Stir Up Some Fear to Win
Published by Pamela Gentry on Monday, February 25, 2008 at 11:06 pm.
By Pamela Gentry, Senior Poltical Producer
Posted Feb. 26, 2008 – Until this recent stunt by the Clinton campaign, I had hoped folks would see a contest waged without getting low down and dangerously dirty by Democratic rivals.
But today’s alledged actions by the Clinton campaign, tells me they want a win and they’ll do just about anything to do so. I’m sure Black Americans will be in no mood to forgive and forget this recent stunt so closely on the heels of a discussion about the safety of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)
The release of a photo of Obama in traditional Somali clothing during a 2006 trip to African was sent to the conservative website Drudgereport.com (without explanation) to get the policy conversation off of NAFTA. The website says the picture came from the Clinton campaign.
Maggie Williams, who’s Black, wouldn’t even deny leaking the photo, and released a statement saying, “If Barack Obama’s campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely.”
They knew the photo could and would be misunderstood, just what they wanted. This dirty little trick could cost the Clinton campaign more than they ever imagined.
I can’t wait to see what Williams has in store next.
Posted Feb. 27, 2008 – On Tuesday afternoon, I received a call followed by an email from one of the folks at Clinton camp whom I have worked with for a long time expressing concern about this blog. She said the campaign has no proof this photo of Obama was sent to the Drudgereport by a member of their team, and asked that information be shared with my readers. Here’s what she had to say;
“Hey Pamela …
Just wanted to follow up with you on today’s blog posting … as we discussed earlier …the first sentence implies that the campaign has put out this photo. Senator Clinton (and the campaign doesn’t condone this type of practice). No one at the campaign had seen this alleged Email or this photo until we saw it on the Drudge Report along with the rest of the media (and at this moment no one has yet to see it). That being said, can you update your blog to reflect that the campaign did not have anything to do with this “stunt” — this, as I said, does not do anything positive for our campaign so the question for you would be “why would we engage in this type of tactic?” Thanks for your attention to this matter.
Best, TRACI”
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is this m.elle or the other name you use to act like you’re two people to keep adding your 4 cents to this page?
silly=pee wee herman
silly=rubber chickens
most equipped to be president=HILLARY
HILLARY 2008
I relish a good debate, just like the next informed voter, and I think it’s good when black people, just like any other race take opposing viewpoints (I have both Hill and Obama supporters in my network). However, Kris, your latest response is akin to Hill’s “Shame on you!” comment: much pomp, no circumstance. (Pee Wee Herman, really?) Anyway, I see you didn’t refute any of my arguments, so my work here is done. It’s been fun
Barack Obama — community advocate, Harvard law graduate, community activist, state senator, Senator, the leader who’ll bring America change.
Sen. Barack Obama for President, 2008
You thought bill was cold (messing with monica in the whitehouse) wait until the photo’s of maggie in bed with hillary come out! the only thing bill does for black people is…pay (real good) the Black prostitutes of Harlem…to keep them from telling the press about how small he really is!!!No wonder he used that cigar!!!!!!
okay M.Elle,
1) she voted for authorization to use force. yes. she did not authorize the president and secy of defense to BUNGLE the war. big difference.
2) you DO NOT sit down at the same table with leaders who are KNOWN to support terrorism and rule totalitarian regimes. especially in your first year in office, especially without preconditions being met. look up the president of iran’s record as a terrorist. that speaks for itself.
3) politics is politics
4) about health care. i think that whole thing was a huge learning EXPERIENCE for HILLARY. i think that’s why she’s best able to tackle the issue. plus she’s been talking about it for years, and together with sen. kennedy, helped pass legislation to provide thousands of children with healthcare.
what else didn’t i address. where her money came from? she loaned it to her campaign. i think if records show that is a lie, THEN we have an issue, but until then, not an issue.
HILLARY 2008
kris, you are saying is that the war SHOULD HAVE been authorized, but just better managed?? also this is george bush’s stance when in comes to iran (kyl-lieberman) and other nations we don’t agree with. do you agree with george bush on this as well?
also the republicans are NOTORIOUS for underhanded deals. if hillary was a republican, would you have wanted her to release her tax records as well?
about the authorization vote:
EVERYONE was lied to by the administration in ‘02. bush & powell were sellin false or negligent intel to anybody who’d listen. so yea, 77 senators voted for the resolution, & hillary was one of em. barack wasn’t there yet, so he gets a pass on the issue. when he was asked abt it in ‘04, he said: “I’m not privy to Senate intelligence reports. What would I have done? I don’t know.”
yes, she was duped, as were a lot of other people. but she owned it in the debates & said she wished she could take it back. to me, admitting mistakes is part of good judgment.
right on max. that’s right lilbaby26. i was actually AGAINST the war. BUT, i am not one to accept everything my candidate does or says and defend it tooth and nail. i disagree with her on that decision. but, as max said, they were seeing something different. and again, the senators who voted for this were voting for AUTHORIZATION. not BUNGLE-IZATION. how many of the senators (yours included) would have voted for authorization knowing what they know now?
if that is dubya’s stance on dealing with leaders of countries supporting and harboring terrorists, then i agree with him, yes. the kind of diplomacy b.o. is speaking of weakens america’s standing in the world. and now, with so many countries against us, we cannot afford to not be a superpower. we cannot have that undermined.
