IT'S A DRAW!!!

[If you were waitlisted this year, what's the current status of each of your WLs? (10 max)]

If you were waitlisted this year, what's the current status of each of your WLs? (10 max)

Still WLed

 45 (70.3%)

Accepted off WL

 10 (15.6%)

Rejected off WL

 9 (14.1%)

Total Members Voted: 49

[ismile]

Anyway, I wanted to say Hillary played it real cool when she fired her top adviser

WASHINGTON (CNN)
December 13, 2007

One of Sen. Hillary Clinton's top advisers is stepping down after saying Sen. Barack Obama's admission of past drug use would hurt his chances in a general election matchup. Sen. Barack Obama says he doesn't think his admission of past drug use will hurt his presidential campaign.


Sen. Barack Obama says he doesn't think his admission of past drug use will hurt his presidential campaign.

"I would like to reiterate that I deeply regret my comments yesterday and say again that they were in no way authorized by Sen. Clinton or the Clinton campaign," Bill Shaheen, co-chairman of the Clinton campaign in New Hampshire, said in a statement announcing his decision. Earlier Thursday, Clinton personally apologized to rival Obama for Shaheen's remarks.

Obama accepted her apology, according to David Axelrod, the top political strategist for the Obama campaign. "[Obama] said it's important for campaigns to send a signal from the top. If they say that negative campaigning is fun, they're sending a signal. Or that can say this kind of thing isn't tolerated," Axelrod said. Obama earlier brushed aside the adviser's remarks, saying they were probably the result of the latest poll numbers, which show the two candidates tied in the first primary state, New Hampshire. "I just think people are feeling a little worried about the polls," the Illinois senator said Thursday.

Shaheen told a Washington Post reporter Wednesday that Republicans would exploit Obama's admission of past drug use should he win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination and might even suggest Obama once dealt drugs. "The Republicans are not going to give up without a fight... and one of the things they're certainly going to jump on is his drug use," Shaheen said. "It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?' There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome." Shaheen, husband of former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, apologized for his comments and said in a statement late Wednesday "they were not authorized by the campaign in any way."

Obama said he did not think it was Shaheen's intent to plant such a rumor. The candidate said he is not worried what Shaheen said may damage his campaign "since it's not true. I don't think the American people are concerned about what I did when I was a teenager. They're concerned about what I'm going to do as a presidential candidate," he said. Clinton on Thursday said she did not approve of Shaheen's comments. "I don't in any way condone that, and it was certainly not authorized or approved at all. It was inappropriate, and he's apologized," the senator from New York said. Obama spokesman David Plouffe called the remarks desperate, saying the "campaign is recycling old news that Barack Obama has been candid about in a book he wrote years ago, and he's talked about the lessons he's learned from these mistakes with young people all across the country."

Obama wrote in his 1995 book "Dreams of My Father" that he was once headed in the direction of a "junkie" and a "pothead." Referring to his emotional struggles as a young man, Obama wrote, "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though." Obama has not shied away from bringing up his past use of drugs while on the campaign trail. He spoke candidly about his past experimentation at an event in New Hampshire last month, acknowledging that he did inhale and that "it's not something I'm proud of." And in a statement that proved popular with the crowd, Obama said he never understood then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton's contention in 1992 that he did not inhale marijuana. "I never understood that line," he said. "The point was to inhale. That was the point."

The latest back-and-forth between the two Democratic campaigns on the issue of Obama's electability came as a new CNN/WMUR poll showed the two candidates statistically in a dead heat in New Hampshire. Clinton stands at 31%, with Obama 1% point behind, well within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 5% points

You think Obama's aide blurting out in the press calling Hillary a "monster" was less troubling? In an unguarded moment during an interview with The Scotsman in London, Samantha Power, Obama's key foreign policy aide, let slip the camp's true feelings about the former First Lady. Her comments came as Obama, whose defeats in Texas and Ohio on Tuesday were largely attributed to a series of negative attacks on him, vowed to turn up the heat on Clinton over her claims to be the more experienced candidate. The Obama camp went on the offensive, pointing out that Clinton had not still released her tax return and casting doubt on her experience. In response, a Clinton adviser said the attack reminded him of the witch-hunt led by special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, which led to the impeachment of her husband, Bill, when he was president. Earlier, clearly rattled by the Ohio defeat, Power told The Scotsman Clinton was stopping at nothing to try to seize the lead from her candidate.

