Barack Obama apologizes for attack on Clinton

Now, we will see peace at DU
:nuke:
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Every political campaign has someone--often many someones--assigned to look into every nook-and-cranny of their opponent's life and affairs, all kinds of affairs. When they find damaging materials, they try to get them circulated by slipping them to reporters, usually with a promise of anonymity.

Sen. Barack Obama is now scrambling to soothe hurt feelings among some of his strongest supporters in the wake of a controversial attack memo last week poking fun at Sen. Hillary Clinton, his chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, for her ties to India and Indian-Americans.

Obama was working the apology phones today and planning a formal apology, distancing himself from the memo, which was headlined, "HILLARY CLINTON (D-PUNJAB)'S PERSONAL FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL TIES TO INDIA," It was prepared by the campaign's opposition research department and distributed to reporters last week in exchange for a promise that reporters not reveal the source. So much for trusting the reporters.

The memo got out.

Worse, the source was identified.

Already today, in an appearance before the Des Moines Register editorial board, Obama called the memo "stupid and caustic" and said it was prepared by his staff but neither he nor his senior staff saw it before distribution. "It was a screw-up on the part of our research team," Obama said.

This afternoon, in a letter to Indian-Americans, Obama said the community's feelings about the memo were "justified." He said the document, which appeared to attack Clinton for supporting outsourcing, did not reflect his views. "In sum, our campaign made a mistake," he wrote in a letter that he said should be distributed widely in the community. "Although I was not aware of the contents of the memo prior to its distribution, I consider the entire campaign - and in particular myself - responsible for the mistake. We have taken appropriate action to prevent errors like this from happening in the future."

The group South Asians for Obama, closely affiliated with the Illinois senator's campaign, had posted a scathing note late Sunday saying its members were "shocked and dismayed" by the memo and "less than satisfied" with the campaign's initial responses over the weekend. Officials had said they regretted the tone but appreciated strong support from Indian-Americans.

"The main thing people have a problem with is the implication that having ties to the Indian-American community, that fundraising from Indian-Americans in the United States, is a problem," a spokesman for the group, Dave Kumar, told the Times' Peter Wallsten today. "It goes against the inclusive nature of the campaign, or what we view to be the inclusive nature of the campaign."

The attack memo was notable because Obama has previously pledged to run an attack-free campaign. In one appearance, Obama promised that his opposition research team would focus on contrasting candidates' policy differences, not personal attacks. Obama has cited poor staff work before - most notably after he publicly chastised his own spokesman for engaging in a tit-for-tat exchange with the Clinton campaign after movie mogul David Geffen endorsed Obama.

Kumar said that, as of Monday, the group was satisfied that Obama was sufficiently and sincerely upset about the memo's content. Kumar said he paid a recent visit to the Obama campaign headquarters and can understand how a memo was released without the senator's direct knowledge.

"I know there are people doing all sorts of opposition research, and lots of stuff goes out to the press that the senator isn't looking at," he said.

Right?

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Tain't gonna happen until the primaries are over..

But still -- if it did happen, it would be nice!!

"Obama has previously pledged to run an attack-free campaign."
The question is: will his supporters support his pledge by their own actions?

But you'll always have the overzealous or just plain youthful and unexperienced types whose desire to win oversteps their common sense.All the candidates run the risk of this happening to them in these days of instant access to info and the ability to quickly disseminate it,either through their own bad judgment or through the actions of those working for other campaigns.But overall I think they're mostly good people working for something they believe in,and would try to steer clear of things that could backfire on their candidate.

As for the online supporters..... :nuke:

:)

we fought the Obama supporters who thought defending our candidate was smearing Obama..

now you know..Obama has taken responsibility for the -backfired- attempted 3 smears in one day.

Kudos to Obama!

Obama called the memo "stupid and caustic" and said it was prepared by his staff but neither he nor his senior staff saw it before distribution. "It was a screw-up on the part of our research team," Obama said.

Poor team Obama...that's twice they've been blamed

with the loyalty level of his supporters, I'm sure someone here would step up and take it in the shorts, if prosecution was in order.

since it was part of his campaign. Nice spin, but it isn't supported by the statement itself.

if the sequence of events he describes is accurate? What statement would have been to your satisfaction? I'm guessing nothing Obama does will be right in your mind, but I'm open to hearing your suggestion.

It looks like that's exactly what he did. "In particular myself." Happy?

failing to apologize and take responsibility for any fucking thing ... is just so WRONG!

..> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/us/politics/18clinton.html?ex=1182312000&en=e12527bdc350e77c&ei=5070

Obama is such a typical politician it is amazing how he has hoodwinked many into thinking otherwise.

she will lash out some other way you watch

how about a velvet hammer?

