A little walk down memory lane. In January 2008 Hillary Clinton claimed Obama had said “Republicans had better ideas than Democrats the past 10-15 years”. Bill Clinton also claimed Obama said “in the 90s the good ideas came out from the Republicans”. Politifact rated both claims false. In response to Hillary’s assertion, Barack Obama ran this ad:
OBAMA: "I’m Barack Obama, running for president and I approve this message."
ANNOUNCER: "It’s what’s wrong with politics today. Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected. Now she’s making false attacks on Barack Obama.
"The Washington Post says Clinton isn’t telling the truth. Obama 'did not say that he liked the ideas of Republicans.' In fact, Obama’s led the fight to raise the minimum wage, close corporate tax loopholes and cut taxes for the middle class.
"But it was Hillary Clinton, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, who quote 'paid tribute' to Ronald Reagan’s economic and foreign policy. She championed NAFTA –- even though it has cost South Carolina thousands of jobs. And worst of all, it was Hillary Clinton who voted for George Bush’s war in Iraq.
"Hillary Clinton. She’ll say anything, and change nothing. It’s time to turn the page. Paid for by Obama for America."
That last line hits pretty hard.
During the Michigan debate last week, Hillary said “I voted to save the auto industry. He voted against the money that ended up saving the auto industry.” Politifact rated that claim half true and WaPo questioned it aggressively. Bernie opposed the release of the second half of TARP funds to financial institutions, a small fraction was directed towards the auto industry. Part of the opposition to the TARP release was driven by the $18.6 billion in bonuses Wall St paid out that January. Here’s Bernie’s ad in response to Hillary’s claim:
ANNOUNCER: Bernie Sanders has always been on the side of Michigan workers and working families. Bernie voted for the auto rescue package and he’s the only candidate who’s opposed the job killing trade deals that have crushed manufacturing.
But, Washington has always had a funny relationship with the truth. So it’s not surprising his opponent is out with a new radio ad trying to distort the truth about Bernie’s record.
The Washington Post spells things out pretty clearly, stating his opponent’s campaign quote “glosses over a lot . . . including the fact that Sanders is actually on the record as supporting the auto bailout. He even voted for it.” unquote.
The Post goes further claiming quote "it seems like she's willing to take the gamble that fact checkers may call her out for her tactic… but that voters won’t.” Unquote.
Michigan voters deserve better than typical Washington tactics: Hoping voters don’t figure out what you’re up to till its too late. There’s only one candidate who honestly tells it like it is and isn’t afraid of standing up for Michigan workers and that’s Bernie Sanders.
BERNIE: I’m Bernie Sanders, candidate for President, and I approve this message.
ANNOUNCER: Paid for by Bernie 2016.
Bernie’s ad is far softer than Obama’s.
Audio of Obama’s ad is available at Factcheck along with an accompanying article.