"We @ # ! * e d up in Ohio," she admitted. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win. "She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything," Power said, hastily trying to withdraw her remark. Power said of the Clinton campaign: "Here, it looks like desperation. I hope it looks like desperation there, too.
_______________

Samantha Power was considered to be the embodiment of the American immigrant dream. Born in Dublin in 1970, she moved to the United States with her mother aged 9. After being educated in state schools in Pittsburgh and Georgia, she gained entry to the prestigious Yale University, where she studied history. The self-deprecating Power said this changed her life and opened many doors. She worked as freelance journalist in Bosnia, after teaching herself the language in Croatia. Her only other journalism experience prior to that was covering the Yale women's volleyball team. After graduating from Harvard Law School, she became an executive director and founder of the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at Harvard. The 37-year-old already has one Pulitzer Prize behind her, for her book "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" and she is in the UK and Ireland to plug her new book, "Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World." Power was head-hunted by Barack Obama to become his foreign-policy adviser in 2005 and combines this role with her job as a Time magazine columnist and professor of practice of global leadership and public policy at Harvard.

[ACEI]

You think Obama's aide blurting out in the press calling Hillary a "monster" was less troubling? In an unguarded moment during an interview with The Scotsman in London, Samantha Power, Obama's key foreign policy aide, let slip the camp's true feelings about the former First Lady. Her comments came as Obama, whose defeats in Texas and Ohio on Tuesday were largely attributed to a series of negative attacks on him, vowed to turn up the heat on Clinton over her claims to be the more experienced candidate. The Obama camp went on the offensive, pointing out that Clinton had not still released her tax return and casting doubt on her experience. In response, a Clinton adviser said the attack reminded him of the witch-hunt led by special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, which led to the impeachment of her husband, Bill, when he was president. Earlier, clearly rattled by the Ohio defeat, Power told The Scotsman Clinton was stopping at nothing to try to seize the lead from her candidate.

"We @ # ! * e d up in Ohio," she admitted. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win. "She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything," Power said, hastily trying to withdraw her remark. Power said of the Clinton campaign: "Here, it looks like desperation. I hope it looks like desperation there, too.

Richard Nixon would have been proud.

The campaign surrogate system his people set up 40 years ago has evolved into a factory for political hatchet work, name-calling that marks - and mars - this year's contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. "Surrogate" is just a fancy word for substitute, a campaign stand-in. Such allies and aides to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been making it a substitute for political common sense. An insult or inference the candidate has to explain or disown is a diversion, not a service, to the campaigner. But they keep coming. And when a purported surrogate blurts something that backfires, it is grist for the television and radio talkers, who amplify it into the topic of the day if not the week. Political bloggers go at it on the Internet, commentators comment, analysts analyze and the side show becomes the main event. That cycle has been played and replayed this season. With candidates who differ more in matters of style and detail than in basic policy, the surrogate insults are more dramatic and salable than most of what the candidates say themselves.

It wasn't Obama who called Clinton a monster, or Clinton who said that Obama wouldn't be doing so well as a candidate if he wasn't black. Those odd comments were made by supporters of the candidates who were freelancing at the time. There's nothing new about substitutes standing in for candidates, or for allies seeking to stir support on their behalfs. This time, in part because of the round-the-clock din of broadcast commentary, those roles have been magnified, and so have the controversies they can stir. The Nixon campaign of 1968 formalized the process, signed up designated substitutes and dubbed them surrogates. "We were looking around for an important-sounding word for the person who was asked to stand in for the candidate," William Safire, a 1968 Nixon speechwriter, wrote later in his New York Times Magazine column. "Surrogate sounded vaguely legal and dignified, and we went with it. It caught on." What worked in 1968 became a central piece of the Nixon campaign in 1972, with a roster of 49 surrogate campaigners standing in for the president, who made only seven personal campaign appearances that fall.

In this campaign, there is a surrogate in chief, former President Clinton working on behalf of his wife, aggressively if not always productively. His hard-line campaign early in the season turned off some voters, and he toned it down a bit. But not a lot - when he said that his wife and Republican John McCain are candidates who love their country, and implied by omission that Obama did not, it quickly stirred a surrogate hassle. An Obama campaigner said Bill Clinton's tactics reminded him of Joe McCarthy. Not all the flaps are external. It turns out that Clinton the surrogate backs a free trade agreement with Colombia that Clinton the candidate opposes. That's embarrassing. The deal is unpopular in Pennsylvania, where Democrats vote April 22, and will be in Indiana, which holds its primary on May 6. And the Clinton campaign just replaced its pollster and top strategist because of his paid promotional work for the same trade agreement. Trade policy came up earlier when a top economic adviser to Obama talked about the issue with Canadian diplomats in Chicago, and one of them sent home a memo saying he'd been told that the candidate's criticism of free trade pacts was political positioning, not necessarily policy. The adviser denied it, Obama denied it and Hillary Clinton crowed that it raised serious questions about his sincerity.

