February 23, 2008
Rage Against The Machine
Hillary Clinton unfurled a series of attacks against her Democratic rival today at one point saying he should be ashamed of himself for circulating what she said were misleading mailers about her position on NAFTA. She also compared Barack Obama to George W. Bush.
NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli reports that Clinton, during a Cincinnati town hall this morning, cautioned that change for the sake of it is not necessarily a good thing.
"He promised change as a compassionate conservative," Clinton said, referencing Bush, "and the American people got shafted."
The line brought the hundreds at Cincinnati State College to their feet. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me," she continued.
Obama's campaign responded quickly, sending reporters a December quote from Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson, deriding any move by Democrats to compare their party rivals to the president.
"If you want to talk about tactical political maneuvering, it's about one Democrat comparing another Democrat to George Bush," Wolfson told the AP. "That's the worst kind of tactical political maneuvering."
Clinton was even more forceful in a press conference with reporters, railing against the Obama campaign's latest NAFTA mailer, which reads: "Hillary Clinton believed NAFTA was a 'boon' to our economy; Bad trade deals like NAFTA hit Ohio harder than most states. Only Barack Obama consistently opposed NAFTA."
"This mailing about NAFTA, saying I believed NAFTA was a quote "boon," quotes a newspaper that had corrected the record," Clinton said. "We have pointed it out, the newspaper pointed it out. Time and time again, you hear one thing in speeches and then you see a campaign that has the worst kind of tactics, reminiscent of the same sort of Republican attacks on Democrats."
And then this smack: "So shame on you Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public, that's what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio, and lets have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign."
Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, defended the mailer in a statement, saying it is "completely accurate."
“Unlike the discredited attacks from Hillary Clinton’s negative campaign that have been rejected in South Carolina, Wisconsin, and across America," he added. "We look forward to having a debate this Tuesday on the facts, and the facts are that Senator Clinton was a supporter of NAFTA and the China permanent trade treaties until this campaign began. And she herself has said that under the Clinton health care plan, she would consider 'going after the wages' of Americans who don't purchase health insurance, whether they can afford it or not."
(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI, JENNIFER SKALKA and NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)
Posted at 04:08 PM
Comments
Billary flying off the handle? Why are we not surprised? This is what the Clintons have done time and again when they are in trouble. I hope nobody falls for this latest bit of trickery.
Henry | 02.23.08 05:20 PM
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so who do you want in the white house on day 1? the candidate who is cool, calm, and collected even in the face of attacks? or the one who panics, blusters, flusters?
time to get real, as someone said.
time for Hillary to ride off into the sunset.
Joe Shmoe | 02.23.08 05:54 PM
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She has finally lost it! I never thought a "vetted" politician, with 35 years of experience in politics, could lose it so bad in public. She obviously has trouble deciding which personality she wants to display on any given day: one day she is nice and feels honored to compete against Obama and the next she is comparing him with Bush and raising hell about some pamphlets that have been around since Iowa. How much can you trust someone like that? What's wrong with her?
And the funny thing, she wants to meet Obama to discuss his behavior. I guess it''s her maternal instinct shinning through finally but the tone is highly inappropriate for a presidential primary.
Adr | 02.23.08 06:09 PM
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i feel bad for her. i should buy her some new straws.
she's gotta be low on the ones she's already grabbed at.
have some class hillary. don't let your evolving door of campaign managers....each with their differet ideas of how you should "act" turn you into a full fledged schitzophrenic.
val | 02.23.08 11:21 PM
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Oh ... Go away Hillary... GO AWAY !
PulSamsara | 02.24.08 02:36 AM
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