Jim Stillman
Randy InmanWith Friends like This, Senator Clinton needs no Enemies!
December 13th 2007 16:42
Last August 19th, I posted comments in this space, discussing the persons for whom I would gladly vote, if he or she were nominated. Among those persons were Senators Clinton, Obama and Edwards, each of whom would be a fine president and leader. Each of these individuals has chosen to pursue public office, notwithstanding that each could, and with respect to Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Edwards has, earned far more in private endeavors than they could expect from public service. So, since I admire and respect these individuals, I am greatly saddened by the willingness of Senator Clinton’s staff and close friends to take the low road and engage in shoddy tactics.
This is especially true since Senator Clinton appears to be comfortably ahead in most polls and her friend’s attack on Senator Obama was unnecessary and gratuitous.
A co-chairman of Mrs. Clinton’s national and New Hampshire campaigns, William Shaheen, raised the question in an interview with The Washington Post. He said voters should study Mr. Obama’s background as they chose a candidate, warning that Republicans would scour for new details about a period of Mr. Obama’s life more than 20 years ago when he admitted using marijuana and cocaine.
According to The Post’s Web site, Mr. 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.”
Senator Obama has freely acknowledged drug use when in high school. In his Senate race several years ago, he admitted using drugs because he thought it was important for "young people who are already in circumstances that are far more difficult than mine to know that you can make mistakes and still recover. I think that, at this stage, my life is an open book, literally and figuratively," he said. "Voters can make a judgment as to whether dumb things that I did when I was a teenager are relevant to the work that I've done since that time."
To the Clinton’s campaign’s credit, the statements by Mr. Shaheen were quickly labeled as neither authorized nor condoned. Moreover, in a later statement, Mr. Shaheen said, “I deeply regret the comments I made today, and they were not authorized by the campaign in any way.”
But the damage was done. Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, called Mr. Shaheen’s comment a “desperate effort to slow her slide in the polls.” He said, “Senator Clinton’s campaign is recycling old news that Barack Obama has been candid about in a book he wrote years ago.”
Hillary Clinton has too much going for her, too much intelligence, too much talent to allow her campaign to wallow in the gutter.
This is especially true since Senator Clinton appears to be comfortably ahead in most polls and her friend’s attack on Senator Obama was unnecessary and gratuitous.
A co-chairman of Mrs. Clinton’s national and New Hampshire campaigns, William Shaheen, raised the question in an interview with The Washington Post. He said voters should study Mr. Obama’s background as they chose a candidate, warning that Republicans would scour for new details about a period of Mr. Obama’s life more than 20 years ago when he admitted using marijuana and cocaine.
According to The Post’s Web site, Mr. 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.”
Senator Obama has freely acknowledged drug use when in high school. In his Senate race several years ago, he admitted using drugs because he thought it was important for "young people who are already in circumstances that are far more difficult than mine to know that you can make mistakes and still recover. I think that, at this stage, my life is an open book, literally and figuratively," he said. "Voters can make a judgment as to whether dumb things that I did when I was a teenager are relevant to the work that I've done since that time."
To the Clinton’s campaign’s credit, the statements by Mr. Shaheen were quickly labeled as neither authorized nor condoned. Moreover, in a later statement, Mr. Shaheen said, “I deeply regret the comments I made today, and they were not authorized by the campaign in any way.”
But the damage was done. Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, called Mr. Shaheen’s comment a “desperate effort to slow her slide in the polls.” He said, “Senator Clinton’s campaign is recycling old news that Barack Obama has been candid about in a book he wrote years ago.”
Hillary Clinton has too much going for her, too much intelligence, too much talent to allow her campaign to wallow in the gutter.
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