I heard Obama's wondering why Hillary was offering him the VP spot when he's the front-runner. My first thought was – well why isn’t he acting like the front-runner then?
He's whining about things like her tax returns (when there are already 20 years worth of disclosures out there), intimating that White Water’s still alive and well in the world of scandals, and making silly mistakes like offering up the 5th explanation of NAFTA-Gate. This after a week where his top foreign policy advisor called Hillary a monster & told the BBC that his plan to get us out of Iraq was just a best case scenario, and another top advisor (Susan Rice) admitted that he’s not ready to take that 3 am call.
And when Rice was asked about Obama’s foreign policy experience, she pointed to his work on ethics reform
Hmmm... with all that bad news out there I wonder if it’s time for them to manufacture some more of that outrage he’s oh so good at. Oh wait – he is!
Folks are up in arms over something Geraldine Ferraro said and Maggie Williams had this to say in a statement this afternoon...
Statement from Campaign Manager Maggie Williams
In January, NBC’s Tim Russert confronted Senator Barack Obama with a four page memo from his campaign characterizing statements they claimed the Clinton Campaign had made about race. Asked in hindsight whether he regretted pushing this story, Senator Obama said:
Well, not only in hindsight, but going forward. I think that, as Hillary said, our supporters, our staff, get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say. And it is my responsibility to make sure that we’re setting a clear tone in our campaign, and I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why I spoke yesterday and sent a message in case people were not clear that what we want to do is make sure that we focus on the issues."
We agreed then. We agree today. Supporters from both campaigns will get overzealous. Senator Clinton today reiterated that when asked about Geraldine Ferraro’s recent comments:
"I do not agree with that and you know it’s regrettable that any of our supporters on both sides say things that veer off into the personal. We ought to keep this focused on the issues. That’s what this campaign should be about.
Senator Obama’s campaign staff seems to have forgotten his pledge. We have not. And, we reject these false, personal and politically calculated attacks on the eve of a primary. This campaign should be about the leadership we need for a better future and these attacks serve only to divide the Democratic Party and the American people.
Look I’m not dismissing what Ferraro said. She certainly could have worded it better at least. But given the fact that we have over 47 million people without health care, thousands upon thousands are in danger of losing their home, and countless people (our friends, neighbors, and / or loved ones) are out of work with no hope of that changing any time soon, I would think we could move past this and start talking about oh I don’t know... the issues for a change?
Meanwhile, Obama’s resurrecting an old moan and groan we all thought had been settled a week or more ago – that picture he’d posed for in Kenya while dressed in native Somali clothing. Back then he admitted that he didn’t believe Hillary or her campaign "leaked" that two year old photo (a picture which had appeared in tabloids and was being bandied about on websites weeks before drudge got it). But after losing on NAFTA-Gate in Ohio, and on the issues of national security and foreign policy in Texas, he’s suddenly convinced (or he’s trying to convince voters) that Hillary had something to do with that picture.
And when in the midst of a campaign, you decide to throw the kitchen sink at your opponent because you're behind and your campaign starts leaking photos of me when I'm overseas in native clothing to scare people, when your run 3 am telephone ads to play on people's fears... that's what's gotten us into the hold we're in right now, that's not real change, it's the same old stuff we've become accustomed to.
Hmm yeah – and he accuses Hillary of tossing the kitchen sink around? And by the way... I wouldn’t talk about NAFTA(cough Gate! cough) if I were him.
Ya know in everything I’ve been hearing and reading about Obama since his losses in OH and TX, I see a recurring theme. Rather than tell us why he’s qualified to hold the highest office in the land – map out his plans for our future and tell us about his foreign policy and national security experience, he spend his time ripping into Hillary.
That is NOT how a front-runner behaves you guys.
Hillary’s offering up solutions and telling us why she’s qualified for the job. Today she announced her plan to create good paying jobs in PA and around the country.
She’s talking about the issues and laying out her plans – telling us about her experience. That is how a front-runner behaves.
Now some of you might have caught my diary yesterday where I posted information about Hillary’s extensive foreign policy experience. To counter Hillary’s comments about her role in helping the peace process along in Northern Ireland, BO’s camp trots out an interview some reporter from a UK tabloid did with David Trimble. Now granted Trimble was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1998 with John Hume for their work on the Good Friday Agreement. But few recall that Trimble had to resign his post as First Minister in the new Devolved government at Stormont because of his stubborn refusal to IMPLEMENT that agreement.