Michael Moore admits he has a thing for Hillary.

he worked mainly under Hillary.he was right when she first ran for the Senate saying this is just a stepping stone for a Presidential run. i though he was crazy but it turns out he was right.

in private, perhaps not so much

Why is that anyway?

and we'll get to save ANWAR!

Either there is a mole in the organization or Obama needs to do two things: some common sense training or summer cleaning. It's just too much of a coincidence that two events have happen within several days knowing that all information reflects directly on the candidate. Nobody likes being blindsided.

Nothing knew in politics, but there indeed was a Clinton mole in the Obama offices in Chicago.

What I'm waiting for is for anyone in the Clinton camp to debunk the facts in the memo. That's the REAL story.

And clever. A Hillary person attacks Hillary to make Obama look bad? Is that what you're saying? That for sure the mole was also the person in the research department who worked on and released the memo?

This is going to be a long primary season. I can see it already.

...what I heard form someone was that someone within the campaign ( a mole) got hold of the document and emailed it to someone in the Clinton camp... they apparently didn't bother to look at the facts in the document and thought it was just some hit piece...

every little mistake his campaign makes it will be a long campaiign for him. This makes Obama look weak and I wonder if he is running for a place in Hillary's cabinet instead of for the presidency.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070618/ap_on_el_pr/obama_memo

Also said he was not aware of the memo that some staffers on his team created. Good for Obama, I think he was genuine in the apology.

:applause:

never admitting he was wrong.

That's a lot more than I can say for Bush or Hillary when it comes to Iraq.

You're wrong. Read the quote.

I'm glad Obama acknowledged the memo itself was a mistake, something many here on DU were unwilling to concede.

to keep things positive.

The guy's got enough good stuff going for him; he really doesn't need to go there.

:eyes:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070618/ap_on_el_pr/obama_memo

Why are all your posts filled with such negativity toward Obama?

He couldn't, like any typical politician, bring himself to accept personal responsibility for it.

On the day this broke I predicted he would do exactly this: 1) blame a lowly staffer 2) disavow any prior knowledge of the memo 3) issue a non-apology apology.

I am not a psychic. I just understand how typical politicians respond to mini-scandals such as this. Obama, despite the marketing, is a typical politician, not some magical messiah with a halo above his head who is alone in being above "old" or "traditional" politics.

I knew I was being overly optimistic when I praised him for the memo. Part of me had a feeling he had his low-level workers leak it out so that he could reap the benefit if it worked but not take full responsibility if it didn't.

==Part of me had a feeling he had his low-level workers leak it out so that he could reap the benefit if it worked but not take full responsibility if it didn't.==

and approves everything their campaign does or send out. Apart from traveling, fund-raising, working on policy issues, being a Senator, and planning the campagin; I'm sure Obama or Clinton have the time to approve or review every piece of document or e-mail that is sent out.

Come on, get a reality check.

He might've stated that they could come up with a smear.

But you're right that he might not have known it. In fact, he might have TOLD his campaign workers not to let him know. Business managers do this all the time to avoid liability in case the shit hits the fan.

If you look at the memos, did they have any lies or falsehoods? Nope.

The tone was wrong, but oppossition research briefs are the norm in politics. And they are usually filled with facts from newspapers.

He isn't and this is the main reason for the negative response to his attack. Only a minority of complaints revolved around the race-baiting. Most complaints were about his apparent hypocrisy.

Or you shouldn't even be running for President or any elected office. I think your interpretion of "above normal politics" is wrong.

This went to the very heart of the Obama campaign, the whole "new politics" mantra. It is unlikely he would not be aware of a memo that risked undermining a pillar of the Obama brand. He likely knew of the memo, although he may not have read the entire memo, and approved it because it was a calculated risk. Obama was at 20% in the polls before he said a word about what he intended to do (a testament to the Obama brand--which is why risking tarnishing the brand is a huge risk for him) and has essentially remained there, gaining only a couple points through campaigning. It is entirely likely the campaign reasoned that in order to overtake HRC they had to weaken HRC.

Pure cowardice.

He had a chance to show he was different by issuing a real apology, but, like most politicians, his ego prevented him from doing so. Another day, another example of Obama being no different than those who practice the "old politics" he vilifies and milks for electoral advantage.

No matter what Obama said, it would be unacceptable to the folks that propagate B-grade internet smear campaigns. They would just claim that he had a chance to show he was different by issuing a real apology, but that like most politicians his ego prevented him from doing so.

Edwards gave a real apology without a "but" on the IWR.

Perhaps we need not a "new politics" but a return to the politics of Harry Truman!

The sound of a campaign imploding...

sad, really...

Talks a big game, and just another politician.

... pass the buck.

Already today, in an appearance before the Des Moines Register editorial board, Obama called the memo "stupid and caustic" and said it was prepared by his staff but neither he nor his senior staff saw it before distribution. "It was a screw-up on the part of our research team," Obama said.

Way to take responsibility. :eyes: