Obama Goes for the Kill in Pennsylvania, Negatively
PHILADELPHIA—Barack Obama’s final push through Pennsylvania has shown the combative, angry side of a candidate and campaign that had once been defined by its good cheer and condemnation of negative tactics. Despite the trappings of cheeriness—old-timey whistle-stop train tour, frequent professions of “love” for supporters—Obama’s closing argument was a distinctly negative one, designed to give the state’s significant percentage of undecided voters an uneasy feeling about Clinton, who is the Tuesday primary’s favorite, and to start laying the groundwork for his criticism of Republican nominee John McCain.
At a number of well-attended public appearances, Obama depicted Clinton as a divisive, disingenuous Democratic agent of the Republican attack machine—a dishonest politician willing, in her desperation, to take the party down with her.
And while Obama characterized his criticisms as reasons to reject Clinton’s negative politics, he displayed an unmistakably negative edge of his own, most notably when his campaign held a conference call with Bosnia veterans that questioned Clinton’s fitness to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
It all started innocently enough.
On Saturday morning, in Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, yellow tape, secret service agents and metal detectors cordoned off the steps leading down to track 10, where Obama met the “Georgia 300,” a royal blue 1930 railcar covered in bunting and signs that said “On Track For Change.”
"Let's get on this train," said Obama. Inside there was a bed to sleep in, a wooden dresser, a small conference room, and room with flowers and a double sink. The kitchen had a stove and microwave and oil and vinegar on the shelves. Obama greeted Amtrak workers and pointed amicably at the press before they were sent unceremoniously down to the opposite car, a regular Amtrak train. He shouted to some Pittsburgh-bound day trippers waiting across the track. "Tell everyone there I said hello" and pulled the train’s whistle and exclaimed, "That is too much fun."
Throughout the day, Obama projected a sunny disposition as he campaigned in rolled-up sleeves and slacks. In Wynnewood, Mr. Obama’s first stop, the train pulled in to the lazy, carefree lyrics of Will Smith’s “Summertime” and a cheering crowd greeted the candidate with his face on their t-shirts and his name on their stickers.
Then he started talking about his opponent.
He said that she was “throwing everything at me and seeing if something sticks,” and then: “She’s taken different positions at different times on issues as fundamental as trade, or even the war, to suit the politics of the moment. And when she gets caught at it, the notion is, well, you know what, that’s just politics.”
One woman in the crowd, Lisa Barsky, 55, a psychologist from nearby Bala Cynwyd described herself as a “shifter” who had moved her support from Clinton to Obama because she considered him a greater unifying force. Still, she was a little put off by his attacks.
“I wish he wouldn’t,” she said. “He can be strong. But you don’t have to get down to somebody’s level -- you don’t have to get into the fistfight.”
Obama got back on the train car. The whistle blew and the crowd cheered. Along the track, as the train slowly rolled by, farmers waved and smiled and he smiled back.
But Obama was only getting warmed up. His attacks on Clinton sharpened.
“Her basic argument is that the slash-and burn, say-anything, do-anything, special-interest-driven politics is how it works,” he said, speaking in front of a small train station with a rusted roof. “And so she has taken more money than any other candidate, Democrat or Republican combined. She also believes that the nature of politics is that you say what the people want to hear. So maybe you say something about trade when you are campaigning with your husband eight, ten, 12 years ago and you say something different now that you are out campaigning in Ohio, Pennsylvania. Maybe you say one thing about the war when it looks like the war is popular and maybe you say something else about the war when it gets to be unpopular.”
“What’s happened is,” he continued, “Senator Clinton has internalized a lot of the strategies and tactics that have made Washington such a miserable place, where all we do is bicker and all we do is fight.”
After Obama finished speaking and signing books, Belinda Chambers, a 48-year-old information technology worker from Berwyn, angled her iPhone for a shot at the candidate as he made his way back to the train. She said she didn’t begrudge Obama for his sharper approach.
“I don’t know how he could survive in Washington without some of their tactics,” she said.