HILLARY 2008
What a deplorabe tactic! It was just a matter of time before the campaign trickery turned ugly. Regardless, my vote will be for Obama.
Senator Obama is historically correct to state that former Presidents John Kennedy and Richard Nixon both talked to adversaries.
NO max, everyone was not lied to about the war. other countries that spoke out like france, germany and china knew it was b.s. except for congress?? i knew that it was phony from the get go and i’m not even in congress. barrack spoke out against the war when he knew he was running for office. hillary never read the national intelligence estimate report and instead, didn’t wanna be accused of not supporting the troops if the war was won. and i still think that she had her own agenda when she voted. she only owned up to it when the pressure was on her to do so since she needs to win at this point.
and kris, bush’s stnace on dealing with terrorist is at least one of the reasons why we are so hated around the world. the fact that we canbe arrogant and think that we can invade some country without a plan or the proper knowledge of the people is why we can’t build a working coalition. the fact is that they’re gonna keep attacking us if we don’t get out of the ‘holyland’ and stop supporting israel.
no LILBABY26, the kind of foreign policy i am speaking of is sitting at a table with leaders of countries that are KNOWN the world over to support and harbor terrorists. IRAN is one of them. i DO NOT think we should bomb them OF COURSE. that would be silly. but to glibly say that they are not a threat is ludicrous. we SHOULD NOT stop supporting israel. i mean, its statements like that that show how just uninformed many people are. israel is one of the strongest military presences in that region, and with surrounding nations in peril (pakistan) who ALSO have nuclear weapons, we would be foolish to not support israel.
the president of iran has also repeatedly made anti-semitic remarks, that it would be good to wipe israel off the map, and that there are no gay people in iran. what kind of deranged individual are we dealing with here???? does b.o. really want to sit down at a table in his first year in office and chit-chat with this guy???? that’s irresponsible. but he has said he’d do it. foolish.
HILLARY 2008
that’s not foolish kris and let’s not act like this kind of dipolmacy has never been done before. obama isn’t doing anything different that other leaders haven’t tried. what we are doing right now is very arrogant and sounds like a rap beef. as long as we have a presence over there, then they are gonna continue to hate us. would there ever be democracy over there? it could happen, just not right now. mccain wants to open up bases in iraq and stay there like in germany and japan and korea..ok i can understand keeping bases in korea, but the situation is too complicated for that and in the case of iraq, the only solution would be for it to break up into 3 countries. now iran is pretty tricky too and has to be handled with care, but if we give the impression that it’s our way or the highway especially without a working coalition, then we will continue to be threatened. the people of these countries elect leaders who are not stooges for the U.S.(pakistan, hamas in lebanon) so i still see nothing wrong with at least bringing them to the table before we use some action if all else fails.
Obama being the diplomat that he is says that he believes Hillary if she says she knew nothing about this picture. But we all know someone from the Hillary camp leaked this! The Clintons have been playing rather dirty…with the top Clinton aide circulating emails that Obama is a muslim, to Bill Clinton constantly comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson, to Bill saying that Obama getting the nomination was a “fantasy” to this. Hillary is very angry right now that she is not the Nominee. Experts say she was so sure that she would be the winner by such a landslide after Supper Tuesday I., that she didn’t even forcast pass that day, and did not properly register in Pennsylvannia.
The fact of the matter is, Obama is by far the most competent and capable candidate to run the U.S. Hillary who said early on that the presidency was “her birthright”, can’t believe someone is beating her, and certainly not a black man. Hillary’s anger is so enormous that she can’t even contain her bitterness, or maintain her fake smile, making even embarassingly smart comments like, “does Obama need a pillow” in a formal debate where millions are watching.
Bottom-line, do Americans want a whining, “I’m a victim” woman running this country, who plays dirty to get votes and attempts to discredit her opponent via lies, or a top-notch, action-results oriented man, who is not willing to divert from the real issues in America, by participating in Hillary’s little temper tantrums?
Obama For President
LILBABY26, i maintain that it is FOOLISH. NO ONE said our way of the highway. what i am suggesting is that we work with other countries to maybe impose sanctions, or send an envoy to work on these issues. but for the president of the united states to sit down in the same room with the terrorist leader of a country who has made threats against israel and is thought to be supporting insurgent campaigns in iraq, is FOOLISH. oh, by the way, we have looong been an ally with israel, so it’s not only that they hate us for.
