Matthews tells us today that the Clintons plan is a "backroom plan," and that while "they won't be smoking cigars, it will feel like that."

OK Democrats: do you want to come out of a ballistic primary and nominate the "backroom" candidate while it is apparent to all the world that the republican candidate won fair and square and represents the will of the majority of his party?

Why vote Democrat when your guys stink worse than the other guys?  And that's not cigar smoke you smell.

Hillary has morphed into a real, bonded and branded monster... she will win at all costs, no matter what it costs her, her party, her nation... no matter what it costs her soul and ours.

God help us if these are the good guys.



People who keep spouting the line about Hillary winning all the "blue states" as the reason she should be the nominee,

Here's the fundamental flaw with your argument.  In each of those states, Obama received MORE votes than any Democratic candidate in primary/caucus history.  Hillary received a few more.  But to suggest that he "wouldn't win" is an insult to YOUR intelligence (not to those reading it since we realize how specious your argument is).

And to Dawn in Pittsburgh, you responded just as your candidate does and just as most of her supporters do:  rather than addressing the issue (which you can't because it's a fact), you jumped into slandering me.  It was a truly classy and intelligent response (at least those are the definitions of "classy" and "intelligent" in the New American Dictionary of Bill, Hillary, Mark Penn, and Howard Wolfson).

Obama’s selective willingness to ‘fight back’
Posted March 7th, 2008 at 11:05 am


Slate’s John Dickerson had an interesting item last night that seemed to summarize the conventional wisdom on intra-party criticism pretty well.

The Clinton team is setting the same trap for Obama my 4-year-old sets for her older brother. She hits him knowing that he’ll get in trouble for hitting back. Right on cue, Clinton’s senior aide Ann Lewis set it up. “I didn’t realize their version of new politics was to recycle old Republican tactics,” she said. If voters put both campaigns in the corner for a timeout, it may hurt Obama more because his claim to be a new kind of above-the-fray candidate means he’s held to a higher standard. If Obama pays no penalty for the fracas, the Clinton folks still take him for a roll in the dirt where he can’t offer his appealing message of hope, change, inspiration, and hope. Clinton, by contrast, reinforces her fighter image.

This is not a new dilemma for Obama. We’ve been talking [about] it for a year. What’s new is that he is under more pressure than ever to punch back. It’s not just that he can’t let Clinton’s attacks hang in the air. He has to show Democrats that he’s a fighter, too…. If he’s going to be the nominee, he’s going to face a lot worse from Republicans — and the barrage will be constant if he’s president.

This is pretty much what everyone knows to be true — Clinton engaged Obama, Obama tried to stay above the fray, Clinton prevailed. Obama therefore is expected to pull off a tricky move — go negative on Clinton while a) enduring Clinton’s mockery about “abandoning the politics of hope”; and b) sticking to the positive message that has gotten him to this point.

But when I read Dickerson’s item last night, I paused on a couple of points that didn’t seem quite right. Obama, for example, “has to show Democrats that he’s a fighter.” That’s true, but I couldn’t help but notice that when Republicans started treating him as the likely nominee, and McCain and Bush started taking a few shots, Obama fought back quickly and quite effectively. (The dust up over al Qaeda in Iraq last week comes to mind.) There didn’t seem to be any hesitation at all.

With this in mind, the problem isn’t necessarily that Obama is reluctant to get aggressive, it’s that he’s reluctant to get aggressive with his Democratic rival.

To be sure, Obama hasn’t exactly been playing bean-bag with Clinton, but I think it’s fair to say that Obama, especially since Super Tuesday, has been restrained in going after his Democratic rival. He had the luxury of doing so — he was winning and had less of an incentive to launch attacks. Clinton needed to catch up, so she became rather relentless. No big mystery here.

On this point, Dickerson argued that Obama has to be able to endure Clinton’s “kitchen-sink strategy,” because it’s only going to get worse. Republicans won’t hold back in the fall, and their unhinged attacks will be more belligerent than anything he’s seen from Clinton. Clinton’s attacks, the theory goes, are a test of sorts — either they’ll “toughen him up” or he’ll fail before it’s too late. If he can’t take it in March, October will be a nightmare.