The Obama campaign says the nastier tack is a necessary one. According to one staffer, speaking on background, Obama needed to make clear the distinction between the candidates and hit Clinton on what the Obama campaign perceives as her greatest vulnerability: trustworthiness. Likewise, according to the staffer, a conference call with Bosnia veterans held by the Obama campaign was intended to raise the question of her credibility by “keeping in the bloodstream” her embarrassingly inaccurate portrayal of a 1996 visit to Bosnia, which she said had taken place under sniper fire.
(During the conference call, one veteran, Walter Stewart, argued that Clinton would not be fit as president to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, because that soldier might have been killed by sniper fire. Stewart said that the point was valid because it constituted “a point of honor.” Under pressure from the Clinton campaign, the Obama campaign eventually distanced itself from the comments.)
In Downington, Obama again called into question Clinton’s credibility. And later, in Lancaster, -- where Obama spoke in front of thousands of people overlooked by rooftop snipers surveying the crowd with binoculars – he said, “Senator Clinton is an intelligent person,” before going on to detail her lesser qualities. He concluded “I’m not interested in mimicking what the Republicans did to the Clintons for 20 years.”
The reaction was mixed.
“A couple of times I said to myself, ‘That’s not true,’” Jill Carney, 51, an undecided Democrat and college teacher from Lancaster, said of Obama’s comments about Clinton and her policies. Asked what effect his more pointed comments had, she responded, “It makes me go the other way.”
The candidate finished the day under the green-tiled dome of the Harrisburg statehouse, surrounded by thousands of onlookers, one of whom held a sign reading “Obama Will Fix Everything.”
“I don’t mind the silly-season politics,” Obama said at a certain point. He argued that the difference between his campaign and Clinton’s was, “We are not trying to feed people cynicism.”
On Sunday, as a high school gym full of Pennsylvanians waited for him to speak in Reading, one undecided voter, Vicky Achenbach, a 27-year-old grad student, said the sniping was inevitable but she hoped Obama wouldn’t go negative. “It’s a shame if he has to go there. I’m sure there’s a lot of other things he could say.”
Obama did have a lot to say. And so did the crowd.
“This is a feisty crowd -- what did y’all eat this morning?” Obama asked.
The crowd was particularly responsive to Obama’s sharp criticisms of John McCain and Hillary Clinton.
“We cannot afford a third George Bush term, and that is what John McCain is offering, a third Bush term,” said Obama. As he has done all weekend, he raced through McCain’s military service by saying “I respect John McCain, he is a real American hero,” but then proceeded to attack the Arizona senator for his position on the war in Iraq.
Eventually, he moved onto an extended criticism of Clinton.
“Senator Clinton is a smart person, she is a hard working person she is a tenacious person,” Obama said, echoing Marc Anthony’s “Brutus is an honorable man,” speech. (Obama ignored the guy in the back of the gym who called out “She lies.”)
“I think we have to change the tone of our politics,” Obama said, in the middle of his rant on Clinton. He added, “Our campaign’s not perfect. You get elbowed enough, eventually, you start throwing some elbows back.”
Achenbach, the grad student who was wary of the negative attacks before Obama spoke, apparently didn’t hear any.
“People need to know where she stands compared to where he stands,” she said after Obama’s speech. “And he did that.”
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OBAMA LIES AGAIN AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA LIKE CNN HIDES IT!
VOTERS ARE SICK OF THE MEDIA EXCUSING OBAMA NO MATTER WHO HE OFFENDS!!!!
Sen. Obama referres to himself as 'a constitutional law professor on the campaign trail. TRUTH: He never held any such title! Obama changed website bio to reflect that he was a 'lecturer' rather than 'professor. Chicago Daily Herald
Obama gets 4 Pinocchio’s for 100 Years War-Wondered why the national media won’t call out Obama for his serial distortions on McCain’s Iraq comments, the Globe tried to help Obama rationalize it. Michael Dobbs scolded Obama in today’s Fact Checker
MSNBC-OBAMA: ANOTHER SUPER, EXAGGERATION
Washington Post caught Obama in a lie about the Kennedy family role.
