Shaheen Departure: A Glimpse at the Back Story
6:31 p.m. NEWEST UPDATE — ON THE RECORD FROM CAMP CLINTON:
Phil Singer, deputy communications director for the Clinton campaign, denies any uprising from Clinton African-American supporters played a role in the ouster of Billy Shaheen, Clinton New Hampshire co-chair (see post below).
“That report is not true,” Singer told me. “Senator Clinton has personally apologized to Senator Obama for Mr. Shaheen’s comments. They were not authorized by Senator Clinton or her campaign. She made it clear that negative personal remarks have no place in our campaign.”
5:45 p.m. UPDATE:
Obama campaign weighs in on Shaheen’s departure. Says nothing about the circumstances that led to it.
“It is clear that the politics of false attacks and innuendo are being rejected by the voters from New Hampshire and around the country,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “Barack Obama is focusing his campaign on the positive change he is going to bring to America as President.”
MAIN STORY — SHAHEEN OUSTER BACKSTORY
Two Democratic sources tell Fox that outrage expressed by African-American supporters of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign led to the resignation today of New Hampshire Clinton co-chair Billy Shaheen.
The Clinton campaign denied the story. It also declined to discuss the circumstances of Shaheen’s departure.
The sources said these supporters, whose names are not yet known, told the Clinton campaign they found Shaheen’s comments to The Washington Post yesterday about Obama’s admitted teen drug use out of bonds and offensive.
The sources said the African-American supporters were angry that Obama’s drug use would come up in the final stages of the campaign and expressed resentment that a high-ranking official with Clinton’s campaign would take out so aggressively against Obama, the first African-American candidate ever to have a serious shot at the Democratic Party nomination.
The crux of the complaints, the sources said, was that while they support Hillary’s bid for the presidency, these African-American supporters did not want to see Obama, who wrote that he turned away from the temptations of marijuana and cocaine use as a youth, vilified for doing something the black community tries so hard to convince other at-risk black youth to do everyday.
The issue came to a head in at least one conference call late Wednesday. Clinton apologized personally to Obama this morning in Washington. Shaheen stepped down from the Clinton campaign late today.
Tags: billy Shaheen, Clinton, New Hampshire, Obama
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It reminds me of the tactics of Lee Atwater and Carl Rove during a presidential campaign plus what the GOP did to McCain in South Carolina…..
Shaheen didn’t just bring up the fact that Obama did drugs as a youth (which is fair game), but implied that Obama needed to be asked if he’d ever SOLD drugs.
His exact quote was: “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.”
By saying the Republicans will attack Obama with these questions, Shaheen was implying that Democratic primary voters need to ask those questions now. Um, but wait. Nobody ever asks white candidates who admit past drug use (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, etc) if they ever SOLD drugs.
Remember that Joe Biden killed his campaign this year on the FIRST DAY by saying Obama was “articulate and bright and clean.” It was just a matter of time before another Democrat made the same mistake. Hillary is finished.
typical CLinton dirty tricks….the damage is done. Just like the trial lawyer raising an objectionable point during testimony, having it protested by the opposing side, and the judge eventually sustaining…and telling the jury to DISREGARD THE LAST REMARK…..he accomplished his point…planting the seed for doubt when the jury is sequestered to review evidence….
So she has almost totally incompentant people working for her and we’re supposed to believe that she would be able to run the country efficiently? How retarded do you have to be to think that attacking something your oppenent was completely honest and upfront with would harm them?
Obama has been the only Presidential candidate in history that has had enough balls to admit his past drug use. He doesn’t promote or condone it, he answers the question honestly and tells you what he learned from his youthful mistake. People appriciate honesty, it’s a true sign of integrity, something that has been missing from our white house for decades.
At least Obama’s youthful mistakes were made in high school and not up until he was 40 years old like our alcholic sorry excuse for a human being of president George “I’m a terrorist” Bush. I hope you and your friends are having a blast with all of our money you worthless jerk.
Hillary’s campaign is going to implode. There is such a dislike and distrust for this woman. She comes across as mean-spirited, pushy, hateful, and completely untrustworthy. God forbid this woman becomes our next president – our national nightmare.
Will the real Hillary please stand up? Maybe the real Hillary is standing up, ” behind bill”. We can’t see her for bill. But what’s the difference, they both lie, cheat, they are arrogant and corrupt. If Hillary wants to get the votes, she needs to stand up on her own two feet, and tell the american people what she stands for. What her programs are, were does she plan to take the country. This won’t happen, because there are no programs. Hillary’s only program is to get elected, no matter how many people she has to destory. As a democart I could not vote for Hillary, if she needs to degrade people to get ahead, what would she do if she was president? Bill and Hillary remeber the old saying, what goes around comes around. Clean up your act.
somthing good to read