But just how similar are the circumstances? Jonathan Chait makes a compelling case.

[H]er attacks on Obama are not a fair proxy for what he’d endure in the general election, because attacks are harder to refute when they come from within one’s own party. Indeed, Clinton is saying almost exactly the same things about Obama that McCain is: He’s inexperienced, lacking in substance, unequipped to handle foreign policy. As The Washington Monthly’s Christina Larson has pointed out, in recent weeks the nightly newscasts have consisted of Clinton attacking Obama, McCain attacking Obama, and then Obama trying to defend himself and still get out his own message. If Obama’s the nominee, he won’t have a high-profile Democrat validating McCain’s message every day.

Second, Obama can’t “test” Clinton the way she can test him. While she likes to claim that she beat the Republican attack machine, it’s more accurate to say that she survived with heavy damage. Clinton is a wildly polarizing figure, with disapproval ratings at or near 50 percent. But, because she earned the intense loyalty of core Democratic partisans, Obama has to tread gingerly around her vulnerabilities. There is a big bundle of ethical issues from the 1990s that Obama has not raised because he can’t associate himself with what partisan Democrats (but not Republicans or swing voters) regard as a pure GOP witch hunt.

There’s no reason to think that dynamic will be at all similar in the fall. Obama’s willingness to be confrontational with Republicans seems quite healthy, and I haven’t seen any serious suggestion he’d play patty-cakes with McCain while the Republican Smear Machine is punching him in the mouth. Indeed, the dynamic may very well prove to be the opposite — the GOP will go after Clinton on issues Obama is afraid to touch, meaning she’d have to endure attacks for the first time.

Maybe Obama will effectively engage Clinton in the coming weeks, maybe not. Time will tell. But either way, looking at this as a proxy for what might happen to Obama in the fall seems like a mistake.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14812.html
LOOK WHAT HAS COME OF HIS CAMPAIGN!  HOW DARE HE LUMP HILLARY CLINTON WITH GEORGE W BUSH!  THIS IS RIDICULOUS!  I HOPE AMERICANS FINALLY SEE WHAT OBAMA IS - JUST A SLIMY, SMUG POLITICIAN; HE'S NOT CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN, HE'S A NEW GENERATION OF "SEND YOUR SURROGATES OUT THERE TO DO YOUR DIRTY WORK FOR YOU" AND THEN HE ACTS LIKE HE IS RUNNING A CLEAN CAMPAIGN.  THIS IS RIDICULOUS.  ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!
I think that it is crazy to see how this generation and the upcoming one being forged now by our actions/decisions as a nation as to who to put in the White House is being dictated by 'political correctness'...

Why is not ok for people to mention Obama's past drug use, question his heritage, use his middle name or whatever? The right thing to do is to answer these ignorant charges from the 'other side' or from the public/the press or whomever, and keep going forward. To look down at the oponent self-righteously and wait on someone to get fired over questioning someone's credentials or past is obsurd!!! That goes across the board.

I am tired of everyone having to apologize for each other and 'punish' someone for acting human or for being inquisitive. It is ok when it is done to someone who is the 'norm' (white and male), but not when someone is of a different gender, race or religion or heritage. Why is that?
Wait a second.  He says there's a different standard.  Of course there is Obama.  Why can't we use your middle name?  why has the media (until recently) been so easy on you?  why can't others mention your drug use...you brought it up, what is your relationship with Rezco...bonehead move doesn't explain it....i could go on.  Yes Obama there is a different standard and you have clearly benefited from it...nice try on the spin though...that all you got?
Personally, I couldn’t care less about having a squeeky clean President. I just want to have a SMART one again.

Obama? Ummm, not all that bright.
Clinton has no chance in November - either way. She is more than disliked by the Obama supporter for her campaign style ... she is well-hated.

She knows today that no Democrat can afford to lose a large, large part of the Democratic base (including new young voters) and the African-American vote.