That UK reporter apparently got Trimble on the record as saying he doesn’t recall that Hillary played a role in the peace process. When I first heard who all the BO followers were talking about my first reaction was "well of course he wouldn’t remember." A lot of Hillary’s work came before or in the early stages of the actual talks and helped bring together women from both traditions (Catholic / Nationalist / Republican, and Protestant / Unionist / Loyalist) in their common goal of finding a peaceful resolution to the Troubles. And even if he’d been paying attention to the work of those women – and Hillary’s role he would have discounted it. Those women came together to form the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition, and from what I recall, Trimble didn’t treat Monica McWilliams and the other women at those talks tables with much respect when they were hammering out that Agreement.
This wasn’t just a passing interest of mine back then. I had friends up that way from both sides of the divide and was very active in lobbying for passage of the Referendum when it came up for a vote amongst the people of the North. If John Hume says Hillary played an important role in those efforts, believe him.
Now to counter the misinformation being spread about Hillary’s record, the campaign put out the following memo earlier today. I thought I'd post this to get it out there and on the record for all to see.
Over the last few weeks, Sen. Obama has successfully undermined his credibility with a series of statements to reporters and voters that have been contradicted by the facts. Unfortunately, he’s doing it again today by having his campaign issue a fundamentally misleading attack aimed at glossing over the doubts Americans have about his readiness to be Commander-in-Chief. Once again, Senator Obama is proving the point that his campaign is about "just words."
Despite making hard end-dates a centerpiece of his campaign, Senator Obama’s top foreign policy adviser said those plans are not anything he’ll rely on as president. Despite repeated denials and five different parsed statements by his campaign that have been called misleading by media reports, his top economic adviser did in fact dismiss Senator Obama’s NAFTA criticism to the Canadian government as just political rhetoric.
And now today, Senator Obama is at it again, sending a false attack memo from his campaign making claims that are contradicted by the facts. Still reeling from its losses in Ohio and Texas , the Obama campaign has come out swinging, taking aim at Senator Clinton's considerable foreign policy experience with false claims and baseless attacks. After last week’s defeats, the Obama campaign faced a choice: try to convince voters that Senator Obama is ready to take the 3am phone call in a positive way or try to tear down Senator Clinton's accomplishments.
Considering that his foreign policy advisor, Susan Rice, cited Senator Obama’s "legislation on ethics reform" when asked this morning about his foreign policy experience, it is clear that the Obama campaign is unable to make a positive case for its candidate’s experience. They have chosen to attack and today’s memo continues the pattern of statements contradicted by the facts. Given the credibility gap his campaign has developed over the last few weeks, these latest attacks today should not be believed.
There is a reason that thirty former Generals and Admirals have endorsed Senator Clinton -- they know she is prepared to lead this nation as Commander in Chief with strength and experience on day one. Here are the facts about Hillary’s experience.
Northern Ireland:
The Obama campaign claims George Mitchell, the person in charge of the investigation, supports their view that Hillary's claims about Northern Ireland are exaggerated. John Hume, who won the Nobel Prize for Peace for his work on Northern Ireland :
I can state from firsthand experience that she played a positive role for over a decade in helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland ... Anyone criticizing her foreign policy involvement should look at her very active and positive approach to Northern Ireland and speak with the people of Northern Ireland who have the highest regard for her and are very grateful for her very active support for our peace process.
George Mitchell, who is cited in the Obama memo as an authoritative source, told Katie Couric last night that Hillary played "a helpful and supportive role" in Northern Ireland that ended up making "a difference in the process." He described what Hillary has said about her role as "accurate."
More on Hillary's work in Northern Ireland HERE.
Kosovo:
Concerning Kosovo, the Obama memo – citing their own advisors and supporters -- falsely claims that Hillary played no role in the larger effort to open the border to more refugees. Richard Holbrooke, the architect of the Dayton Accords, lays out the facts:
It was dire in May 1999 when Hillary Clinton arrived in Macedonia . The government of Macedonia had slowed the flow of refugees from Kosovo to a trickle. After visiting refugees and gaining a first-hand assessment of the situation, the First Lady had intense talks with President Gligorov and Prime Minister Georgievski. In these talks, one in the Presidential Palace, another in the residence of the American Ambassador, Christopher Hill, Mrs. Clinton pressed the Macedonian government to fully open the border so that Kosovar Albanian refugees could flee the war zone to safety. She also committed herself to work with the government and people of Macedonia who also faced an emergency because of the threat to their own safety and stability. Hillary Clinton promised to take action to help the Macedonian economy. Returning to Washington , she pressed hard in the administration for action to support the Macedonians. She even contacted American business executives to ensure that American textile contracts in Macedonia were not canceled. There is no doubt in my mind, nor in the minds of those people I worked with in the Balkans at the time – that her intense efforts resulted in easing a crisis of significant dimensions and contributed to saving many lives.
Hillary’s trip to Kosovo in May 1999 took place during the air war over Kosovo. Despite concerns about security, she traveled to the international border on the edge of the war zone, and visited with refugees. More, including more testimonials, HERE.
