Jackson Free Press

Al Hunt of Bloomberg News dissects what the Obama and Clinton campaigns have been saying about each other—and finds that the Clintons are severely distorting their comments about Obama:

The Clinton campaign didn't respond to multiple requests for comment, instead sending a dozen examples of alleged Obama distortions.

One distortion where Hillary Clinton has been taken to task is in charging that Obama praised Republicans for having "better ideas'' than Democrats.

Obama didn't say Republicans had better ideas; he said that for much of the recent past they were "the party of ideas,'' but that had "played itself out.'' Yet the Clinton campaign ran radio commercials that misstated this and suggested he therefore must support tax breaks for Wall Street and a lower minimum wage.

They have also falsely accused Obama of favoring a trillion-dollar tax increase on working-class Americans (that apparently derives from his idea to consider raising the payroll tax on those making more than $100,000 a year) and once supporting the Iraq war.

Although every candidate makes misstatements, the various fact-check organizations and detached analysts usually find the Clinton campaign in a league of its own.

It's not the depths of the duplicity; compared to other abuses, like the Swift Boat attack lies against John Kerry in 2004, these are benign. The problem is there is a pervasive pattern at a time when voters are clamoring for authenticity.

The Race Card

Bill Clinton, his denials notwithstanding, has played the race card. On Saturday, commenting on Obama's South Carolina victory, he likened it to the primary victories by Jesse Jackson two decades ago; there are few parallels. Ron Fournier, the chief political reporter for the Associated Press, describes a top Clinton adviser as bragging that they'd made Obama "the black candidate.''

Previous Comments

ID

116668

Comment

Is anyone SURPRISED that the Clintons dynamic duo is LYING???

Author

gipper

Date

2008-01-29T09:17:19-06:00

ID

116669

Comment

I'm certainly not. Everyone knows my feelings about Clintons (and Kennedys, frankly, although I do like Caroline). All that said, I think Teddy's statements this week are right on. We talk about that in another thread.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-01-29T13:08:29-06:00

ID

116670

Comment

Well at least old Ted isn't try to give Bill and Hill moral advice.

Author

gipper

Date

2008-01-29T20:43:36-06:00

ID

116671

Comment

At risk of spamming my own stuff, I wrote about the race race this morning: http://racerelations.about.com/b/2008/01/30/hillary-clinton-vs-the-black-candidate.htm

Author

Tom Head

Date

2008-01-30T21:12:57-06:00

ID

116672

Comment

I think the Kennedy's would like to pick our next President for us. Teddy Kennedy hasn't done much in his 40+ years of Gov. service. It didn't hurt his career for a sittting President to spend vacation time with him. The Kennedy's seem to think that only a small number of Americans are truly capable of choosing our next President. I know Caroline, like her father before her, is totally against getting rid of the electoral college. The thought of a President elected by the popular vote frightens them. I think Hillary's claims that she would try to get rid of the electoral college hit a nerve. Who is fact checking the fact checkers? Someone that makes 400,000.00 per year is still a working class American if they have to work to get the money. If that money comes from a trust, then they don't belong to the working class.

Author

Slider

Date

2008-01-31T02:10:34-06:00

ID

116673

Comment

Slider, Kennedy has done a hell of a lot in 40 years as a public servant. There is no major piece of Senate legislation, written over the past 30 years, in which he has not played some role. His importance as a legislator can't be overstated. This is not to say that his personal life has been beyond reproach--but unlike a certain former president, he seems to have cleaned up his act. I wouldn't trust him to feed my dog while I'm on vacation, but he's okay for a politician.

Author

Tom Head

Date

2008-01-31T03:31:37-06:00