I am a Democrat who will vote for McCain if she would be the nominee. Plain and simple. That is true for my family and friends here in Missouri .... a state the Democrats would need :)
It's about time.  The Clinton hypocrisy is amazing and the media has been falling for it.  But not Chuck.  Keep being a journalist and demanding transparency.  What are the Clinton's so afraid of?  We've suffered for your lies before and the country can't afford it again.  Heck, I'll show you my returns if you show me yours!  
It's about time.  The Clinton hypocrisy is amazing and the media has been falling for it.  But not Chuck.  Keep being a journalist and demanding transparency.  What are the Clinton's so afraid of?  We've suffered for your lies before and the country can't afford it again.  Heck, I'll show you my returns if you show me yours!  
Finally, someone said it right on Clinton, wake up people, she acts like she's gods gift to earth, NOT
Media people alot of times cites with her.  Ask her the questions that you have been asking Obama. And I do think that this woma is a monster, I can say that.
I don't belong in any campaing, or do you want me fired too you old witch.  GO OBAMA 08
Which one of you guys is Patty?
Here here! Hillary's attempt to misconstrue Obama's position on Iraq is absolutely ridiculous! He has said MANY times that we need to be as careful getting out as we have been careless getting in - and that requires seeking the advise of military leaders once he is in office. For him to simply ignore that advise on the basis that he "already has a plan" would be completely reckless. There is absolutely nothing contradictory about his promise to voters and Power's statement.

Hillary's desperation is making me absolutely nauseous!
I was almost ready to be okay with Hillary as VP, but she is really pissing me off. Why is she hell bent on tearing apart the party... why is she doing this?

She can't win the delegate count, so if she can't win no one can.  What a witch.
We who have been Barack's constituents in the state senate called him O-Bambi because he would bat his eyes and act innocent when he was caught in a misstatement or mistake. But Bozobama is even funnier. But lets not use nicknames or say personal nasty things. At end of day we are democrats and there is not a great difference between them substantively on the issues.
Is Hillary's Plan to divide the Part to get on the VP ticket and if not make sure she's hurt Obama enough to ensure he loses against McCain and thus she runs for President in 2012 ( a la Reagan).

Newsweek article by Eleanor Clift:

"The two contested nominations of the modern era—Kennedy-Carter in '80 and Reagan-Ford in '76—offer clues as to what may lie ahead. In each case, the candidate with the most pledged delegates going into the convention won the nomination. Each then went on to lose the general election. Clinton backers point to the Reagan model. Governor Reagan stayed in the fight all the way to the convention. He had a hundred delegates fewer than Ford, roughly the same deficit Clinton has today. Reagan helped insure his party's defeat but nailed the nomination four years later."


She is so Selfish!
"how dare he lump Hillary with George W Bush"? Last time I checked it was the Clinton camp comparing him to Rove and Bush. Hillary yells at others for things she does herself!
Is Hillary's Plan to divide the Part to get on the VP ticket and if not make sure she's hurt Obama enough to ensure he LOSES against McCain and thus she runs for President in 2012 ( a la Reagan).

Newsweek article by Eleanor Clift:

"The two contested nominations of the modern era—Kennedy-Carter in '80 and Reagan-Ford in '76—offer clues as to what may lie ahead. In each case, the candidate with the most pledged delegates going into the convention won the nomination. Each then went on to lose the general election. Clinton backers point to the Reagan model. Governor Reagan stayed in the fight all the way to the convention. He had a hundred delegates fewer than Ford, roughly the same deficit Clinton has today. Reagan helped insure his party's defeat but nailed the nomination four years later."


