Clinton Campaign Memo
To: Interested Parties
From: Phil Singer
Date: Thursday, January 31, 2008
Re: Which Barack Obama Will Show Up Tonight?
Which Barack Obama will show up at tonight's Democratic debate?
The Barack Obama who once told the press: "I would challenge anyone to find a statement that I've made that has been personal as opposed to a substantive difference with a candidate." [Associated Press, 8/20/07]
Or
The Barack Obama who is increasingly not drawing policy differences or highlighting issue contrasts – but personally launching or allowing his campaign to launch a series of personal negative attacks against Hillary Clinton.
Yesterday, Sen. Obama unleashed eleven attacks against Hillary Clinton. While some touched on substance, such as trade or foreign policy, "the thrust of his argument about Clinton was to cast her as a polarizing figure." [Associated Press, 1/30/08] In his speech, Sen. Obama – not his campaign, not a surrogate and not a spokesperson – accused Hillary Clinton of "changing positions when the politics of the moment changed" – a charge that goes directly to character, not substance.
This was not an isolated incident. This was part of a broader, orchestrated effort by the Obama campaign to focus on character attacks:
· On January 23, Sen. Obama told the Boston Globe that Hillary Clinton's 'positions change with the politics of the moment.'
· On January 23, Sen. Obama told Newsday that Americans "are looking for a president they can trust. That's not what we're seeing out of the former president and the Clinton campaign over the last several weeks."
· On January 25, Sen. Obama's campaign manager issued a statement that flatly stated "Hillary Clinton will do or say anything to win an election."
· On January 29, a paid mailer by the Obama campaign claimed that "Hillary Clinton puts Washington thinking and Washington interests firsts."
And while Sen. Obama once told his staff "I don't want us to be a party to these kinds of distractions because I want to make sure that we're spending time talking about the issues," [New York Times, 2/23/07], to date, he has not condemned any of these personal – not substantive or issue-based contrasts - against Hillary Clinton.
If Sen. Obama wants to prove that he's ready to lead, he should practice what he once preached and stick to the issues.
