Letters to the Editor
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Where's the indignation??
Why don't Obama supporters tell us what they think about the Rezko deal? I never see that addressed directly. I mean, aren't they the least bit embarassed that the candidate of change they go nutso for took a BIG favor from a sleazy influence-peddler type? There isn't ANY dispute about the basic facts. Obama SOUGHT THIS GUY OUT to help him buy a house that he could not otherwise have afforded. And this guy basically bought a big back yard for the Obamas, without being compensated in any way for it (other than, of course, the good will and continued access to the Senator it undoubtedly bought him).
How many Obama supporters could get this kind of help to buy a house that's out of their price range?
And this didn't happen 30 years ago like Whitewater. It happened AFTER Obama was elected to the Senate and after he had clearly put himself forward as a contender for higher office. How could the president of the Harvard law review and his sanctimonious wife be so stupid? Or, more likely, so craven?
I mean, please, someone take the bait on this, because I'm not getting how you can still love this man knowing that he did this and that he, for months, dismissed it as merely a "boneheaded" mistake. And that each new detail that comes out is obviously more and more damaging to his image -- i.e., he withheld damaging information about the whole affair. How can this NOT have changed at least some minds about the guy?
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Jabari
Obama must not engage in any gutter politics and stoop to her level of innuendo and casting doubts through unsubstantiated claims.
What I am saying is that Obama really needs to be more forceful in calling her bluff and by extension, those of her surrogates.
What hillary and people like Conason are trying to do, is put Obama, constantly on the defensive. That only deflects the light from her own positions on some really worrysome issues like the war in Iraq, a possible war on Iran and her own lack of any foreign policy or elected government experience. The universal health care she so touts, must be remembered as a disastrous attempt on her part that left more people uninsured than not.
Going negative has given her a free ride. Obama needs to change that equation.
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Not Sure It's Going Negative
It seems that Obama is responding to charges made by Clinton and not just randomly choosing issues to attack her on. Other articles have evidenced how Clinton demanded the tax records of her opponent in the NY Senate in 2000. The gist of Obama's campaign (and his legislative work which after a couple of years in some ways is more substantive than Clintons) is government transparency and accountability. If Clinton has nothing to hide it seems odd she's stalling on releasing returns - in this electronic age it's not that difficult. Clinton has continued to harp on the Rezko matter even though it has been extensively reported and no doubt investigated - if there was anything involving Obama in the criminal trial it would have come to light in the due diligence. What Clinton seems to be saying is I have the right to uncover anything and everything about my opponents but the mention of anything in my past or present is off limits because it's the same as the impeachment investigation. Let's be honest - Clinton and Obama have about the same experience or lack thereof in the realm of international politics. Which for President is not unusual. But for Clinton to keep asserting she has a great depth of experience and Obama not be able to respond is in essence disabling his campaign. She continually talks about "vetting" - and most people have no doubt there is going to be information gathered by the Republicans to use against Clinton should she be the nominee.
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If Bill Clinton has to announce his foundation supporters...
...then it's only fair that Michelle Obama should release her law firm billing records. Who knows what they will show. And it's as relevant to the campaign as Clinton's foundation records.
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Advice for Obama
The author seems to be a Clinton supporter.
However I agree the Obama campaign should avoid drop the questions about her taxes and focus on the much bigger issues, such as her over stating her experience in foreign relations. Hillary is no more ready to answer that phone than Obama.
Even more important is the Obama campaign avoid get drawn in by the Clinton campaign bait. The Clinton advisers are good and down and dirty, and it is pretty clear to me that they are attmpting to draw the Obama's campaign into participating in negative campaign tactics. It is harder for the Clinton campaign to responds to Obama's positive messages and realistic solutions, but the Clinton campaign is very "experienced" in down and dirty tactics.
Remember it was Clinton who brought up the Renzo case. A pretty dirty tactic againist someone in your own party. Obama is not even a player in the Renzo fraud case. If Obama really wanted to get dirty he could bring up the 800,000 in donations that Hillary received from Hsu her donor convicted of fraud.
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...then it's only fair that Michelle Obama should release her law firm billing records
Micelle does not work for a law firm.
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Get a life!
I know we're all supposed to hate Hillary Clinton, either because she was falsely accused in Whitewater (even Ken Starr cleared her, so her innocence isn't in any serious doubt) or because she didn't leave Bill (though why anyone cares who she sleeps with I'll never know), but I think Obama supporters need to get a life.
Sure, Bill & Hillary aren't perfect, but they're truly great public servants, leaders, and humanitarians. They didn't just blather about doing the right thing, they did it. They didn't just chant "Obama" in a video, they actually helped people at great personal expense. Of course, we all can't be community organizers like Obama (who, as near as anyone can tell, never found a job for anyone other than himself). In short, Bill & Hillary are what Obama pretends to be (even Obama's most ardent supporters can't identify anything Obama actually did, it's all "he fought for X" and "he opposed Y", but somehow X never got done & Y always did).
You think those 1.5 million people Bill saved care about his affair with Monica? You think Americans are happy to see their kids dying in Iraq and their jobs disappearing as long as they know their President isn't an adulterer?
Oscar Schindler was a drunk and a jerk, but he was a better person than all those "moral" people who did nothing to save the Jews. I guess Obama supporters wouldn't like him either because they're all about "ethics," even if that means they don't actually help anyone.