Clinton Aide Steps Down After Drug Comment

Bill Shaheen Said That Barack Obama's Past Marijuana, Cocaine Abuse Would Give Election Fodder To Republicans

(CBS/AP)  An aide to Sen. Hillary Clinton has stepped down after suggesting that Democrats give more thought to Sen. Barack Obama's admissions of illegal drug use before they pick a presidential candidate.

"I made a mistake and in light of what happened, I have made the personal decision that I will step down as the Co-Chair of the Hillary for President campaign," Bill Shaheen said in a statement.

Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer confirmed to CBS News that while in Washington this morning, Clinton apologized - in person - to Obama for Shaheen's comments. Clinton told Obama that the comments were not authorized by her campaign, and that she was upset when she heard them. She also said she did not want personal attacks to be a part of her campaign.

In its response to Shaheen's comments, Obama's campaign said the Clinton people were getting desperate.

Shaheen, an attorney and veteran organizer, told The Washington Post that much of Obama's background is unknown and could be a problem in November 2008 if he is the Democratic nominee. He said Republicans would work hard to discover new aspects of Obama's admittedly spotty youth.

"It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?"' said Shaheen, whose wife, Jeanne, is New Hampshire's former governor and is running for the U.S. Senate next year.

"There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome," Shaheen said.

Shaheen said later he regretted the comments.

"I deeply regret the comments I made today and they were not authorized by the campaign in any way," Bill Shaheen said in an e-mail released by the campaign.

A campaign spokeswoman, Kathleen Strand, earlier had said "Senator Clinton is out every day talking about the issues that matter to the American people. These comments were not authorized or condoned by the campaign in any way."

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said in response to Shaheen's remarks:

"Hillary Clinton said attacking other Democrats is the fun part of this campaign, and now she's moved from Barack Obama's kindergarten years to his teenage years in an increasingly desperate effort to slow her slide in the polls. Senator Clinton's 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. He plans on winning this campaign by focusing on the issues that actually matter to the American people."

Obama wrote about his teenage drug use in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father." His rivals have largely remained silent on the subject.

"Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final fatal role of the young would-be black man," Obama wrote. Mostly he smoked marijuana and drank alcohol, he wrote, but occasionally he would snort cocaine when he could afford it.

Speaking to Manchester high school students earlier this month, Obama said he was hardly a model student and had experimented with drugs and alcohol.

"You know, I made some bad decisions that I've actually written about. You know, got into drinking. I experimented with drugs," he said. "There was a whole stretch of time that I didn't really apply myself a lot. It wasn't until I got out of high school and went to college that I started realizing, 'Man, I wasted a lot of time."'

New polling shows Clinton and Obama basically tied in New Hampshire. A CNN-WMUR-TV poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows Clinton at 31 percent support, Obama at 30. The same poll had Obama trailing by 20 points in September.

Clinton's campaign has distributed its first flier that criticizes Obama's health care plan for leaving 15 million people without insurance. TV ads following the same theme also have been prepared.

"This is not the time to go back to the same old politics of, 'now I'm going to smack you over the head with a baseball bat and call into question your character,"' Obama co-chairman Ned Helms told reporters in a conference call earlier Wednesday, decrying what he said was Clinton's negative campaign.

In Iowa, Democratic presidential rival John Edwards said of the comments: "I reject it. I reject it, and I want nothing to do with that kind of politics."

[realpatriot1]

truprogress,

I don''t know where you teach women''s studies but you should be reviewed-your comments are 100% inaccurate.

Shirley Chisholm was a "favorite son" of New York, not North Carolina. She won 151 delegates(that''s 151 more than Hillary at this point). She won those 151 delegates in 14 different states(that''s 14 more than Hillary at this point).

By the way,we''re both wrong;the first woman to seek a major party nomination wasn''t Hillary or Shirley Chisholm, it was Margaret Chase Smith who sought the Republican nomination in 1964.

I told my wife what you wrote and what I was responding and she wanted me to add that true feminists don''t like Hillary because of the message she sent to other women by staying with an abusive pig.

[trueprogress]

Also Hillary is the FIRST Woman Presidential Candidate, ever. S.Chisholm was a wonderful leader and person, but her name was place in North Carolina as a ''favorite son" ballot, in her honor only. By which she was "allowed" to present her ideas from time to time on various subjects, but no votes were cast in her name. Check you historical facts.

[trueprogress]

In response: I feel that I have to provide you all with Freshman 101 Political Science outline. America voting is done in blocks of special interests, gender race and class. That is all. Gender = women should vote foe women. For way too long we have been forced to march to the orders of the "gang leaders" - men. Hillary has shown us how to manage the role/career of a man, to get her ideas in play, and now it is time we support our "group" to get her elected. Men, if she is not elected , there will be a national "withhold "favors" " for one year movement - or longer. I assure you. Feminists unite. We have waited long too long to use our powers.

[alanrobisch]

am outraged and insulted as a feminist. Well what do you expect in a sexist society, if she fails.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by trueprogress at 02:44 PM : Dec 14, 2007

If you caqn''t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. What if the nominee was a conservative republican would you feel the same I strongly doubt it.

I also find your opinion incredibly sexist. for a person who wants equality you certainly fall short by saying that every women has to vote for a women

[realpatriot1]

bobmarisol,

You worry too much. Even if the troops stave off disaster in Iraq it won''t hide the fact that the Republicans planted them in the middle of a civil war, bankrupted the country and took their eye off the ball in Afghanistan in order to give Iran a friendly government in Baghdad.

