Daily Kos

Clinton Goes Negative Again, Double Negative

Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 02:43:05 AM PDT

As reported by CBS.

A senior Clinton spokesman told reporters that Clinton did not mean to imply that she was not referring to what she allegedly said to Richardson about Obama.

Read the full story on how the Clinton campaign explains her non-statement with regard to whether she never didn't say that Obama couldn't win.  Or experience the Cookie monster version after the jump.

First, the story from CBS:

In an exchange with reporters at a press conference earlier today, Hillary Clinton was asked about reports that while, she was seeking his endorsement, she told Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., that Barack Obama could not win the general election if he were the nominee. Clinton responded, "You know we have been going back and forth in this campaign about who said what to whom and let me say this about that. I don’t talk about private conversations. But I have consistently made the case that I can win because I believe I can win. You know, sometimes people draw the conclusions that I’m saying somebody else can’t win. I can win, I know I can win. That’s why I do this everyday. I’m in it to win it."

The reporter pressed Clinton saying, "Is that a no?" To which Clinton responded, "That’s a no."

But later, a senior Clinton spokesman told reporters that Clinton did not mean to imply that she was not referring to what she allegedly said to Richardson about Obama. Instead, the campaign explains that Clinton took the follow up question to mean that she "does not talk about private conversations."

Reporters pressed the aide about Clinton’s answer to which the aide maintained that Clinton’s "that’s a no" answer was aimed at the fact that Clinton does not discuss private conversations.

The campaign’s move leaves open the possibility that Clinton may have been worried that Richardson, who eventually endorsed Obama, would have come out and challenged Clinton’s denial.

THE COOKIE MONSTER VERSION

Q:  Did you eat the cookie?

A:  People think me eat the cookie, because me no have cookie no more.

Q:  Is that a no?

A: That a no.

[NEWSFLASH:  COOKIE MONSTER DENIES EATING COOKIE.]

And then...

In a later statement by Cookie Monster, "When you say, 'is that no,' me thought you mean, no more cookie."  Still no word on whether or not the Cookie Monster ate the cookie.

[Crossposted on my goofy blog.]

Tags: cookie monster, hillary clinton (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

Permalink | 27 comments

  •  Can't follow this he said/she said stuff :-( (2+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    chicago jeff, SnowItch

    Man, Hillary is off-message these days.

    •  He said leadership requires sound judgment. (2+ / 0-)

      Recommended by:
      kpardue, real world chick

      He spoke out eloquently and early against the Iraq War. She said leadership requires experience, such as flying about the world as First Lady even while under Bosnian sniper fire. She speaks out of both sides of her mouth on issues from casting a vote to authorize the war, to supporting NAFTA, to demanding full disclosure from Obama while keeping her tax records since 2000 under wraps.

      With Hillary, it's double talk and double standards. Is that what she really means by "two for the price of one"?

      "We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans." -- Barack Obama

      by jhutson on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 03:52:33 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  who cares? (0+ / 0-)

      there are real issues to discuss. What difference does it make what someone said or didn't say months ago?

      Gah. Are we in high school or something?

  •  Are we talking about A Commander In (3+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    Hope Monger, Wisteacher, subprime

    Chief caliber of person here?  NOT!

    More like not ready for prime time player.  This is getting embarrassing and goofy.  

    I hope the rest of the world isn't watching us too closely.  It might shake their confidence a little that we have their futures in good stable and competent hands.  

    We are just two steps away from electing the person we imagine will be in charge of their entire free world!  And one of the few countries suppossedly mature enough to have our Presidents fingers on the 25,000 nuclear warheads??

    Dang, we're lucky, we are the Americans in this game, because, can you imagine us putting up with this kind of .... whatever it is, if we were part of the rest of the world?

    I can tell you right off, without any doubt, I'd be having quite variety of odd thoughts coming up for me if I were watching this from one of the other 150 or so countries of the world.

    Let's hope this Democracy thing doesn't catch on globally all that fast, because I'm not sure we're going to be ready soon to get just 6% of the vote on global matters.  

    And for the President of the World.  

    Has anyone figured out yet, that if we had true global Democracy of the sort we stand on here to feel closest to "god" we would be the Rhode Island of the world?  

    We probably wouldn't even get to vote in most of the primaries as they'd be settled in the Super Tuesday's in Inda and China.  

    Unless we agreed to be a caucus country.  Maybe we could be the IOWA of the world?

    Maybe that would be the deal maker.  Force all those rich Arabs and Chinese to come here to campaign but have to spend their dollars in our hotels and restaurants, and run ads on our TV stations, finally giving us a chance to balance the trade deficit.  

    The means is the ends in the process of becoming. - Mahatma Gandhi

    by HoundDog on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 03:09:14 AM PDT

    •  Um... (5+ / 0-)

      I hope the rest of the world isn't watching us too closely.

      The rest of the world is watching the same thing we are.

      •  But do they pay any more attention to it than our (2+ / 0-)

        Recommended by:
        MajorFlaw, Cameron Fredman

        people do?  

        Actually, I was being sort of snarky in a silly sort of way.  

        I know the world is watching and some are even on this site.  

        And I'm sort of embarrased and trying to be apologetic, or at least acknowledge awareness of some of the sad and poignant aspects and implications I imagine some might be thinking and feeling as they watch this, MajorFlaw.

        The means is the ends in the process of becoming. - Mahatma Gandhi

        by HoundDog on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 03:20:28 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        •  Know what you mean... (3+ / 0-)

          Recommended by:
          HoundDog, Cartoon Messiah, SnowItch

          some of the sad and poignant aspects and implications

          How do we explain to people who haven't lived through it the fall from grace we suffered from 9/12/01 when the world was on our side to now.  It's truly unfathomable. One of the running jokes I've heard is that GHWB was born on third base and thought he tripled;  the shrub was born on third base and managed to steal second.