The WashigntonPost Fact Check- Senator Obama CAUGHT LYING about Kennedy Role in Helping His Father Contrary to Obama's claims in speeches Kennedy family did not provide the funding for a September 1959 airlift of 81 Kenyan students to the United States that included Obama's father. According to historical records and interviews with participants, the Kennedys were approached for support for the program a year later, July 1960. family responded with a $100,000 donation, which went to pay for a second airlift in September 1960.
Judicial Watch:
By Klaus Marre-Obama ‘intended to leave no paper trail’ OBAMA REFUSES to cooperate in releasing 8 years of his state senate records. One main reason REZKO!
Politico reports, “During his first run for elected office, Barack Obama played a greater role than he acknowledges in crafting liberal stands on gun control, the death penalty and abortion– positions that appear at odds with the more moderate image he’s projected during his presidential campaign. The evidence comes from an amended version of an Illinois voter group’s detailed questionnaire, filed under his name during his bid for a state Senate. In response to a Politico story, Obama’s answers he never saw questioaire?
NBC- Aswini Anburajan
OBAMA LIES IN PENNSYLVANIA AD
It's unfortunate that Senator Obama is using false advertising to explain why he can be trusted to do something about energy prices. In his ad, Obama says, I'm Barack Obama, and I don't take money from oil companies or lobbyists, and I won't let them block change any more. Obama has been the recipient of more than $220,000 from the oil and gas industry just since as of Feb/08. Two of Obama's campaign bundlers are also CEOs for oil and gas companies, per his campaign Web site? Obama needs to answer to VOTERS about his dealings with one of his largest contributors Exelon, a big nuclear power company that he cut deals behind closed doors protecting them from full disclosure in the nuclear industry. Exxon, Shell, and others are among his biggest donors
Obama in last debate- My writing wasn't on that particular questionnaire ...... as I said, I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns
Obamas record shows he infact did support the war when he got to the senate, voted twice against bringing America's troops back home. He voted for war appropriations giving our money to Halliburton and Blackwater where Texas woman, was gang-raped by her co-workers at a Halliburton/KBR camp in Baghdad, His latest bit of posturing S 433 allows the Bush Administration to suspend any troop withdrawal, if not suspended, keeps the troops in Iraq for a long time to come
Obama said he goofed on votes angered fellow Democrats in the Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side. But Obama had a ready explanation: He goofed! Also announced he had fumbled an election-reform vote the day before, on a measure that passed 51 to 6. The next day, he acknowledged voting "present" on a key telecommunications vote. He stood on March 11, 1999, to take back his vote against legislation to end good-behavior credits for certain felons in county jails. "I pressed the wrong button on that," he said. Obama was the lone dissenter on Feb. 24, 2000, against 57 yeas for a ban on human cloning. "I pressed the wrong button by accident," he said. But two of Obama's bumbles came on more-sensitive topics, he backed legislation to permit riverboat casinos to operate even when the boats were dockside. The measure, pushed by the gambling industry and fought by church groups whose support Obama was seeking, passed with two "yeas" to spare -- including Obama's. Moments after its passage he rose to say, explaining that he had mistakenly voted for it.
Obama would later develop a reputation as a critic of the gambling industry, and he voted against a similar measure two years later. But he was clearly confused about how to handle the issue at the time of his first vote, telling a church group that he was "undecided" about whether he backed an expansion of riverboat gambling. And, months earlier, he had voted in favor of a version of the bill.
OH, BUT HES THE CANDIDIATE OF S0-CHANGE??? RIGHT??/ WHAT A JOKE HE HAS BECOME!!!!, NOT THE USUAL POLITICS? THIS GUY IS SO FULL OF HIMSELF HE BELIVES THE MEDIA MADE FAILRY TALE ABOUT HIMSELF!
MYTH: Barack Obama is running a positive campaign that will unite Americans.
