Last week, we saw a fairly astonishing display of doublespeak from Clinton and Dodd on the topic of whether Iowa students originally from out of state have the right to caucus.
Here's Senator Clinton on the stump one week ago, following a weekend of trying to attack the Obama campaign for passing out literature aimed at encouraging Iowa students to caucus:
In a jab at Obama's efforts to encourage out-of-state students who attend college in Iowa to caucus, Clinton said the caucuses are only for people who live in this state.
"This is a process for Iowans. This needs to be all about Iowa, and people who live here, people who pay taxes here," she told the Clear Lake crowd.
One day later came this "clarification" sent privately to youth vote advocates:
Senator Clinton... hopes that all Iowa students who have made Iowa their permanent home participate in the caucus.
Here's Senator Dodd on the stump:
Comparing out-of-state students to his staff members, who have lived in Iowa for more than a year, he said the caucuses should be reserved for Iowans, which doesn't include students paying out-of-state tuition.
"If you're from Hartford, Conn., and you're going to school at the University of Iowa, and you're paying out of state tuition, you're [unfairly] casting yourself as an Iowan," he said.
That same night, youth voting advocates were sent this press release, also posted on the campaign blog:
Chris Dodd for President Communications Director Hari Sevugan today released the following statement:
"We welcome the participation of Iowa students in the process."
Jane Fleming Kleeb and Mike Connery have been writing about this issue at Young Voter PAC Blog and Future Majority, respectively. Daily Kos diarist psericks has also written extensively about the student vote in Iowa.
If you're a student, a Millenial voter (like me), or a voter of any other age looking to support Chris Dodd's candidacy, join the Dodd Squad and volunteer for the campaign. We can use your help!
Notice a pattern maybe? In both cases, the candidates themselves made arguments to Iowans that college students shouldn't be able to participate, either because they don't pay taxes, or they're not really from Iowa, or they pay out of state tuition --- all misleading and irrelevant arguments --- and then they clarify their position privately to youth vote advocates.
Here's The Nation's Cora Currier:
The most bothersome thing about these statements is that they are responses to individual bloggers. While it's great that campaigns are paying attention to what's being said on the web, their original statements were made in the national arena, for all to hear.
The retractions aren't getting the same attention. The issue is left hanging outside of the blogosphere, covered by the mainstream media as a Clinton-Obama spat, without addressing the substance of the matter.
In other words, the candidate's attacks on the youth vote hang in the air, while their retractions remain relatively quiet.
Ironically, this was actually the second time last week that the Dodd campaign had to clarify its position. The previous weekend, after the Dodd campaign was quoted as saying this, clearly referring to the Yepsen column that Obama was passing out literature encouraging Iowa students to caucus:
Chris Dodd for President Iowa State Director Julie Andreeff Jensen said in a statement on Saturday:
"I was deeply disappointed to read today about the Obama campaign's attempt to recruit thousands of out-of-state residents to come to Iowa for the caucuses. ... 'New Politics' shouldn't be about scheming to evade either the spirit or the letter of the rules that guide the process. That may be the way politics is played in Chicago, but not in Iowa."
In an email sent to youth vote advocates, the Dodd campaign then "clarified," saying they weren't referring to Obama's literature encouraging Iowa students to caucus (which they obviously were).
No, no, they were instead referring to an imaginary diabolical plan of the Obama campaign to bring students in from out of state to crash the caucus --- basically slander, since they have no evidence to back the charge, and the charge will only incite unfounded suspicion of legitimate students when they do show up on caucus night.
In short, the Dodd campaign had four different positions in as many days. Despite this, Dodd campaign blogger seemed incredulous on Blue Hampshire that anyone could find the campaign's position unclear.
In short, in the face of rising criticism from youth voting advocates like Future Majority, Young Voter PAC, Iowa bloggers, the American Prospect and the Nation, the Clinton and Dodd campaigns both backed down... sort of. That's the problem:
Neither statement from the Clinton or Dodd campaigns is particularly clear. Neither make explicit or encourage the right of Iowa students from out of state to participate. And given the amount of detail and publicity they put into their arguments trashing the Obama campaign for reaching out to these legitimate caucus-goers, I would expect something more than a single, ambiguous sentence.