          •  But what makes the 9/11 fiasco worse is the the (0+ / 0-)

            American people voted him back into office in 2004.  

            The first time we could say he lied to us, and we didn't know.

            We have no excuse for the second election.  I fought againts Bush both times and was against the war from tthe first I heard about it.  It was first "designed" by the PNAC neocons eigth years prior as a plan to "redesign the middle east.

            But, we are now responsible for this horrible legacy and have a lot of repair work to do if we can win this next election.

            But recommitted ourselves to the rule of international law, working wihtin the framework of the United Nations, The Geneva Conventions, renouncing the unilateral pre-emptive war philosophy that place GWB and OSL in the same camp, and at least some token nod in the direction of Just War theory, which suggest that war should only be used as last result after all other options have been exhausted, not the first idea, or as a display of power to discipline other countries (a central premise of the PNAC neocon approach.)

            But I burnt out year agos after ranting and raving about these issues for years here and other places.

            I'm makes me mad as heck that I'm going to have to stand in the same box with the rest of us American who are now morally responsible for these outrages, after reelecting these Bush Neocriminals.

            The means is the ends in the process of becoming. - Mahatma Gandhi

            by HoundDog on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:14:52 AM PDT

            [ Parent ]

  •  Does it mean that they don't mean (2+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    yellowdog, SLKRR

    what they meant they mean? I mean that I meant what they meant is not what they meant to mean if that's what they mean.
    I am pretty sure they mean it but not they way they meant they meant it.

    •  it depends on what the (0+ / 0-)

      meaning of "mean" is... is that clear enough for you?

      Good old Clintons... is there a word "parsingmonious"?

      She said that she was working for the ABC News
      It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use

      by Paolo on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 04:04:26 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  Cookie Monster brings a lifetime of experience (6+ / 0-)

    John McCain can run from the Press. But he can't hide.

    by organicdemocrat on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 03:12:23 AM PDT

    •  Me hear you. (5+ / 0-)

      I hope that Richardson does call her on it as Suarez says:

      The campaign’s move leaves open the possibility that Clinton may have been worried that Richardson, who eventually endorsed Obama, would have come out and challenged Clinton’s denial.

      If he addresses her statement rather than the cookie monster clarification, then that would play to credibility again.

      It has all the drama of a good episode of Monsterpiece Theater, doesn't it?

      "Stare at the monster: remark/ How difficult it is to define just what/ Amounts to monstrosity in that/ Very ordinary appearance." - Ted Hughes

      by MarkC on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 03:22:53 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  Damn, you beat me to it... (6+ / 0-)

    But later, a senior Clinton spokesman told reporters that Clinton did not mean to imply that she was not referring to what she allegedly said to Richardson about Obama.

    I'm an teacher (albeit 8th grade) and attempting to decipher this Hillarese is giving me a headache...

  •  I feel bad for Richardson (2+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    Hope Monger, Wisteacher

    He has been put in a really bad situation that he didn't deserve.  The Clintons made sure the story got out about Bill watching the Super-Bowl with him, remember just before Texas. Although there was no endorsement, they played it like it was.

    Now that he has endorsed Obama, they attack him for that.  Have you noticed how the Loyalty issue is just as important to the Clintons as it is the Bushs.  Scary Huh!

    •  I don't feel bad for him (1+ / 0-)

      Recommended by:
      clew74

      Why feel bad for Richardson?  The Clinton's ongoing BS over his Obama endorsement is pretty much proving 100% right his reasons for not endorsing HRC.  In fact, if he had any lingering regret that maybe he should have stuck with them, it's been entirely obliterated now.  They've confirmed for him that he made the right choice.

      Sim, a gente pode!

      by SLKRR on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 04:47:37 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  Why are they doing this? (1+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    SLKRR

    They didn't go ballistic when Casey endorse. What's the big deal about Richardson? He was running against her for crying out loud.

    The Clintons are just making this worse.

  •  Beautiful! :) (1+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    Cameron Fredman

    Elegant analogies are hard to come by.  This one is priceless! :)

    "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." -Thomas Jefferson

    by delillo2000 on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 04:32:48 AM PDT

  •  Holy tortured grammar, Batman! /nt (0+ / 0-)

    Sim, a gente pode!

    by SLKRR on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 04:44:05 AM PDT

  •  STOP ASKING HILLARY QUESTIONS!!!! (2+ / 0-)

    It's sexist. Also, unfair on some genetic level -- questions make her nervous and I believe she qualifies under the ADA to be protected from "nerve-wracking" encounters. If you must -- absolutely must know the answer to some of these questions, there is a time and place to ask them...yes, you guessed it: 3:00am. The campaign not only is ready for THAT call, it apparently is the ONLY one they can handle.

    --------
    Please don't bite the heads off the chocolate Elvises.

    by PBJ Diddy on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 04:46:09 AM PDT

  •  And there will be (0+ / 0-)

    no follow up questions there!

  •  Cookie monster needs to diary more... (0+ / 0-)

    Great insight, but his political commentary is generally hard to find compared to the rest of his work. Maybe a guest spot on KO?

    The perfect plan, Is not the man Who tells you, You are wrong

    by dss on Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 05:30:40 AM PDT

  •  In charge of the entire free world ? (1+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    Cameron Fredman
  •  Brilliant comedy as ever, Cam (0+ / 0-)

Permalink | 27 comments