The Americans too dumb to see this aren''t voting for us anyways and we don''t need them to.

[bobmarisol]

If you dont want another Republican in the White House, we as Democrats need to stand up and make sure that the USA loses the war in Iraq. The Democratic party has been against the war for so long that it would be disaster for us if the USA wins. And now that the troop surge has turned the war around, it is more important then ever that we abandon the fight. Thus we need to call our Senators and Representatives to tell them to bring our troops home NOW. WE CANNOT LET THE USA WIN THIS WAR -- IF THE USA DOES WIN, THEN THE REPUBLICANS WILL GET ALL THE CREDIT.

[realpatriot1]

truprogress, We''ve had this sidcussion before; Shirley Chisholm was the 1st woman to seek the Presidency.

As a Professor of Women''s Studies you should know that.

I can assure you that my wife is outraged by mindless women like you and would be more apt to withhold *** if I actually did vote for Hillary.

I would rather never have *** again than vote for that witch(although I would against Queen Rudy or Mitt the Twit).

[trueprogress]

Hillary is the first woman candidate for President , as women advocate, and Professor of Womens Study,I am outraged by the idea that other women voters are not supporting her. We must withhold all "favors" for our men, until we assure their support of our candidate. This may seem like "blackmail" but we have been repressed, our heads held in servitude service long enough. What more do they expect ? She stood my her man, now it is time we stand by Hillary.
I am outraged and insulted as a feminist. Well what do you expect in a sexist society, if she fails.

[simonsez40]

Karl Rove wrote the book on how to slander, taint, spin and smear the opposition.....its all in the "How to become President" book! This isn''t even newsworthy........

[mudrose-2009]

Rush Limpbaugh is a hophead, addicted to opiates. Repugniscums still suck him up.
Posted by gkc99

Yeah right out of George Soros''s playbook. Ugh.

[DaveGress]

jedi08 - I agree with you 100% and have been saying this for years.

[gkc99]

The Repug Slime Boat machine doesn''t need fodder--it manufactures its own slime, like a lamprey.

George W. Bushit was a heavy cocaine user and drank like a fish for decades. That may account in part for the brain damage that is so evident when he speaks. Laura Bush was reportedly a drug user in college as well.

Repugs don''t really care about drug use, unless they can use it as a hammer to oppress people they don''t like.

Just as marijuana was made a federal crime at the behest of California and Arizona who wanted legal tools to beat up on Mexicans. Before that, nobody cared.

Rush Limpbaugh is a hophead, addicted to opiates. Repugniscums still suck him up.

[eyzwidopn]

Is it a coincidence that everytime there''s an issue with HRC''s campaign being responsible for airing Obama slurs that the scandal gets regurgitated "unintentionally" in the media, allowing HRC to enjoy the subliminal "hit" on Obama while she gets to claim ignorance, condemns the actions of the culprits and dismisses them? HRC hasn''t been falsely painted with "high negatives," it''s just a part of who she is after years of battling alongside Bill in the political trenches, rightly or wrongly. For all of you HRC supporters, if you can''t see now that a vote for HRC means revisiting and reliving the lies, scandals, divisive, secretive, and retributive nature of the last nearly 16 years, then you have truly allowed feverish passion to trump reason. We''ve been there and done that with that type of degrading, demoralizing, non-productive politics. How in all that is right and proper can we think that continuing that path in January 2009 is going to be in the best interest of our country?

[eyzwidopn]

Abhorrent, vindictive, desperate, shameful, devious, condemnable... and typical for the Clintonian machine. Where was all of this serpentine behavior when HRC was leading in the polls, preparing for her inevitable coronation? This isn''t a "revelation," this issue has been known about for years and in the news a few weeks ago when Obama shared the story with high school students. Was there a noticeable, lasting fallout or backlash on his drug usage after he did so? No. What does that suggest? That the story had no legs in the media, despite Romney being the only Republican to condemn Obama''s admission. So if it had no legs a few weeks ago, it wasn''t for HRC''s campaign to try and raise it again. If the Republicans were going to use it then it should have been the Republicans who raised it.

[jedi08]

Weed should be made Legal,but not coke though, that stuff is evil and ruins lives.

[jedi08]

The Next President will be a Democrat. (aldee41)

That might be what all you people that listen to CBS news or CLinton Brodcast Station think but if Rudy gets in, Hillary can''t beat him. The worst case senerio for the Dems is Rudy Vs Billary Clinton. Obama is the only dem that can win the white house. To many Hillary Hatters out there.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Legalize it

And I will advertise it

Legalize it, yeah, yeah..." Bob Marley

Take the fire from what shouldn''t even be an issue.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by george2221

All he''d need would be to say that Ratzenberger''s name sounds Jewish, and bob''s your uncle...

[brianbwb-2009]

This is standard chess, push out a pawn, (try an attack by Co-Chair of the Hillary for President campaign, Bill Shaheen) see if it creates a positional opening, if not, then it is sacrificed.

The deeper issue that this should bring out is the absurd illegality of one of the most beneficial herbs on the planet.

[radiob-2009]

Which one will Michael Vick endorse ?
Perhaps Huckabee as he has such a fine sense of character despite tripping over his tail tongue.