That's the risk with freelancing surrogates, campaign aides pursuing their own interests, and advisers who like the attention, and sometimes the ego trip, of representing a candidate. In the age of instant communication, no untoward political word or act goes unnoticed, and few go unpunished. A half-dozen Democrats have resigned campaign roles because of the things they said or did. A top foreign policy adviser to Obama resigned after calling Clinton a monster in a London interview while on a book promotion tour. Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 Democratic nominee for vice president, quit her honorary campaign finance position with Clinton after telling the Torrance, Calif., Daily Breeze that "if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." She was in Torrance for a paid lecture, not on a campaign assignment. Then there's James Carville, who called Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a former Clinton Cabinet member, a Judas for endorsing Obama. Clinton himself ranted about it to superdelegates in California. They both said Richardson had promised not to do it. Richardson denied that. Either way, it's hard to see what the attacks did for Hillary Clinton. They only served to remind people that Richardson was, indeed, backing Obama. Sometimes as a surrogate.

[etana]

It's been a banner time for sexism on the presidential hustings. Some time ago, we had the John McCain supporter in South Carolina asking her hero, "How do we beat the female dog?" in reference to Senator Hillary Clinton. Senator McCain laughed, showing his good-natured appreciation for comparing women to animals. He might also be amused to know that chicks, foxes, dogs and pigs are in the same lexicon, the one aimed at keeping women down by dehumanizing them.

Clinton enjoyed a shot of whiskey Saturday night in Indiana.

CROWN POINT, Indiana – After a day of taking shots at rival Sen. Barack Obama over his "bitter" remarks, Sen. Hillary Clinton relaxed in Crown Point, Indiana and took a shot of a different kind – Crown Royal whiskey. Clinton was at Bronko's Restaurant having a beer when the bartender asked, "You want a shot with that Hillary?" After some deliberation, Clinton settled on a shot of Crown Royal, a Canadian whiskey. Later in the evening, the Democratic presidential hopeful also sat down and had some pizza.

______________________
Obama's presidential campaign has been knocked off balance after the Democratic White House frontrunner was caught on tape apparently belittling the fears of small-town Americans who have lost their jobs. The senator from Illinois was forced into a frantic damage limitation exercise after a recording emerged in which he appeared to dismiss impoverished blue collar workers as bitter individuals who have turned to God, guns and immigrant bashing to make themselves feel better. In comments which may seriously damage his chances of winning the forthcoming Pennsylvania primary election, Obama told fundraisers: "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. "It's not surprising then they get bitter. They cling to guns, or religion, or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." His rivals and political commentators seized on the comments, pronouncing them a watershed moment that raises questions about whether he understands many of the people he hopes to lead - for whom religion and the right to bear arms are positive and wholesome aspects of their lives, not a crutch fashioned from bitterness.

[ex nihilo]

HAHAHA - YOU'RE SO FUNNY ETANA!

[post hoc]

By MIKE GLOVER and SARA KUGLER, AP writers

MARION, Ind. - Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton turned up the rhetoric Saturday in their increasingly heated primary battle as she issued a new debate challenge and he complained of a race that's largely been reduced to trivia while working families feel economic pain.


 
Clinton took the debate dispute to a new level, challenging Obama to face off with her in a debate without a moderator, Lincoln-Douglas style. "Just the two of us, going for 90 minutes, asking and answering questions, we'll set whatever rules seem fair," Clinton said while campaigning in South Bend. Clinton argued that Obama won't debate because he's unhappy with questions from moderators during the April 16 debate just before the Pennsylvania primary. After that debate, Obama complained it focused too much on political trivia and too little on real issues.

[Henning]

Last year Hillary Clinton was the front runner in the Democrat's primary race until Barack Obama surged forward with a miraculously huge war chest and a groundswell of popular support. Does this affirm our Democratic system of electing officials or is there something more sinister behind a Junior Senator suddenly thrust into the national limelight? Did prominent Republican businessmen contribute to Barack Obama's fund raising campaign because they believe he is an easier target to take down in the long run?



Was he set up as a stalking horse candidate to thwart the Democrats from securing the White House? In case you are not familiar with the term, Wikipedia defines a "stalking horse" as:

"someone or something whose role is to become the focal point for, or the initiator of, a debate or challenge. In reality, however, their leadership role may be an illusion, and the stalking horse is really working to promote a challenge or debate that will benefit a third party whose identity remains a secret."