She is so Selfish!
Every day the Clinton campaign gets uglier.  Some of these reports coming out about them actually seem like a joke.  
I have never in my life wavered about being a democrat but if she succeeds in stealing this election I really don't think I could vote for her.  I can't support what makes me ill.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OBAMA IS TOO WEAK TO BEAT THE LIKES OF A GUTTER-POLITICAIN LIKE BILLARY. - HILLARY CALLED THE OBAMA PEOPLE LIKE "KARL ROVE" AND "KEN STARR" BUT OBAMA DID NOT DEMAND AN APOLOGY. - AS SOON AS ONE OF HIS AIDES APPROPRIATELY DESCRIBES HILLARY --- HE FIRES THE AIDE.
OBAMA DOESN'T GET WHAT HE IS UP AGAINST AND WHEN HE FINALLY REALIZES IT --- IT WILL BE TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Archivists Block Release of Clinton Papers Clinton Presidential Library Archivists are Blocking Release of White House Papers By PETER EISLER LITTLE ROCK -- March 7, 2008 ? Federal archivists at the Clinton Presidential Library are blocking the release of hundreds of pages of White House papers on pardons that the former president approved, including clemency for fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich. That archivists' decision, based on guidance provided by Bill Clinton that restricts the disclosure of advice he received from aides, prevents public scrutiny of documents that would shed light on how he decided which pardons to approve from among hundreds of requests. Clinton's legal agent declined the option of reviewing and releasing the documents that were withheld, said the archivists, who work for the federal government, not the Clintons. The decision to withhold much of the requested material could provide fodder for critics who say that the former president and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, have been unwilling to fully release documents to public scrutiny.
From Time Magazine:


There was a moment in Barack Obama's speech in San Antonio on Tuesday night that encapsulated something important about this year's U.S. presidential primary season. On the night of the Iowa caucuses in January, Obama said, the grandfather of one of his young staffers had stayed up until 5 a.m., watching the returns. The man was 81 years old — and he was in Uganda.

He was not alone. In many U.S. election seasons, the rest of the world doesn't pay much attention to the strange hoopla until the two main candidates have emerged... But this time is different. From Paris to Karachi, Canada to Turkey, interest in this U.S. election season began months ago. Libraries of new books on American politics and political figures have been flying off the shelves in Japan and Italy. Friends of mine (not all of them political junkies) from Australia, India, Ireland, Kenya, South Africa and Britain have all sent me e-mails in recent weeks about the primaries and how exciting they are. My father has been interested in American politics since 1960 and says he has never seen this level of interest so early in the race. "There truly has been nothing like the Democratic battle we are now experiencing," he e-mailed me recently. "Here [in Australia] wherever we go, people want to talk about the two candidates and are taking sides."

In Barack Obama, a biracial son of an immigrant, millions see themselves. "Educated, international-minded Indians get a huge thrill out of Obama," says Shashi Tharoor, a former high-ranking U.N. diplomat and an author and columnist. "He is much more 'one of us' than any previous presidential contender ... An Obama victory would fulfill everything the rest of the world has been told America could be, but hasn't quite been."

... Across the world, the techniques of the candidates are being copied. In Italy, Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, a candidate for the position of Prime Minister, has taken to lifting lines from Obama, including repeated usage of "Yes we can" in three languages: English, Italian ("Sì, possiamo") and the Italian capital's local dialect ("Se po' ffa'"). In Hong Kong, prodemocracy parties are studying U.S. campaign techniques, in particular Obama's grass-roots youth organizing. "Everyone wants to study how he delivers his message," says Tanya Chan, a District Council representative from the Civic Party.

Is Hillary's Plan to divide the Part to get on the VP ticket and if not make sure she's hurt Obama enough to ensure he LOSES against McCain and thus she runs for President in 2012 ( a la Reagan).

Newsweek article by Eleanor Clift:

"The two contested nominations of the modern era—Kennedy-Carter in '80 and Reagan-Ford in '76—offer clues as to what may lie ahead. In each case, the candidate with the most pledged delegates going into the convention won the nomination. Each then went on to lose the general election. Clinton backers point to the Reagan model. Governor Reagan stayed in the fight all the way to the convention. He had a hundred delegates fewer than Ford, roughly the same deficit Clinton has today. Reagan helped insure his party's defeat but nailed the nomination four years later."


