I thought rather than clutter up my earlier diary regarding Hillary's pop quiz with a third update, I'd post these in a diary in their own right. I don't have much to add to all this really but I do want to make one point here before we get to the memos etc.
Do you think maybe all that moaning and groaning Camp Obama's done over the past few days might (just might) have something to do with their plans to launch all of these attacks today. This sudden claim that Hillary's gone all negative and Republican on him seems a bit ironic knowing they'd planned to launch all of this negative cr@p today.
And they accuse Hillary of using "Rovian tactics."
Ok first up is a memo in response to that comment by a supporter of Obama's on one of their campaign calls today. Take a look...
Obama Decries Slash & Burn Politics While Practicing it Himself
4/19/2008 5:41:10 PM"When it comes to negative campaign tactics, Senator Obama has been a hypocrite from day one, decrying attack politics from one side of his mouth while he and his campaign wage a character assassination effort from the other. The juxtaposition of Senator Obama's comments in the debate and the remarks made on his campaign conference call this afternoon prove the point." -Campaign Spokesman Phil Singer
On Wednesday's debate, Sen. Obama falsely asserted that his campaign only discusses Hillary's bosnia comments when asked:
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama, your campaign has sent out a cascade of e-mails, just about every day, questioning Senator Clinton's credibility. And you yourself have said she hasn't been fully truthful about what she would do as president.Do you believe that Senator Clinton has been fully truthful about her past?
SENATOR OBAMA: Well, look, I think that Senator Clinton has a strong record to run on. She wouldn't be here if she didn't. And you know, I haven't commented on the issue of Bosnia. You know, I --
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Your campaign has.
SENATOR OBAMA: Of course, but --
SENATOR CLINTON: (Laughs.)
SENATOR OBAMA: Because we're asked about it. [ABC News, 4/16/08]
Today, the Obama campaign called a conference call with the express purpose of attacking Hillary's character over Bosnia. Obama surrogate Gen. Walter Stewart said the following:
"One of the inherent duties of the president of the United States is to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day. Now we can assume, and let's keep in mind that Senator Clinton has said she was under sniper fire, or she joked about, which to me was the cruelest part of all this, she joked about it with Jay Leno. We can make an assumption here that the honored dead within the Tomb of the Unknown was killed by a sniper. Imagine the lack of moral authority she has now to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day. I'll say this as a Vietnam veteran, hundreds, we can speculate about how the unknown died. But you go over to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and will certainty there are hundreds on that wall that died under sniper fire. That's the incident I think in a nutshell."...So, let's look at moral authority as the essential element of leadership. President George Bush, Sen. Clinton, Sen. McCain have squandered the moral authority of the United States of America and our ability to lead the free people's of the world; and the oppressed peoples of the world towards freedom. Sen. Barack Obama displays the moral authority we need for a change in Washington D.C. [Obama Campaign Conference Call, 4/19/08]
What do you think the reaction would be if Hillary's camp had said this about her opponent - especially on the heels of his claim that they're not pushing this issue with the press and media, or the voters?
Now this conference call crack by BO's mouth-piece isn't the only example of negative campaigning. There's more...
From: Howard Wolfson, Communications Director
To: Interested Parties
Date: Saturday, April 19, 2008
Re: Obama Campaign On The Attack In Last Weekend Of Pennsylvania PrimaryA major theme of Sen. Obama on the stump is that Hillary Clinton is running a negative campaign based on "slash and burn politics" and that he represents a break from that kind of politics. In fact, in just the last 48-hours, Sen. Obama has flooded airwaves, radio, phone lines and mailboxes with negative and false attacks against Hillary. This unprecedented barrage coincides with a weak debate performance and Sen. Obama's slide in the daily Gallup poll.
1. In the most outrageous attack of the campaign, Obama surrogates held a conference call attacking Hillary's character, claiming she did not have the "moral authority" to lay a wreath on the Tomb on the Unknown Soldier. [Link]
2. Launched a television ad featuring false, negative attacks on Hillary's health care plan. [Link]
3. Distributed negative mail about Hillary's trade positions, complete with citations even Sen. Obama has acknowledged have been debunked. [Link]
4. Flooded voters with robocalls saying Hillary will "say anything" to win.
And lastly, Hillary had a few things to say about all this. Specifically as they relate to that healthcare attack ad of Obama's. Take a look...
Hillary Clinton Responds to New Attack Ad Released Today by the Obama CampaignNew Obama Attack Ad Features False And Widely Discredited Claims About Hillary's Health Care Plan
Hillary Clinton today responded to a new attack ad launched by Senator Obama's campaign. Hillary made the following statement at a "Solutions for the America " event this afternoon in York , PA :
"I just heard that my opponent has put up an ad attacking my health care plan, which is kind of curious, because my plan covers everybody and his leaves out 15 million people - just leaves them out in the cold.
"Now, instead of attacking the problem, he chooses to attack my solution.
"I don't think that we can just make speeches about this - we have to have a plan that we can actually implement that will provide quality affordable health care. That's what I've been fighting for for 15 years, and that's what I will fight for as your president."
Get the facts here: http://facts.hillaryhub.com/archive/?id= 7183
Sen. Obama is attacking Hillary Clinton about health care in a television advertisement with claims that have been widely discredited by experts.
1. The Obama ad claims that Hillary's "plan forces everyone to buy insurance even if you can't afford it." Health policy expert Ken Thorpe reviewed this claim and found it to be false. Under Hillary's plan, everyone will be able to afford coverage.
"Ken Thorpe, a health-policy expert at Emory University who has advised all three major Democrats, said he ran cost estimates for the Clinton plan at the Clinton campaign's request, and found there should be enough money to make insurance affordable for all." [Wall Street Journal, 12/5/07]2. The advertisement also claims that that Hillary's plan would make people who fail to enroll "pay a penalty." Sen. Obama's own plan would fine parents who fail to enroll their children and he has said he will consider imposing penalties on people who don't enroll.
Hillary would consider a range of ideas, including automatic enrollment, to ensure everyone is covered. Sen. Obama's plan, would, experts agree, leave 15 million people out.
3. The ad also claims that Sen. Obama's plan reduces costs more than Hillary's plan. There is no citation for this claim because it is false. Hillary's plan has more aggressive cost cutting measures and has more generous subsides. Because Sen. Obama's plan leaves 15 million people out, it would drive costs up, because everyone would have to subsidize emergency care for the uninsured.
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