Politics is a tough and sometimes dirty business, from the controversy over campaign fundraising, to endless probes of business associates and infinite spinning and second guessing of previous actions and political stances. The contested Florida race in 2000 suggested dirty politics were afoot in this battleground state. We didn't even know what a hanging chad was until Florida. The ultimate insult to democracy came when the Supreme Court, seated with many appointees of President Bush Senior, made a crucial decision that handed the presidency to George W. Considering that twenty percent of Chicago's business elite, most of whom are Republicans, gave to Obama's campaign, while giving zilch to Hillary seem to support the idea that Republicans were stuffing Obama's war chest. To be absolutely clear, there are no laws broken here, but it seems odd, to say the least that dyed in the wool Republicans suddenly find a barely tested Junior Senator as the candidate of choice. This is all the more strange because up to that point, these Republican contributors hadn't given as much money to the party they usually support.

Let us also be clear that Hillary has received campaign contributions from traditionally Republican supporters. However, the evidence suggests that Obama has received the lion's share of Republican dollars. This would not be the first time the Republicans have backed a stalking horse to frustrate Democratic presidential aspirations. Ralph Nader was backed by Republican contibutors in his divisive White House run in 2004, steering votes away from John Kerry. All the more troubling is that one of Obama's speechwriters is Ben Rhodes, the brother of Fox News VP David Rhodes ( Marisa Guthrie, of BC Beat, reported this connection recently.) The latter Rhodes has been with the network since its inception in 1996. You may recall that on election night in November 2000, it was Fox that called Florida for Bush, even though the other networks declared Gore the winner.

And last but not least, Mr. Obama’s connections with friend and financier Tony Rezko, a Syrian immigrant whose Federal trial for business fraud and influence peddling was moved to March 3, close enough to insure that potentially damaging information to Obama would not affect the March 4 primaries. However, what most people are not aware of, is that this letter to the United States Justice Department called for an investigation into Barack Obama’s dealings with Rezko 3 months before Barack Obama declared his intention to seek the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton has the dubious honor of being the most vetted candidate for the office of president. She withstood a $40 million dollar attack on her character alaWhitewater. She could not be taken down. Barack Obama has yet to be tested in this manner and considering the seriousness of the charges against Mr. Rezko, could be easy pickings for a smear campaign. We've seen political candidates taken down for less. The clues are tantalizing.

You heard what Senator Barrack said?

"As for Indiana, we did much better than all the pundits predicted, despite Republicans changing parties to support Senator Clinton, believing she would be easier for Senator McCain to defeat. Now is the time for each one of us to step up and do what we can to close out this primary."

ROFLMAO!

[email]

Let's see Kentucky and Oregon today.

The last time Oregon had much weight in the primary season was in 1968, when Robert Kennedy was campaigning for the Democratic nomination.

[RSH]

Let's see Kentucky and Oregon today.

The last time Oregon had much weight in the primary season was in 1968, when Robert Kennedy was campaigning for the Democratic nomination.

Funny how a simple reference on Clinton's part regarding Bobby Kennedy was interpreted in a bad sense:

BRANDON, South Dakota (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton said Friday that she regretted comments that evoked the June 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy as part of her explanation for why she was staying in the presidential race late into the primary season. Earlier Friday afternoon, she told the editorial board of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Argus Leader that "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said. Clinton complained that "people have been trying to push me out of this ever since Iowa" and said that position "historically ... makes no sense."

Later at an event in Brandon, South Dakota, she said, "Earlier today, I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Sen. Kennedy waged in California in June in 1992 and 1968, and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nominating primary contests that go into June. That's an historic fact. The Kennedys have been much on my mind in the last days because of Sen. [Edward] Kennedy, and I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever," Clinton added. The campaign of her rival for the Democratic nomination for president, Sen. Barack Obama, reacted quickly. "Sen. Clinton's statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign," it said in a statement. Her campaign first defended the remarks, saying the New York senator had been making a historical parallel. "She was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 of historical examples of the nominating process going well into the summer. Any reading into it beyond that is inaccurate and outrageous," Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said.