FACT: Barack Obama and his advisers have conducted a divisive "full assault" on Hillary's character.
While talking a lot about the politics of hope, change and unity, Sen. Obama and his campaign have been conducting a relentless and singularly personal assault on Hillary's character. They have blanketed big states with false negative mailers and radio ads and have described Hillary and her campaign as "disingenuous," "divisive," "untruthful," "dishonest," "polarizing," "calculating," "saying whatever it takes to win," "attempting to deceive the American people," "one of the most secretive in America," “deliberately misleading,” “literally willing to do anything to win,” and “playing politics with war."
This "full assault" on Hillary's integrity and character has reached a new peak since Hillary's victories on March 4th. One of Sen. Obama's top surrogates equated President Clinton with Joe McCarthy; another called Hillary a "monster;" and his campaign manager held an angry conference call claiming that Hillary is "deeply flawed" and has "character issues." That's neither unifying nor hopeful. If Sen. Obama really is the prohibitive favorite some say he is, these negative attacks make absolutely no sense. Why would a frontrunner seek to attack and divide? If Sen. Obama can't unify Democrats in a primary, how can he unify Americans in a general election?
Aren't you deflecting the situation. Shouldn't you be considering the facts and if what he says may have a little truth to it? The Clintons want you to think she is the good girl and he is the bad guy? Why. Why not check both of their pasts out and make a decision. Not on good politicing and Hillary's many years of manipulating you. Our country is worth more than that. Obama can defeat her tomorrow. Let us help him do it. If she receives less than 8% of the vote she is technically and officially done. The only thing left is underhanded. Even winning by 15 or 20% is probably still underhanded but a little more believeable. Obama is ahead and there is no ethical, honest way she can catch him. Do the math!
Why is Obama negative when he says something about Hillary. She is the one who has worked to improve her image for 20 years.Why? She is the one found untrustworthy and who has lied to us. How does one say something about her and not be accused of being negative. That is the Clinton machine at work. Attack your opponent. Make him look like the bad guy. With HIllary what you see is not what you get. She is willing to do and say anything to get elected and this is her last chance. She underestimated Obama. Don't underestimate her. For the good of our country, vote Obama. We do not need someone in the White HOuse we cannot trust or who will say or do anything and then say or do anything to look good. And the besides that we have Bill, her sidekick who also does the same thing. Usually they succeed to our detriment. Don't let them this time.
A few years back Hillary was going to adopt a baby. Right. She says she is good in the kitchen. Right. She says she could have stayed home and baked cookies and served tea but she wanted to do something with her life. How would she have time to take care of Chelsea and her new baby? She ran under sniper fire recently. People. I don't care if you have president for 20 years you would remember if you got shot at and ran from the bullets. She knew she was lying and she admitted it at the last debate. Do we want someone like that in our White House with a husand that does the same thing. He pointed his crooked finger at us all and did the same thing. This is not a sometime issue. There are many, many many other issues but if we can't trust THEM we cannot vote for them. And most of the stuff Obama is accused of it made up and distorted. There is no evidence he has EVER lied. The media has quite afew times. It happens so often they don't even remember what is true and they pass on to you or us. Go with facts. If one lies don't vote for them. We don't want a reputation in the world of being the world's biggest liars with proof sitting there to be presented to the world on video. If you think Obama lies and we know Hillary lies then stay home. We don't need another liar in the White HOuse.
The funniest -- or saddest -- part is that this is nothing new. He's been doing this from the beginning -- at least from the Oct. MSNBC debate. But's it's only now getting noticed. He has the particular talent of launching a negative attack in the very same sentence in which he denounces negative attacks. He was right last week when he said he's "a pretty darn good politician." Only an old-style politician could get away with what he has.
General comment: criticism is allright; after all, that is what makes the world a better place in the end. But what's with the caps? People, lay off the caps, or you come off as hysterical shouters, slightly unhinged -- and no one will listen.