She is so Selfish!
1.  Why not more coverage of the possibility of "voter" fraud in Ohio with many republicans admitting they voted for Clinton as weaker candidate against McCain.
2.   In polls reflecting percentages for Clinton vs Mcain nationally, make sure they reflect the STRONG inevitability that they cannot include the majority of the BLACK vote that she will lose if this nomination is stolen from Obama.
1.  Why not more coverage of the possibility of "voter" fraud in Ohio with many republicans admitting they voted for Clinton as weaker candidate against McCain.
2.   In polls reflecting percentages for Clinton vs Mcain nationally, make sure they reflect the STRONG inevitability that they cannot include the majority of the BLACK vote that she will lose if this nomination is stolen from Obama.
Bionic Woman in Tucson:  What have you been drinking lately?  Oh yes-----the Clinton cool aid.
My husband was a dog catcher....does that mean that I have the same expertise to catch dogs in my neighborhood?  You don't acquire experience by osmosis!

Hillary has no experience to speak of and certainly no ethics.  

Hillary and Bill Clinton would sell their own daughter to thieves if they thought it would advance their cause.

Get real people.....we don't want or need another Clinton presidency.

Dear God, one was enough!
I was surprised to read about  the comments from Samantha Powers this morning.  But I don't think she should of resigned as an advisor to the Obama campaign.  Samantha Powers offers foreign policy insights that any of the candidates would find helpful in shaping American foreign policy.  I encourage every member of Congress who cares about how our government conducts its foreign policy to read the Age of Genocide.  Each member of Congress can learn from Samantha Powers, including Senator Clinton.  Senator Obama reached out to Samantha Powers because of her insight and first hand experience of the situation, like in Daufur.  I hope to see Samantha Powers in an Obama Presidency.

Orlando - Charleston, SC

Hilary using the old "do as I say, not as I do" line? What a shocker! Is anyone really shocked by this? I'm not. Hilary has done nothing but put out personal attacks against Obama but when the slightest little thing is said about her it's the end of the world, she plays the I'm a girl, don't pick on me card far too often.

I was so excited about this race, and ALL of the Dem candidates, until it became 1-on-1 and Hilary showed her true colors. Thanks for destroying what could have been the greatest race ever Hilary... good job!
Bionic all those people worked for her husband. He called the chits in.. If she was so smart with foreign policy she would not have voted for the Iraq war. Oh yeah it was Hillary Clintons campaign that told the Canadian government not to take her statements seriously.
Too bad Ohio and RI didn't see the writing on the wall. They got it ALL backwords. What people see as Barack Obama's weakness, is actually a strength, and what people see as a strength with HRC is actually weakness. HRC has no power but playing on the weak. Obama is the true FIGHTER and the candidate with the TRUE strengths at bringing this country together.
I truly believe that Obama is the perfect representation of a generation focused on public relations and perception. We all know that perception is what dictates people's sense of reality...he is a master at deceptive perception - a master at the art of public relations/communications. I see the advertisements and I hear the propoganda...but I don't see the goods...
Archivists Block Release of Clinton Papers

Clinton Presidential Library Archivists are Blocking Release of White House Papers

By PETER EISLER

LITTLE ROCK -- March 7, 2008 —

Federal archivists at the Clinton Presidential Library are blocking the release of hundreds of pages of White House papers on pardons that the former president approved, including clemency for fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich.

That archivists' decision, based on guidance provided by Bill Clinton that restricts the disclosure of advice he received from aides, prevents public scrutiny of documents that would shed light on how he decided which pardons to approve from among hundreds of requests.

Clinton's legal agent declined the option of reviewing and releasing the documents that were withheld, said the archivists, who work for the federal government, not the Clintons.

The decision to withhold much of the requested material could provide fodder for critics who say that the former president and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, have been unwilling to fully release documents to public scrutiny.
I will not vote for Clinton if she is the nominee.  
I second all the people who don't like her style of politics.
Clintoon: “We don’t need more George Bush secrecy in the White House.”

Typical liberals. Blame it on the Republicans.

