April 30, 2008
GOP Gives Clinton The Silent Treatment
Politico: Party Organizations All Focus Attacks On Obama Rather Than N.Y. Senator
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Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., waves to supporters at a rally in Princeton, Ind., Tuesday, April 29, 2008. (AP)
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Hillary Clinton’s decisive Pennsylvania primary win last week may have reinvigorated her campaign, but you wouldn’t know it from listening to the Republican party.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has purchased $500,000 in anti-Barack Obama ads for use in two upcoming special House elections. The Republican National Committee is flooding reporters with anti-Obama emails. Presumptive nominee John McCain and GOP surrogates have seized on new remarks by Obama’s controversial former pastor.
From top to bottom, from McCain down to the youthful campaign and party staffers who work nearly around the clock to get him elected, the working assumption seems to be that the Democratic contest is over and Obama has won.
Even when Clinton attacks McCain, President Bush or GOP policies, the response is either outright silence or snarky, dismissive ridicule about a failed campaign barely relevant enough to merit a response.
“With ads like that, it’s more likely the call at 3 a.m. is ‘Senator, you just lost another superdelegate,’” quipped McCain adviser Steve Schmidt earlier this month when Clinton aired a version of her “3 a.m.” ad attacking McCain on the economy.
In one revealing glimpse into Republican thinking, when McCain quickly hit back with an ad of his own parroting the genre, he incorporated Barack Obama’s name into the response and spent little money airing it.
Clinton, it seems, has been erased from the picture, Soviet-style. Republicans mostly act like she doesn’t exist-an unusual turn of events considering her run of big-state victories and the fact that not so long ago Republican campaign plans were predicated on the idea of Clinton as the Democratic nominee.
Indeed, her recent success has only increased the volume and ferocity of the attacks-not on her, but on Obama.
After her Pennsylvania win last week, the RNC did not send a single e-mail focused on Clinton through Monday. At the same time, the committee blasted out 18 that attacked Obama.
When McCain’s campaign last week launched a new morning e-mail to reporters detailing the day’s schedule and drawing attention to preferred stories, they signaled the candidate who has their undivided attention.
Included each day along with critical articles about Obama is the “Audacity Watch,” the smart-alecky rubric under which they take the Illinois senator to task for some public comment or policy position.
There has yet to be any mention of the senator from New York.
Nor did Clinton’s name surface other than in passing in a press release dressed up as a “memo” that was sent out last week by McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. While it ticked off reams of Pennsylvania exit poll data highlighting Obama’s potential vulnerabilities, there was again no discussion of potential Clinton weaknesses.
“Even though Hillary Clinton won this primary, Barack Obama is seen as the front runner among Pennsylvania Democrats and is perceived to be the candidate most likely to win the Democratic Party’s nomination,” Davis explained.
McCain himself has become more aggressive in hitting Obama.
On ABC’s “This Week” last Sunday, he raised, unprompted, the Democrat’s views on capital gains taxes and his ties to a member of the radical Weather Underground group. In a conference call with conservative bloggers Friday, McCain responded to a question about words of support a Hamas political adviser had bestowed on Obama by saying it’s “very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States.” He then noted leftist Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s support for Obama, as well.
Sunday, McCain ended his reluctance to go after the Illnois senator over Obama’s controversial pastor by bringing up two new statements made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
On Clinton, McCain has said next to nothing of late, including her only in broad critiques that are always twinned with shots at Obama.
“[Obama] is still is clearly the front-runner for the Democratic nomination,” notes GOP strategist Brian Jones, a former top aide on McCain’s campaign. “The math is still clearly in his favor, he leads in fundraising and has the energy in the party behind him. So it makes sense.”
The Republican attacks mirror private disdain for Obama that, while still far from Clinton hatred at its zenith, is rapidly intensifying. The view among McCain aides and other Republicans is that Obama has gotten a free ride from the press despite what they see as a record of little substantive accomplishment.
