April 17, 2008 11:49 AM
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On Conference Call, Clinton Campaign Spins Debate
On a conference call with reporters this morning, Clinton Campaign Communications Director Howard Wolfson and Deputy Communications Director Phil Singer made the case that Barack Obama had, in Wolfson's words, "a very bad night" on Wednesday.
Why? The debate, and, more specifically, two issues that came up. The first involved questionnaires that Obama apparently filled out in the 1990s backing a handgun ban. Wolfson criticized the Obama campaign for saying he had not seen the questionnaire and the candidate for not giving a "clear answer" when asked about it last night. He suggested Obama explain "how his handwriting could be on it without his actually seeing it."
The other issue being pushed hard by the Clinton campaign concerned Bill Ayers, a former Weather Underground leader and Chicago professor with whom Obama has a loose relationship. As the New York Times notes, "In the early 1970s, the Weathermen, who took their name from a line in a Bob Dylan song, claimed responsibility for bombing the Capitol, the Pentagon, the State Department Building and banks, courthouses and police stations."
On the call, Wolfson was challenged on why the Clinton campaign was pushing Obama's ties to Ayers considering the fact that Bill Clinton pardoned Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg, two members of the Weather Underground, in 2001.
Wolfson responded that he was "not aware of either of them hosting a political event for Senator Clinton at their homes." He also said he did not know if Hillary Clinton had raised objections to her husband's decision.
The Clinton campaign also went back to the argument that Clinton is more electable than Obama – an argument that may have taken a hit when Clinton said last night that Obama could beat John McCain in the fall. Singer said that Obama's campaign has outspent the Clinton campaign 2-1 over the past two weeks and 3-1 overall in Pennsylvania, and called Obama's expenditures "eye-popping." (Obama, he said, spent $3.4 million this week alone.)
"If Sen. Obama can't win under these circumstances, it will confirm in my view that Hillary Clinton is the strongest candidate to win in the fall," Singer said.
Why? The debate, and, more specifically, two issues that came up. The first involved questionnaires that Obama apparently filled out in the 1990s backing a handgun ban. Wolfson criticized the Obama campaign for saying he had not seen the questionnaire and the candidate for not giving a "clear answer" when asked about it last night. He suggested Obama explain "how his handwriting could be on it without his actually seeing it."
The other issue being pushed hard by the Clinton campaign concerned Bill Ayers, a former Weather Underground leader and Chicago professor with whom Obama has a loose relationship. As the New York Times notes, "In the early 1970s, the Weathermen, who took their name from a line in a Bob Dylan song, claimed responsibility for bombing the Capitol, the Pentagon, the State Department Building and banks, courthouses and police stations."
On the call, Wolfson was challenged on why the Clinton campaign was pushing Obama's ties to Ayers considering the fact that Bill Clinton pardoned Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg, two members of the Weather Underground, in 2001.
Wolfson responded that he was "not aware of either of them hosting a political event for Senator Clinton at their homes." He also said he did not know if Hillary Clinton had raised objections to her husband's decision.
The Clinton campaign also went back to the argument that Clinton is more electable than Obama – an argument that may have taken a hit when Clinton said last night that Obama could beat John McCain in the fall. Singer said that Obama's campaign has outspent the Clinton campaign 2-1 over the past two weeks and 3-1 overall in Pennsylvania, and called Obama's expenditures "eye-popping." (Obama, he said, spent $3.4 million this week alone.)
"If Sen. Obama can't win under these circumstances, it will confirm in my view that Hillary Clinton is the strongest candidate to win in the fall," Singer said.
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Brian Montopoli Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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