Bosnia
The Obama campaign has resorted to mocking Hillary's trip to Bosnia in 1996, belittling it as a U.S.O. tour and saying there was no danger. But Hillary toured the frontlines of the international peacekeeping mission. CNN reported:
At a second outpost, Camp Bedrock , Mrs. Clinton visited a M.A.S.H. unit, the only full-service U.S. Army hospital in Bosnia . The three-hour tour of the frontlines of the international peacekeeping mission were filled with the gritty reality of a military operation, a far cry from traditional first lady photo opportunities, and Mrs. Clinton seemed more than comfortable with that. [CNN, 3/25/99]
A day later, the Charleston Gazette reported that "Protected by sharpshooters, Hillary Rodham Clinton swooped into a military zone by Black Hawk helicopter Monday...This trip to Bosnia marks the first time since Roosevelt that a first lady has voyaged to a potential combat zone..."
China
The Obama campaign diminishes Hillary's historic speech in Bejing as meaningless. But her speech at the conference – where she famously declared "women's rights are human rights" spurred real action. The AP reported:
Brazil has promised free cancer-screening exams for women. The United States is spending $ 1.6 billion to try to end domestic violence. South African President Nelson Mandela is setting up a unit in his office to monitor the status of women. A year after 189 states pledged to make equality of the sexes a reality in the 21st century, many governments are crediting the conference for their latest steps to help women. 'The momentum is on - and this momentum is not only by women but even by governments and by men,' said Gertrude Mongella, secretary-general of the Fourth World Conference on Women that adopted a 150-page plan to achieve women's equality. Inspired by last September's U.N. conference in Beijing , five Mongolian women ran for parliament in June and won, bringing the total number of female legislators to seven out of 76. Women's groups in Zaire joined forces to try to change laws that bar women from traveling or opening bank accounts without their husbands' permission. [AP, 8/25/96]
Rwanda
On Rwanda , the Obama campaign is eager to diminish Hillary's advocacy. Hillary visited to Rwanda in 1998 and her forceful public statements about the administration's failings. This is how she described the trip and the administration's followup in her book, Living History:
Expressing great regret for genocide in Rwanda and our legacy of slavery sent a message of concern and respect to Africans who confront the intertwined challenges of poverty, disease, repression, starvation, illiteracy and war. But Africa needs more than words; it needs investment and trade if its economics are ever going to develop. That requires both significant changes in most governments and a partnership with the United States . That's why the African Growth and Opportunity At, which Bill proposed and Congress passed, is so critical. It creates incentives for American companies to do business in Africa ." [Living History, pg. 457]
The Obama campaign spends considerable time trying to "prove" that a private conversation between Hillary and President Clinton never happened.
Lastly (and this is something near & dear to my heart as Hubby’s from the Emerald Isle), the campaign just announced that Hillary has accepted an invitation to take part in the Irish American Presidential Forum. Check it out...
Hillary Accepts Invitation To Irish American Presidential Forum
The Clinton campaign today announced that Hillary Clinton would attend the Irish American Presidential Forum. The event is an opportunity for presidential candidates to address the Irish-American voters and answer questions important to the community, including Northern Ireland and immigration.
"I’m excited to participate in this important forum. I have worked on issues important to the Irish-American community for many years and look forward to discussing my plans as President," said Clinton. "I want to thank John Dearie and the other organizers of this event for the invitation and encourage Senator Obama and Senator McCain to accept it as well. By doing so, voters will have an opportunity to examine our records and compare our plans to continue moving the peace process in Northern Ireland forward."
The campaign is working with the organizers to confirm a date and location for the forum.
Hillary traveled to Northern Ireland seven times between 1995 and 2004, and gave what Northern Irish leader and Nobel Laureate John Hume recently described as "decisive support" to the peace process in Northern Ireland. One of her key areas of focus was encouraging the emergence of women in the political process. In addition, Hillary's work at the grass roots and behind-the-scenes helped cultivate the conditions necessary for the peace to take hold and last. She became intimately familiar with the major players in the process and spoke with them often to serve as a sounding board and to push the negotiations forward. For more information on Hillary Clinton’s work on behalf of Northern Ireland, click here.
The first Irish American Presidential Forum took place in 1984.
I sure hope they hold this event in the DC area. I’d love to hear Hillary address this group! And wouldn’t it be fabulous if Obama and McCain took part in this event as well?
Hillary with (Big) Ian (Blood & Thunder) Paisley (DUP) and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein) – who were both key players in the Northern Ireland Peace process and are now serving in the two top posts in Northern Ireland’s government, on a recent trip to DC to promote investment in the North.