Kennedy, the brother of slain President John F. Kennedy, was shot and killed just moments after claiming victory in the California primary in 1968. Friday night, Kennedy's son, Robert Kennedy, Jr., released a statement that said he understands the point Clinton was making and said it would be a mistake to be offended. "I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband's 1992 race, both of which were hard-fought through June," he said. "I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense." Also Friday, the Clinton campaign released a statement from Randell Beck, the newspaper's executive editor, saying Clinton was answering a question about whether her continued campaigning threatens party unity so close to the Democratic convention. "Her reference to Mr. Kennedy's assassination appeared to focus on the timeline of his primary candidacy and not the assassination itself," Beck said in the statement. Clinton's campaign manager, Maggie Williams, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that people may have "misinterpreted what she meant." "It was clear to anybody watching her this afternoon that she was ... deeply regretful, and people did not understand the context in which she made this reference, and so I think that she immediately, as soon as she could, spoke out to express her regret for ... perhaps the way that she had spoken or the people had misinterpreted what she meant," Williams said.

Clinton made a similar reference to Robert Kennedy in a March interview with Time magazine Managing Editor Richard Stengel, saying she could not envision a scenario in which party leaders would step in and call for the race to end. "I think people have short memories," she said then. "Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual." All three candidates have Secret Service protection. Clinton, the former first lady, has had agents guarding her since her husband's administration; Obama was assigned a protective detail in May 2007; and presumed Republican nominee Sen. John McCain agreed to accept Secret Service protection in April.

[synchronicity]

[nmla]

Last year Hillary Clinton was the front runner in the Democrat's primary race until Barack Obama surged forward with a miraculously huge war chest and a groundswell of popular support. Does this affirm our Democratic system of electing officials or is there something more sinister behind a Junior Senator suddenly thrust into the national limelight? Did prominent Republican businessmen contribute to Barack Obama's fund raising campaign because they believe he is an easier target to take down in the long run?



Was he set up as a stalking horse candidate to thwart the Democrats from securing the White House? In case you are not familiar with the term, Wikipedia defines a "stalking horse" as:

"someone or something whose role is to become the focal point for, or the initiator of, a debate or challenge. In reality, however, their leadership role may be an illusion, and the stalking horse is really working to promote a challenge or debate that will benefit a third party whose identity remains a secret."

Politics is a tough and sometimes dirty business, from the controversy over campaign fundraising, to endless probes of business associates and infinite spinning and second guessing of previous actions and political stances. The contested Florida race in 2000 suggested dirty politics were afoot in this battleground state. We didn't even know what a hanging chad was until Florida. The ultimate insult to democracy came when the Supreme Court, seated with many appointees of President Bush Senior, made a crucial decision that handed the presidency to George W. Considering that twenty percent of Chicago's business elite, most of whom are Republicans, gave to Obama's campaign, while giving zilch to Hillary seem to support the idea that Republicans were stuffing Obama's war chest. To be absolutely clear, there are no laws broken here, but it seems odd, to say the least that dyed in the wool Republicans suddenly find a barely tested Junior Senator as the candidate of choice. This is all the more strange because up to that point, these Republican contributors hadn't given as much money to the party they usually support.

Let us also be clear that Hillary has received campaign contributions from traditionally Republican supporters. However, the evidence suggests that Obama has received the lion's share of Republican dollars. This would not be the first time the Republicans have backed a stalking horse to frustrate Democratic presidential aspirations. Ralph Nader was backed by Republican contibutors in his divisive White House run in 2004, steering votes away from John Kerry. All the more troubling is that one of Obama's speechwriters is Ben Rhodes, the brother of Fox News VP David Rhodes ( Marisa Guthrie, of BC Beat, reported this connection recently.) The latter Rhodes has been with the network since its inception in 1996. You may recall that on election night in November 2000, it was Fox that called Florida for Bush, even though the other networks declared Gore the winner.

And last but not least, Mr. Obama’s connections with friend and financier Tony Rezko, a Syrian immigrant whose Federal trial for business fraud and influence peddling was moved to March 3, close enough to insure that potentially damaging information to Obama would not affect the March 4 primaries. However, what most people are not aware of, is that this letter to the United States Justice Department called for an investigation into Barack Obama’s dealings with Rezko 3 months before Barack Obama declared his intention to seek the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton has the dubious honor of being the most vetted candidate for the office of president. She withstood a $40 million dollar attack on her character alaWhitewater. She could not be taken down. Barack Obama has yet to be tested in this manner and considering the seriousness of the charges against Mr. Rezko, could be easy pickings for a smear campaign. We've seen political candidates taken down for less. The clues are tantalizing.

You heard what Senator Barrack said?

"As for Indiana, we did much better than all the pundits predicted, despite Republicans changing parties to support Senator Clinton, believing she would be easier for Senator McCain to defeat. Now is the time for each one of us to step up and do what we can to close out this primary."

ROFLMAO!

Haha! Good catch, Henning!