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| Clinton Adviser Out After Obama Comment |
| 2007-12-14 |
| Hillary may have stepped on her dic& again with liberals by insulting teenage drug use. A top campaign adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton resigned Thursday, a day after suggesting Democrats should be wary of nominating Barack Obama because his teenage drug use could make it hard for him to win the presidency. Clinton herself apologized to Obama as they waited to fly to Iowa for a debate. Obama's campaign sent out a fundraising letter contending that "this kind of attack is becoming a pattern as Clinton's support declines." Bill Shaheen, a national co-chairman for Clinton and a prominent New Hampshire political figure, had raised the issue of Obama's youthful drug use during a Wednesday interview, published on washingtonpost.com. "I made a mistake and in light of what happened, I have made the personal decision that I will step down as the co-chair of the Hillary for President campaign," Shaheen said in a statement released by the campaign Thursday. "This election is too important, and we must all get back to electing the best qualified candidate who has the record of making change happen in this country. That candidate is Hillary Clinton." Shaheen, an attorney and veteran organizer, had said much of Obama's background is unknown and could be a problem in November 2008 if he is the Democratic nominee. He said Republicans would work hard to discover new aspects of Obama's admittedly spotty youth. "It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?'" said Shaheen, whose wife, Jeanne, is a former New Hampshire governor and is running for the U.S. Senate next year. "There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome," Shaheen said. Clinton personally apologized to Obama when they were on the tarmac at Washington's Reagan National Airport Thursday morning, preparing to fly to Des Moines for a debate, according to aides to both candidates. "Having been on the receiving end of unfair attacks for years, she doesn't think this is what the campaign should be about," said Clinton spokesman Jay Carson. "She told him she wanted to win the presidency, but not through tactics like that." Clinton's campaign said it had nothing to do with Shaheen's earlier comments. However, Ned Helms, an Obama co-chairman in New Hampshire, said he saw a pattern after the recent resignations of two Clinton volunteer coordinators in Iowa who had forwarded e-mails raising questions about Obama's religion. "When you see a pattern of people making statements and the follow-up statement, 'Oh, that wasn't authorized,' it doesn't take a genius to see that there's a thread going on here," Helms said. And the Obama campaign sent a fundraising e-mail to supporters asking for donations to help fight such tactics. "The only way to stop these kinds of tired, desperate attacks is to demonstrate very clearly that they have a real cost to Senator Clinton's campaign," campaign manager David Plouffe wrote. "Make no mistake - this kind of attack is becoming a pattern as Clinton's support declines." Obama wrote about his teenage drug use in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father." His rivals have largely remained silent on the subject. "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final fatal role of the young would-be black man," Obama wrote. Mostly he smoked marijuana and drank alcohol, he wrote, but occasionally he would snort cocaine when he could afford it. New polling shows Clinton and Obama basically tied in New Hampshire. A CNN-WMUR-TV poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows Clinton at 31 percent support, Obama at 30. The same poll had Obama trailing by 20 points in September. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #10 I remember the comment by Ronald Reagan. "If he'l not comment about my age and time in office, I'll not comment about his youth and inexperience" (Huge flushing sound, never heard from what's-his-name again) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-12-14 20:36 |
| #9 Now if he said McKinney's on crack, he'd still have a job... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-12-14 16:15 |
| #8 "Well we can't nominate him, because surely the Republicans will make an issue out of his transsexual prostitution problem." -- The Next Clinton Staffer. (with mad props to Mark Steyn) |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-12-14 13:25 |
| #7 and we must all get back to electing the best qualified candidate who has the record of making change happen in this country. That candidate is Hillary Clinton." Remember the old song "It aint necessarily so", personal opinion is NOT fact. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-12-14 13:13 |
| #6 I notice a pattern here, have a previously unknown staffer make the evil remarks, immediately apologise, and the staffer vanishes, almost as if he never was a "staffer" in the first place. (Hired expressly for the role of "Loudmouth Staffer"?) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-12-14 13:11 |
| #5 Non-story. Cocaine is unIslamik. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-12-14 12:26 |
| #4 Jimmy Carter connection, Gore, Clinton, ambulance chaser.... good ridence. Over the past twenty years, Bill has successfully tried many personal injury and divorce cases on behalf of his clients. He has received substantial monetary awards for his personal injury clients, as well as obtaining favorable judgments for his divorce clients. In conjunction with his successful personal injury and divorce trial work, Bill has had significant success in representing business and corporate clients in strategic planning and business formation. Bill continues to represent many local, regional and national multi-million dollar businesses. Along with a successful civil trial and business practice, Bill is very active in politics. He co-chaired the successful 1976 New Hampshire Presidential Primary Campaign for Jimmy Carter. In 1977, President Carter appointed him as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire. At that time, he was the youngest U.S. Attorney in the country. During Bill's tenure as U.S. Attorney, he met and hired Steve Gordon as Assistant U.S. Attorney. After leaving his post as U.S. Attorney, he and Steve started their law practice together. In 1981, Governor Hugh Gallen appointed Bill as Judge of the Durham District Court. Bill presided over the Durham District Court for fifteen years until 1996 when he resigned to focus on his wife Jeanne's three successful campaigns for Governor of New Hampshire. In 1999 and 2000, he served as Chairman of Vice President Al Gore's successful New Hampshire 2000 Presidential Primary Campaign. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-12-14 12:01 |
| #3 "This election is too important, and we must all get back to electing the best qualified candidate who has the record of making change happen in this country. That candidate is Hillary Clinton." Hi, I'm Hillary Rodham Clinton and I approve this apology. |
| Posted by: HRC 4 POTUS 2008 2007-12-14 11:52 |
| #2 "Out" as in "now on the black payroll and deniable..." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-12-14 10:18 |
| #1 Jeanne Shaheen (former NH gov) is (well, was in his case, lol) also with the Clinton campaign in some capacity (can't remember exactly what capacity); did hubby Bill take one for the team, or is he as dumb as his wife? |
| Posted by: Raj 2007-12-14 09:17 |