MIKKI ANGELO,
you need to back up some of your claims with hard evidence because you are sound silly right now. bill clinton does not CONSTANTLY compare b.o. to jesse jackson. he did it once.
secondly, he wasn’t referring to b.o. getting the nomination as a fantasy. he said that his flip-flopping on whether he would’ve voted for the iraq war were he in the senate at the time, was a fairy tale. it was not a personal attack.
and lastly, i will switch my vote to b.o. right now if you can provide a link to where HILLARY clinton said that being president was her birthright.
fact check before you start making up $hit
HILLARY 2008
LILBABY26, Continue supporting your “lil baby”, the whining, child-like, “Why do I keep getting the 1st question” Hillary Clinton! Obama does not need your vote, last check, he is winning in popular vote by a landslide, and really Hillary, for the sanctity of the Democratic Party, should concede gracefully. But you and I both know she won’t do this, because Hillary is an obvious Narcissist. Hillary is for Hillary.
Both Hillary and Bill have shown their faces in this poorly driven campaign. And now, once Hillary supporters are “jumping ship” faster than a cheetah runs in the wild!
Is Hillary going to “whine” to foreign leaders, cry foul when they don’t comply to her demands, and throw fits like she has in this campaign? This BULLY – VICTIM, BULLY- VICTIM, thing she has going on? Is this the leadership the U.S. deserves?
THE FACTS:
(1) Hillary Clinton supported this War, which has cost tens of thousands of precious American and Iraqi LIVES! And, has cost this country BILLIONS of dollars!
Now, Hillary wants to shuck it off and say, “Maybe I was wrong”…please forgive me for this little mistake. This is what her “so-called experience” led her to decide. What poor judgment this woman has!
And, she thinks that the American people are too stupid to remember how strongly she supported the War, and even stood behind Pres. Bush during own of his “Shock and Awe” speeches in solidarity, as he boasted about leveling a country that hadn’t done anything to US!
Americans remember that!
(2)HILLARY SUPPORTED NAFTA. Now she is lying, and saying she didn’t. Her husband signed the NAFTA bill into legislation. But in OHIO, were it costs hard-working people to lose over 50,000 jobs, she is singing a different tune…maybe I was wrong and NAFTA needs to be reformed.
TOO LATE HILLARY! TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES LATER AND 50,000 JOBS LOSS LATER…IT IS SIMPLY TOO LATE TO CHANGE HER MIND.
Like Obama said, on the single most important decision of this generation, Hillary was wrong! Or should I say “deadly” wrong!
We don’t need this type of incompetency in the White House. “Read my lips, I did not have sexual relations with that woman”. Read my lips (LILBABY26), we don’t need any more LIARS in the White House!
OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT ‘08
mikki angelo, u might wanna check again, i am not supporting hillary
obama 08
i love to see how the race is going to be. and then i want to know who is going to be the next president.
i love to see how the race is going to be. and then i want to know who is going to be the next president.
thank
foday
i am really astonish to see obama still contesting with clinton because i was not really hope that he will further his campain on to this time.
Also i want to thank clinton and obama to entertain the young voters because they make the young voters fill proud of this election.
thank
morlai.
lilbaby — when you’re right, you’re right, i’ll concede the point. there’s really no way to argue that voting to authorize the war was a good thing, so i’m not gonna try.
also, i agree, our blind unilateral support of israel is a big problem in our foreign policy. realistically, i don’t see that changing regardless of the next president. & the truth is they’re our only stable ally in the powder-keg & they’re our favorite proxy when we do something shady & need political cover. i agree w/ kris tho that there’s just no good to come from “negotiating” w/ groups like hamas.
i guess i’m being hypocritical on the war vote issue. i’ll own it. politics is bullsh*t.
but are we to agree with EVERYTHING that a candidate has done or stands for? NO. there are things (or should be anyway) that we disagree with. if you agree with every one of b.o.’s policies and every vote he’s cast, and every personal decision he’s made, then i question your judgment. and i would say that the cult of personality has you F-ed up.
LILBABY26, ignore MIKKI. it’s clear that they just say anything that comes to mind. MIKKI, i noticed that you didn’t address my questions!
we could go around all day on the iraq thing. it takes courage to make a stand for something. now, you could end up being wrong, but you took a stand. and if you didn’t take a stand because you were still fixing potholes in chicago, then you won’t be criticized. i have said as well that i disagree with clinton’s vote on that. enough said.
NAFTA? who knows what b.o. was doing at this time? did he cover that in his book? look, it is widely known that HILLARY had doubts about nafta and even expressed these doubts behind the scenes. but she was not in any kind of formal position to say yea or nay on nafta, so…and if you’re going to argue that her time as first lady doesn’t count for the good things that came of the clinton white house, then SHUT THE HELL up about the not-so-good things that happened.
HILLARY 2008