Despite evidence to the contrary, McCain’s campaign wouldn’t concede that they are concentrating on Obama.
“Sometimes we engage him and sometimes we engage her,” said communications director Jill Hazelbaker. “There is not a distinct strategy to engage Obama.”
RNC communications director Danny Diaz noted that Obama has attracted more scrutiny because he has been more aggressive in his attacks.
“He engages Sen. McCain with much more frequency and has made Sen. McCain’s record part of his standard stump speech,” Diaz said.
The GOP focus on Obama also has a strategic component. His image is not nearly as pronounced as that of the former first lady among most Americans, which necessitates further definition.
“He has a very soft impression, so they’re using this time to define him,” observed Kevin Madden, a veteran Republican operative who recently served as Mitt Romney’s chief spokesman.
More notably, the view of Obama among Republicans has changed.
After much trembling about the threat he could pose, the Republican consensus has dramatically shifted: many are now enthused about the prospect of taking on a candidate they see as fatally flawed.
“The apparatus will be ready for both, but the Barack Obama that a lot of Republican strategists looked at four or five months ago was a lot more formidable than the one stumbling through the last few months,” observed Madden.
The emergence (and re-emergence) of Obama’s pastor, the candidate’s gaffe about small-town America and his seemingly hardening demographic weaknesses have convinced many in the GOP that he would provide the most vivid opportunities for contrast and caricature.
“Clearly there’s a sense that she would be a tougher general election candidate,” said one Republican strategist. “So why do we want to acknowledge her and give her more credibility? Attacking her sends a message to the Democratic electorate. If she’s not the person you want to engage, why would you do that?”
To some degree, Clinton is now seen in conservative circles as a temporary ally who ought not be thrown off stride.
“She’s our best surrogate,” joked Barbara Comstock, a former RNC research director and GOP strategist.
But Comstock, like some other Republicans, also believes it’s risky to give Clinton a free pass.
“Given how volatile this campaign is, we should highlight that both are left of center,” she said. “She and Obama are soul brother and sister on philosophy. And right now you have to fight against the ideology of both of them.”
Noting the photos that surfaced of Bill and Hillary Clinton with Tony Rezko, the image of Jeremiah Wright with Bill Clinton in the White House and the fact that the former president commuted the sentences of some members of the Weather Underground, Comstock said the Obama vulnerabilities could be paired with Clinton.
As for the Clinton campaign, when asked about the Republican silence towad the New York senator, the campaign returned the favor: A spokesman declined to respond for the record.
By Jonathan Martin
Copyright 2008 POLITICO
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See all 522 CommentsYou are the first black, muslim, marxist, manchurian candidate.
The superdelegates are just waiting for the right time to line up behind Obama, he will get the nomination, and then the party will take it to the Republicans but good.
She has her pride wrapped up in the whole thing now.
She was told more than a month ago that it was over. There was no way she could win. But she''d rather watch the house burn down than let someone else buy it.
Very sad.
(But capable of whipping up a tasty batch of her
famous Gorilla Cookies while crying and cussing
the American Public for being smart enough to see
her for the lying POS that she is)
Don''t go away mad, Hill,........just go away!!!
But she could still be a material witness and be required to testify about what she knew concerning alleged illegal campaign fundraising.
The California Court of Appeals (Second Appellate District) upheld a California Superior Court ruling that the New York senator and leading Democratic candidate for president could avoid the lawsuit because of a state law that protects public figures from FRIVILOUS LAWSUITS."
Paul is a con! They''ve already found the voice overs on his tape and thrown it out!
Is this like Rezko? Nope--Rezko involved Obama''''s association with a questionable person. This involved HRC and Bill''''s questionable actions (and potentially illegal actions) with a questionable person. Big difference.
Obama''''s could harm his campaign, Hillary''''s could land her before a Grand jury and like DeLay--facing jail time: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/tal
k/2008/04/breaking-news-hillary-clinton.
php
no one is talking about paul v clinton
www.paulvclinton.com
no one is asking about Bill taking an $800,000 ''bribe?'' from Columbia.