This so-called "negativity" on the part of Obama is quite mild compared with Bill Clinton implying Obama doesn't love America--in his "There are two candidates in this race who love this country," referring to McCain and Hillary. It is quite mild compared to Hillary saying she and McCain has passed some illusory "commander-in-chief" test, but maybe Obama hasn't. The Clinton campaign has been running on slime since before the Ohio and Texas primaries. What Obama is doing is not slime.
I only hope the American people can see through what Obama is saying and vote to protect our values. Republicans worried me at one time but never too the degree that this man worries me. Please Americans remember our values when you go to vote.
Barack Obama said he don't take money from oil companies or lobbyists. However, in fact, he took a lot of money from the spouses of lobbyists, according to CNN's fact check.
PLEASE, email your comments to hannity@foxnews.com, since he is the only one interested in vetting the sainted Obama. Your comments are factual and Hannity would appreciate them. Thanks!!!
PLEASE, email your comments to hannity@foxnews.com, since he is the only one interested in vetting the sainted Obama. Your comments are factual and Hannity would appreciate them. Thanks!!!
hey "Anonymous" get a life...you sound as shrill as your candidate...if you're representatve of HRC's supporters it's apparant why she's losing an nomination that was hers for the taking...if she runs a Presidency as poorly as she's run a campaign she'd be a worse president than GWB!
Sorry, but a possibly racist code phrase like "our values" makes my skin crawl. Why not come out and say what those values are? I doubt many enlightened folks would share them.
I do not see that Obama said anything not true and I am a Republican. The Clinton's have lied and cheated America for decades. You need to look no further than Arkansas during the Clinton years. The CIA and FBI were well aware that the Mena airport in Arkansas was a hub of Cocaine trade in the 80's when Bill Clinton was running the state.
Sure we think Clinton came out of nowhere. Bill was well connected with the drug trade, CIA and the Bushes during those years. Do you think him and George Sr's friendship is a newly forged relationship. Heck no they were involved in Iran Contra long before that. The Cocaine flowed in through Arkansas and the Clinton's became rich and famous.
Don't believe that. Well just go to google.com and type in Clinton cocaine Mena in the search line. You will get thousands of hits describing what the Clinton's did during the early years. The CIA and others in the know actually called Arkansas little Columbia during those years that Bill and Hilary ran the state.
The Clinton's have run their charges, Arkansas and USA, like the Mafia. They raised illegal money via drug trade and other, lied to get their way in all cases and have had anywhere from 60-95 friends and associates that have died via suicide, murder or many plane crashes. Strange but true. This is not conspiracy stuff this is the truth. Conspiracy is more like what the Clinton's tell us as their words are often not the truth.
Obama said nothing but the truth when he said they say what is needed to get elected. In other works they LIE LIE A RUG and you can take that to the bank.
I may vote for Obama this year as his ideas regarding PEACE is much better. Remember what keeps us separated from our fellow man. It's our govenrments and our religions. Take away those two factors and we are at world PEACE. Think about it.
Wake up everybody ... who cares about all this stupid
he said this ... and she did this ..
All I care about what is good for us Americans!
And times were for sure good during the Clinton
presidency. So why not get Hillary and with her Bill??
Vote in your pocket people and not with your emotions!
Susan perhaps you should explore Hannity's documented links with a white supremacist Hal Turner before quoting Hannity as a source for unbiased news...Turner has openly called for Obama's death (because he's black)...Turner himself has confirmed his links to Hannity before Shawn got famous....
Why can't Obama defend himself? Hillary has done everything in her power to be negative and in every way raise doubts, however she is the dirty politician and it's Obama's turn to defend himself. Ridiculous column...totally ridiculous
Susan perhaps you should explore Hannity's documented links with a white supremacist Hal Turner before quoting Hannity as a source for unbiased news...Turner has openly called for Obama's death (because he's black)...Turner himself has confirmed his links to Hannity before Shawn got famous....
Did someone actually recommend sending something to foxnews. Hahaha.. It's a news channel for idiots who have no opinion of their own
What has been lost in all of the dust up about Pennsylvania is an important fact: This primary doesn't matter. It isn't crucial.
