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Some Talking Points for PA

post from Progressives for Obama on 12 April 2008 10:55:00 PM. © Progressives for Obama


Three Reasons
We Should
Oppose Clinton

By Tom Hayden

There are at least three talking points against the Clinton campaign that are both progressive and will resonate with voters, especially in Pennsylvania. These points are unlikely to be made by Barack, increasing the importance that activists take them up.

-Clinton and former President Clinton have falsified her 2002 position on the Iraq War. They claim that she voted for the 2002 authorization to strengthen President Bush?s diplomatic leverage, not to support an actual war. But her vote was on a bill which was entitled a war authorization.

-Clinton has falsified her support for NAFTA as First Lady, claiming that she privately opposed the agreement. But White House records show that she spoke at a closed function in favor of NAFTA at the White House. There is no written record in her autobiography or books written about her that proves she privately opposed NAFTA. Those who say she did are referring to her tactical questioning about Bill Clinton putting NAFTA ahead of her health care legislation.

-Clinton has falsified her Bosnia visit, saying she was under sniper fire, in order to exaggerate her national security credentials. In reality, this was her own Tonkin Gulf incident, entirely fabricated. The excuses that she ?misspoke?, that she was tired, that she was 60 [Bill Clinton?s nutty statement], are all lies. She said she was under sniper fire at least twice, to national correspondents, in the daytime. We have seen enough examples of presidents manipulating our fears, and this episode reveals that she would be the next in a long line.

These are truly dangerous assertions for one who would be president. We should do everything we can to prevent a fooling of the voters on a massive scale on life-and-death issues that really matter to the voters. http://progressivesforobama.blogspot.com

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Senator Obama in Terra Haute, Indiana

post from Obama-08 on 12 April 2008 03:10:00 PM. © Obama-08

Senator Obama?s comments in response to the Clinton and McCain campaign?s attacks -

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA ? At a town hall meeting in Indiana, U.S. Senator Barack Obama made the following comments in response to the Clinton and McCain campaign?s attacks:

?When I go around and I talk to people there is frustration and there is anger and there is bitterness. And what?s worse is when people are expressing their anger then politicians try to say what are you angry about? This just happened ? I want to make a point here today.

?I was in San Francisco talking to a group at a fundraiser and somebody asked how?re you going to get votes in Pennsylvania? What?s going on there? We hear that?s its hard for some working class people to get behind you?re campaign. I said, ?Well look, they?re frustrated and for good reason. Because for the last 25 years they?ve seen jobs shipped overseas. They?ve seen their economies collapse. They have lost their jobs. They have lost their pensions. They have lost their healthcare.

?And for 25, 30 years Democrats and Republicans have come before them and said we?re going to make your community better. We?re going to make it right and nothing ever happens. And of course they?re bitter. Of course they?re frustrated. You would be too. In fact many of you are. Because the same thing has happened here in Indiana. The same thing happened across the border in Decatur.

The same thing has happened all across the country. Nobody is looking out for you. Nobody is thinking about you. And so people end up- they don?t vote on economic issues because they don?t expect anybody?s going to help them. So people end up, you know, voting on issues like guns, and are they going to have the right to bear arms.

They vote on issues like gay marriage. And they take refuge in their faith and their community and their families and things they can count on. But they don?t believe they can count on Washington. So I made this statement-- so, here?s what rich. Senator Clinton says ?No, I don?t think that people are bitter in Pennsylvania. You know, I think Barack?s being condescending.? John McCain says, ?Oh, how could he say that? How could he say people are bitter? You know, he?s obviously out of touch with people.?

?Out of touch? Out of touch? I mean, John McCain?it took him three tries to finally figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was a problem and to come up with a plan for it, and he?s saying I?m out of touch? Senator Clinton voted for a credit card-sponsored bankruptcy bill that made it harder for people to get out of debt after taking money from the financial services companies, and she says I?m out of touch?

No, I?m in touch. I know exactly what?s going on. I know what?s going on in Pennsylvania. I know what?s going on in Indiana. I know what?s going on in Illinois. People are fed-up. They?re angry and they?re frustrated and they?re bitter. And they want to see a change in Washington and that?s why I?m running for President of the United States of America.?

Senator Obama in Terra Haute, Indiana

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Bill Richardson speaks on his Obama Endorsement

post from Obama-08 on 12 April 2008 06:54:00 AM. © Obama-08

From the LA Times:

Why Gov. Bill Richardson didn't endorse Clinton
By Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 12, 2008

SANTA FE, N.M. -- Before he endorsed Barack Obama, before he drew the wrath of the Clintons and was likened to Judas, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson nearly endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.But Richardson hesitated, and as the Democratic campaign turned ugly, he grew angry.