The Democrat race to the bottom is going full speed ahead. Both of these candidates, Clinton and Obama are the two biggest dirt bags in politics.
Its all about the Clintons keeping the little stories going to keep the media from focasing on the the real news. My support is not about who has the best name calling but what I am worried about is poeple getting help. What does everyone think is going to happen. Even if sen.Clinton does backdoor her way to the whitehouse what then. All I hear is she is going to chang all these great things for the poor poeple. Wake up the only way to get these policies she wants into law is through the senate and congress, did you forget about them. The rupublicans dislike the clintons and the democrates she steps on to get to the whitehouse will not support her so how exactly is she going to get the policies through without unity of the parties, not going to happen ask George Bush. So we have another 4 years of nothing.
Is Hillary's Plan to divide the Part to get on the VP ticket and if not make sure she's hurt Obama enough to ensure he LOSES against McCain and thus she runs for President in 2012 ( a la Reagan).

Newsweek article by Eleanor Clift:

"The two contested nominations of the modern era—Kennedy-Carter in '80 and Reagan-Ford in '76—offer clues as to what may lie ahead. In each case, the candidate with the most pledged delegates going into the convention won the nomination. Each then went on to lose the general election. Clinton backers point to the Reagan model. Governor Reagan stayed in the fight all the way to the convention. He had a hundred delegates fewer than Ford, roughly the same deficit Clinton has today. Reagan helped insure his party's defeat but nailed the nomination four years later."


She is so Selfish!
Welcome to the adult table, Barack.  You've been handled with kid gloves for too long now.  Time to wipe your nose, quit crying and act like a big boy.  Your supporters won't be able to see it, (they can't see anything but the glow you emit) but Hillary has been getting the bad press for months now, you've had it for one week.  Let's see what you're made of.  
When will Clinton return $170,000 contribution to the company that sexually harassed women. So much for standing for women.

This was reported by FirstRead:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/29/718538.aspx

Also,why the MSM not reporting the news that it was Clinton's campaign that really had the NAFTA-gate issue ater all they reported against Obama on that.
?THIS IS TRUE - THEY ACT AS IF THEY ARE BETTER AND THE TRUTH IS THEY ARE LYING
Say No to Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton !!!

USA is not a monarchy.

Go Obama '08.
Hillary Camp,

Evil never wins. What you put out into the world that is bad, will come back to you even harder. She will get her just rewards in due time.
I am so happy to be a supporter of Sen. Obama.  What a classy man with an equally classy campaign. Sen. Obama isn't desperate, he doesn't have to be- he's LEADING!  But, he is pointing out FACTS that seem to be lost by the MSM.  She has to be held accountable like everyone else. It doesn't matter how you try to spin it, Sen. Obama WILL BE THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE, so deal with it.

OBAMA, 2008!  
I can't decide what's more comical:  Obama's complete inability to take a little heat, or his whining supporters' inability to do so.
Patty,
Thanks for all the laughs.  I presume you're trying to be funny.  

Obama (as well as I'm guessing all of his supporters) could smack you silly in any intelligence test you chose, with all of our synapses tied behind our backs.  

You're right, I'm sure he's not smart enough.  Again, thanks for the chuckles.  At the last one, I laughed out loud.
Desperate?  You must be delusional John, check the delegate math.  This is about calling out the Clintons and their slimeball tactics.  The Clintons and their supporters want eveything both ways.  They'll punch you bellow the belt, but whine any time they're questioned about anything.    
Ok two things first Obama is not desperate seeing that he has for the most part wrapped up the pledged delegate lead. Second, he has a clearly stated withdrawal plan that is somewhat similar to Hillary's although more specific. He has long stated that his goal is to be out within 16 months but has clearly stated that the realities of the situation right now would only afford withdrawal of one to two batallions a month. Now that assessment is based on current conditions and this war is a fluid process.  The bottom line is that the president is not and should not be the king making his/her decisions solidarity. Hillary and Obama regardless of who wins would have to sit down with the intelligence of the time and prepare and exit strategy based on that. what both candidates have laid out is a clear plan based on best case scenario options to get out of Iraq. Both candidates are committed (ok at least obama is) to ending this Iraq war mess.  He wants to be "as careful getting out as unprepared we were getting in".

Hillary's people like to live by double standards. She can personally attack Obama and even defend McCain but if anything is said about her she becomes the victim. How exactly is asking for her tax returns a personal "Ken Starr" like attack? And why isn't Wolfson held to the same level of scrutiny as Powers?


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