The realities of the race won't change whether Hillary wins by 1 vote or by 250,000 votes. She needs delegates to win this thing, and right now she is behind by 140-150.
At best, she gets maybe 15-20 of those tomorrow night, most of which Obama will easily erase by winning NC with its black vote. Hillary's campaign has effectively ended. Bubba is in for his legacy. She is in for the 5% chance Obama slips up.
It doesn't matter if Obama loses a debate. It doesn't matter if Hillary wins the 'popular vote'. It doesn't matter if she goes to the convention. Or if Michigan and Florida are 'disenfranchised'(PROTIP: They violated the rules they themselves helped adopt and did so after multiple warnings as a political power play by their governors)
Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee unless Hillary gets at least 230 of the 320 remaining super delegates (140 more of them to offset his pledged delegate lead). Or unless Michigan and Florida are reinstated by the Rules Committee in terms incredibly favorable to Clinton.
Neither is likely.
More and more people getting clear picture of Obama, they want their vote back!
Please go to:
http://www.ITakeBAckMyVote.com
to take back your vote!
First the media said Obama cannot be President since he cannot FIGHT BACK...now that he is responding to her kitchen sink strategy, he is negative?
Did Alexrod just complain yesterday that Hillary is the negative one and Obama is all innocent and pure as a puppy?
What a hypocrite! If you want to play dirty, play it. but don't send misleading message that you are the clean one when you are playing dirty too.
First....Why do Obama supporters see "racist" innuendo in anything and everything that the Clintons say? Neither Clinton has said (or inferred) anything even close.
Second... Obama has not morphed into a standard politician... Something he said he would not do... He is negative campaigning, and yet he calls it "fighting back." So why is it when Hillary goes after Obama, that she is not also "fighting back?"
Third... Hillary is grounded in reality. She is a pragmatist campaigning against an idealist.
Analysis... Obama uses a double standard... His rules keep changing to advantage him... while he has a different set of rules for his opponent. The goal posts keep changing... which is reminiscent of G.W. Bush. Is this what Obama meant by "new" politics?
Obama has truly flip-flopped and now he appears hypocritical, whereas Hillary has run a consistent campaign. Hillary has reminded Obama on a regular basis about the reality of politics and to get ready for the "rightwing machine."
Hillary has quoted Truman many times: "If you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Bill has a good one, too...(paraphrased) "Politics is a tough game, and if you do not want to get bruised, then do not put on the uniform." Translation: Do not be such a crybaby, Obama.
First the media said Obama cannot be President since he cannot FIGHT BACK...now that he is responding to her kitchen sink strategy, he is negative?
This article is irrelevant. The fact that Obama is defending himself by using facts of his opponents behavior, is not going negative. It by no means compares to questioning the Clinton's saying he is not prepared to be Commander In Chief, when she has zero foreign policy experience of substance. It is nothing like attacking his Patriotism and the patriotism of his wife. It is nothing like trying to twist his words to sway the uneducated populace into believing he is an elitist, despite the fact that he basically is nowhere near as affluent as his two opponents. I applaud Obama for standing up for himself and finally bringing out the major flaws of Billary and that old man that has no idea where we are sending our troops to die.
Make that "Obama has NOW morphed into a standard politician."
Susan, I know u love that nitwit Hannity but do you really think he's not anti-semetic?
You're a fool who if she would have lived in Germany in the 30's would have voted for Hitler so he could stop the Communists.
Do you know what these right-wing nuts really think about Jews?
Do u think at all?
I think it is pretty sad that we have three such bad candidates this year. And what is sadder is that people think they are good candidates, and that they have been chosen by the citizens rather than the press.
Of course, you have to be so rich, and go through such hell to become president, that I can see why reasonable candidates don't run. And the press, for the most part, is so shallow and ignorant that they try to choose candidates like they'd choose Best Actors.
Our country deserves better.
But we'll muddle through somehow, and maybe we'll come out on the otherside a bit wiser...