There was that "3 a.m." TV ad, in which Clinton questioned Obama's personal mettle. "That upset me," Richardson said.

There were some ham-fisted phone calls from Clinton backers, who questioned Richardson's honor and suggested that the governor, who served in President Clinton's Cabinet, owed Hillary Clinton his support.

"That really ticked me off," Richardson said.

Still, even as he moved from Clinton toward Obama -- "the pursuit was pretty relentless on both sides" -- Richardson wrestled with the question of loyalty. After 14 years in Congress and a measure of fame as an international troubleshooter, Richardson was named Clinton's U.N. ambassador, then Energy secretary: "two important appointments," Richardson said.

He finally concluded that he had settled his debt to the former president: He had worked for Clinton's election in 1992, helped pass the North American Free Trade Agreement as part of his administration, stood by him during the Monica S. Lewinsky sex scandal, and rounded up votes to fight impeachment.

"I was loyal," Richardson said during an extended conversation over breakfast this week at the governor's mansion in Santa Fe. "But I don't think that loyalty is transferable to his wife. . . . You don't transfer loyalty to a dynasty."

He was impressed by the mostly positive tone of Obama's campaign, and grew to appreciate the substance and depth of their private conversations. The more Richardson heard from the Washington heavyweights backing Clinton, the more convinced he became of the need for a change inside the Beltway.

It has been three weeks since Richardson embraced the Illinois senator, an endorsement that continues to rankle and resonate -- the significance, it would seem, going far beyond the preference of a governor from a poor, rural state.

But this is a family fight, between kin of the Clinton years, so perhaps the raw emotions shouldn't be surprising. "They're very similar in personality," said Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party and a friend of both Bill Clinton and Richardson. "There was a bond established, and I think [the former president] feels a little hurt."

Attention to the endorsement might have quickly passed but for the strenuous protest of Bill Clinton and others. Speaking for the campaign, advisor Mark Penn suggested Richardson's endorsement came too late to be much help to Obama. "Everyone has their endorsers," he said.But then James Carville, the pundit, strategist and Clinton loyalist, hurled a lightning bolt by comparing Richardson to Judas and his surrender of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

Soon after came an odd back-and-forth concerning a private conversation in which, supposedly, either Hillary Clinton or Richardson dismissed Obama as unelectable. (Neither party will discuss particulars, but Richardson said he never made that statement.)

Days later, just when interest in the endorsement seemed to wane, former President Clinton exploded in a rant about Richardson at the California Democratic Party convention. He later apologized, but his tirade in a closed-door session with superdelegates rekindled the story for several more days.

People close to Clinton said he views the governor's action as a personal betrayal. "I think [Richardson] really owes a big chunk of his success and his career to the Clintons," said an associate who has discussed the matter with the former president and requested anonymity to speak candidly.

"Look," Richardson responded, "I was a successful congressman rescuing hostages before I was appointed. I was a governor afterward, elected on my own."Even more than the endorsement, Clinton's associate said, the former president was angry because he thought Richardson broke his word. The two men watched the Super Bowl together at the governor's mansion -- Clinton made a special trip from California in bad weather -- and the former president walked away convinced that Richardson would endorse his wife or, at least, stay neutral.

Richardson was, in fact, close to backing the New York senator that day, though his advisors -- many of whom backed Obama -- urged him to wait. "I remember talking to the president and saying, 'I'm leaning. But I'm not there yet.' He denied pledging neutrality if he changed his mind. "Sometimes people hear what they want to hear," Richardson said.

Normally the most gregarious of politicians, the governor during the interview this week was subdued as he slowly worked his way through a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and green chiles. His voice was soft, and he rarely smiled.

His endorsement had been highly coveted, due largely to his stature as one of the country's most prominent Latino leaders. The pursuit began soon after Richardson quit the presidential race on Jan. 10.

--------------------------------------
I think (hope) other superdelegates will follow in Gov. Richardson's bold (and reasonable) steps. He obviously wrestled with the decision, but the Clintons' behavior once again tipped the balance to Obama's corner. He is to be applauded for his courage to say 'no' to the Clinton dynasty for the sake of a more perfect union. Maybe his actions will encourage more superdelegates to be brave and stand up not just for Obama but for decency in American politics.



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