No one mentions Bosnia or her hundreds of other lies.
Rep party had better get ready for Obama,because the CHANGE is coming...
That, and the fact that they have nothing to fear from Hillary, who holds the same identical values and agenda of never ending War and Occupation, NWO, and NAU, as themselves......why spend money to fight yourself???.....Hillabush = McBushcain....no diff...
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Posted by BLKPRESIDENT at 09:38 PM : Apr 30, 2008
You forgot Typhoid Mary.
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Posted by b-easy63 at 09:29 PM : Apr 30, 2008
Yeah she will. That''s why she''s going all the way to convention to get them.
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Posted by b-easy63 at 09:12 PM : Apr 30, 2008
There is no difference anymore.Both parties are turning us into a bunch of outlaws.Who the hell can keep track of what''s legal,and what''s not anymore?I don''t care anymore.I''m sick of the treadmill.They can all go to hell,as far as I''m concerned.Hillary won''t do a *** thing but throw crumbs.I''m tired of supporting the very *** that undermine me with my taxes.I''ve decided.If it comes down to Hillary or McCain,I am going to sign up for every flippin'' government giveaway I am eligible for in protest.What in the hell is the use of working with those *** selling us all down the river?I don''t mind pain when there''s gain,but what is the use of taking a beating,and never getting anywhere?I may end up in the slam eventually,but with the way things are going,I''m headed that way already,since I won''t take their sshit anymore.
Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 09:23 PM : Apr 30, 2008
We loved it even more...when Obama responded by not letting HRC have any--and she can''t get them until/if/when he agrees---LOL We loved that best of all.
Then somebody whispered in his ear about breaking the DNC rules in Florida and Michigan and anything he tried to claim would be contested, as it will, he shut the hell up and refused the re-vote.
Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 09:17 PM : Apr 30, 2008
Nope. Nobody screamed as loud as Hillary or as long--she did it the minute she knew SC was a huge loss for her. As for the revote--it could never work--because many of Obama''s supporters could not do the revote as Independents or Republicans turned Dems and so, he would have lost much of his support as they would not have counted. Either way, to do a revote by mail invited massive fraud and by polling it would have still negated the ones who actually voted or who voted in the Rep, thinking the Dem did not count.
That is why rules should be followed and when broken, penalties should be enforced--any fix later disenfranchises others--whose to say Edwards would not have taken Michigan or Fl if his name was still on the ballots? So never fair--give it up--she signed a pledge--after that--she is just a whining sore loser and so are her supporters---including you.
I loved it when she basically said, screw you, dipwad.
Only a fool would notice all the Republicans who are not even up for re election this year jumping ship and leaving their terms unfinished to realize something wicked this way comes...Instead the Dems grin like fools and spread their arms wide for the huge rock hurtling for their heads.
Then somebody whispered in his ear about breaking the DNC rules in Florida and Michigan and anything he tried to claim would be contested, as it will, he shut the hell up and refused the re-vote.
Posted by jesterbelle at 09:02 PM : Apr 30, 2008
I know what you mean--it gets sooo ugly, that just like in 2004 I hope the bad guys win. That way, when we are fvcked (as Bush continued to do us in 2004 to present) I can sit back and proclaim how I did not vote for him--but how America got just what they deserved for being soooo stupid. Hillary will d1ck America worse than Bush. And her supporters will pretend she is not doing that until the rest of the country falls apart around their ears--then like the neo cons--they''ll either jump ship (and expect to be forgiven) or say What? What? Like stupid Bush supporters do.
This is a good lesson. Dems thought they were too smart for the messiah complex and blind loyalty. Hillary would be a humbling lesson and would show that Dems can be just as stupid and blind as any neo con. When the ******** hits the fan....just the same pigeons---just separated into different camps and thinking that each is better than the other.
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