ThetaBurst

Title
Obama: I feel like I'm running against both Clintons

Link
Obama: I feel like I'm running against both Clintons
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Excerpt

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (CNN) – More tit-for-tat on the campaign trail – only this time, it’s between Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

After losing the caucus tally in Nevada, the Obama campaign took aim at Bill Clinton and the comments he made during his many campaign stops in that state on behalf of his wife, Hillary Clinton.

Now the Illinois senator himself is taking on the former president, telling Good Morning America that he feels as if he’s running against both Clintons.

In the interview, Obama said that the former president has been misrepresenting both “my record of opposition to the war in Iraq” and “our approach to organizing in Las Vegas,” as the controversy over Saturday’s Nevada caucus vote continues to grow.

Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod did not back away from the remarks after they became public Sunday night, telling CNN the Clintons “have a good cop, bad cop thing going” in which “he comes with a negative message she stays positive.”

Axelrod accuses the former President of “doing slash and burn stuff,” and slams the Clinton campaign, saying “there’s a philosophy of saying and doing anything it takes.”

“It’s very clear that Bill Clinton is playing fast and loose with the facts,” says Axelrod, and unbecoming of a former president: “It’s been a little crass, as someone who supported him and respects him, I think it’s disappointing.”

And Axelrod vows Obama will continue to hit back. “As long as he’s out there, we aren’t going to let him distort the record,” he says. “We’ll aggressively challenge him when he misrepresents the facts.”
More…

He also calls on the former president to stop distorting Obama's record. “If he wants to help his wife, just be honest — don’t parse words, don’t truncate quotes to make your case.”

The ABC interview with Obama has yet to air, but the Clinton camp is already fighting back.

“We understand Sen. Obama is frustrated by his loss in Nevada, but the facts are the facts,” said campaign spokesperson Phil Singer. “President Clinton is a huge asset to our campaign and will continue talking to the American people.”

The new brawl comes as the battle between the two camps over the Nevada vote shows no signs of abating, with both sides accusing the other of voter intimidation.

On Sunday, Obama’s Nevada State Director David Cohen said there had been a “clear-cut disenfranchising” of voters in the state because of actions by Clinton supporters, and the campaign's general counsel, Bob Bauer, said they were asking the state and national party to investigate.

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson called the allegations “absurd” and “laughable,” and spokesman Phil Singer responded charged that “Sen. Obama’s allies in Nevada engaged in strong arm tactics and intimidation against our supporters.”

Singer also repeated former President Clinton’s charge that the senator’s record on the war had been “inconsistent.”

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Comment:

THE CLINTONS will be outted tonight, at the Democratic debate.

Heavy_monkey2.0

hmmmm maybe barack should try and acquire the clintoning services or roger or maybe even george, kinda fight fire with fire....

ThetaBurst

Nah.

Honesty is always the best policy.

babylonDon

That feels like a tactical error to me, voicing that. I can't speak for everyone, but my favorite thing about hillary is that she's gonna be bringing Bill Clinton back into the White House.

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McCain '08: 'He'll Get Those Kids Off Your Lawn'

The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.-Maureen Dowd

mudwhistle

Someone get Barry a tissue. And then nominate him. Candidates have attack dogs now. If this guy can't even stand up to a few criticisms from Bill Clinton, wait until our attack machine gets ahold of him.

He might just get his feelings hurt.

babylonDon

Yeah, wait'll he sees what real scum behaves like.

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McCain '08: 'He'll Get Those Kids Off Your Lawn'

The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.-Maureen Dowd

winthrop

Your pride in the use of reprehensible tactics would be a wonder if it were not so sad.
Why do you have Mr. Obama under your username? Why not be honest about whom you support? Is honesty now out of the question for Republicans?

As for the larger issue Mr. Obama presented, he is indeed "running against both Clintons"...did he expect otherwise?

ThetaBurst

Surely you realize everything in politics is a tactic.

Of course you do.

winthrop

Of course. My question is why would Mr. Obama, a candidate I admire and will certainly support should he be the nominee, think faux naivete, although certainly another tactic, would be an effective one.

ThetaBurst

In one swoop he has:

a) positioned Hillary as unable to fend for herself
b) postioned Bill as a bully
c) positioned Bill as exhibiting behavior unbefitting a former president
d) generated negative Clinton press
e) generated topic (all of the above) for tonight's debate