# Clinton camp wants Obama to do what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 22, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212 "2007-02-22T12:54:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/1 "2007-02-22T12:54:06Z")
[HRC insulted](http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/21/clinton.obama/index.html) by comments made by former Clinton supporter now major Obama donor and fundraiser, wants Obama to give money back. First Geffen is spot on in his assessment. HRC is foolish to call more attention to these accurate remarks and to moreso make her look like one of the easily offended. She _is_ polarizing. Saying that is not an insult, it is an observation. Second, since when is a candidate not to take money from someone who thinks poorly of the competition? “Waaah! His supporter said why I’m not the best for this country right now! No fair!” Come on. Calling you “polarizing” isn’t Swiftboating you. The only reason to do this is to soften the ground for later negative attacks on Obama with a false “But he started it!” claim. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/2 "2007-02-22T13:24:05Z")
How very bizarre. Geffen’s comments, while of course debatable, are perfectly fair criticisms of the Clintons. “She’s too polarizing” isn’t any more insulting and below the belt than “he’s too inexperienced”. It’s the kind of debate we’ve had many times on the Dope, and that the primaries exist to consider. Of course, this is really about Clinton trying to intimidate the contacts and support she and Bill have built up over their career, protecting the only real advantage she has over Obama and Edwards. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/3 "2007-02-22T13:32:49Z")
Please note, this was not a quote from Hillary Clinton. Rather from a spokesman. Bolding mine: “Sen. Hillary Clinton’s \*\*spokesman \*\* called on Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to renounce comments made by Hollywood executive David Geffen that were sharply critical of the New York Democrat and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.” I’m jus’ saying is all… ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/4 "2007-02-22T13:42:06Z")
[QUOTE=China Guy] Please note, this was not a quote from Hillary Clinton. Rather from a spokesman. Bolding mine: “Sen. Hillary Clinton’s \*\*spokesman \*\* called on Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to renounce comments made by Hollywood executive David Geffen that were sharply critical of the New York Democrat and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.” I’m jus’ saying is all… [/QUOTE] Oh, I don’t think that makes a difference…he is playing the game the way Hillary wants it played, I’m sure. I am getting the impression that she is pretty nervous about the presence of Obama in the race, and she is going to do anything she can to make him look like a bad guy. Good for him for holding his ground…I wouldn’t give a dime of that money back OR apologize for any remarks Geffen makes. What Geffen said amounts to practically nothing in the world of presidental politics, anyway, as **Menoccio** pointed out. She is probably annoyed because she knows she is polarizing and wants to downplay that as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/5 "2007-02-22T14:15:39Z")
Possibly we are seeing one of the disadvantages of entering the race so early - lots of time to put your foot in your mouth. > [@Samuel Johnson](#): > > [The Irish are a very fair people. They never speak well of each other.](http://community.channel4.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/8896096411/m/683608464/r/4246007021) Substitute “Democrats”, and the truth of the quotation remains. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/6 "2007-02-22T14:17:17Z")
From the [MoDo column](http://select.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/opinion/21dowd.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists%2fMaureen%20Dowd) (behind the subscription wall): > [@](#): > > Now, the DreamWorks co-chairman calls the former president “a reckless guy” who “gave his enemies a lot of ammunition to hurt him and to distract the country.” > > They fell out in 2001, when Mr. Clinton gave a pardon to Marc Rich after rebuffing Mr. Geffen’s request for one for Leonard Peltier. “Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left the country rather than pay taxes or face justice?” Mr. Geffen says. “Yet another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things that they genuinely believe in. Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it’s troubling.” I guess this is what the Clinton campaign calls “viciously and personally attacking Sen. Clinton and her husband,” and the description isn’t that off base, but they kinda brought that one on themselves. I’m more bothered by Geffen’s assertion, also quoted in the column, that “I think that America was better served when the candidates were chosen in smoke-filled rooms.” Democracy should mean something more than choosing between what Smoke-Filled Room #1 has decided to offer you, and what Smoke-Filled Room #2 thinks they can sell you on. I’m not sure our current system is _that_ big of an improvement, but at least there’s _some_ opportunity for the people to reject the choices of the big donors. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/7 "2007-02-22T14:18:28Z")
Apparently the Clinton campaign has decided to portray Hillary as a shrill, harpy-like character. I’m not sure how that will play in Peoria. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/8 "2007-02-22T15:08:13Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Apparently the Clinton campaign has decided to portray Hillary as a shrill, harpy-like character. I’m not sure how that will play in Peoria. 😛 [/QUOTE] Or, more important, in [Des Moines](http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/2/21/202025/103). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/9 "2007-02-22T16:56:57Z")
Can I just say that being a stone bitch is one of Hillary’s POSITIVE qualities? Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/10 "2007-02-22T16:57:52Z")
[QUOTE=Menocchio] How very bizarre. Geffen’s comments, while of course debatable, are perfectly fair criticisms of the Clintons. “She’s too polarizing” isn’t any more insulting and below the belt than “he’s too inexperienced”. It’s the kind of debate we’ve had many times on the Dope, and that the primaries exist to consider. [/QUOTE] But that wasn’t what set HRC off. It was this, from the NYT article on this story: > [@](#): > > It began with a column in The New York Times by Maureen Dowd, in which Mr. Geffen said the Clintons lie “with such ease, it’s troubling” and that the Clinton political operation “is going to be very unpleasant and unattractive and effective.” Mr. Geffen called Mr. Clinton a “reckless guy” who had not changed in the last six years, and suggested that Mrs. Clinton was too scripted. The part about lying “with such ease” was probably the kicker. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/11 "2007-02-22T17:00:26Z")
Bill Richardson has to be loving it. Obama is peaking too early, Hilary is painting her own caricature, and they both are garnering way too much negative press. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/12 "2007-02-22T17:16:03Z")
Did anyone else read this story and get Mojo Nixon’s “Bring Me the Head of David Geffen” stuck in his head? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/13 "2007-02-22T17:46:31Z")
[QUOTE=China Guy] Please note, this was not a quote from Hillary Clinton. Rather from a spokesman. Bolding mine: “Sen. Hillary Clinton’s \*\*spokesman \*\* called on Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to renounce comments made by Hollywood executive David Geffen that were sharply critical of the New York Democrat and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.” [/QUOTE] Here’s Hillary’s response (via USA Today, whose reporter interviewed her at a Nevada candidates forum): _“Asked whether Obama should denounce Geffen’s remarks, Clinton replied: “I’m going to leave that up to the other candidate.” She said she wants to run “a very positive campaign. I sure don’t want Democrats or supporters of Democrats to be engaging in the politics of personal destruction.””_ Suuure she doesn’t condone “the politics of personal destruction” - unless it’s an opportunity to destroy Obama’s person. You know, Geffen’s right - she **does** lie with great ease. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/14 "2007-02-22T17:47:52Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] I am getting the impression that she is pretty nervous about the presence of Obama in the race, and she is going to do anything she can to make him look like a bad guy. [/QUOTE] Hmm. Is [Justin Warfel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_%28Senate_candidate%29#Platform_and_campaign), the guy who was following Obama around 24/7 with a video camera during his Senate campaign, available? ---
**Author:** ![leo\_rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@leo\_rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leo_rider)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/15 "2007-02-22T18:43:27Z")
Obamba has to learn what they all learn, that when you hang out with scum the scum think they own you, and will use your name to do their dirty work for them. He has to learn to shuck those users now, or in a year he will be smothered by them. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/16 "2007-02-22T18:50:16Z")
[QUOTE=leo rider] Obamba has to learn what they all learn, [/QUOTE] Oh, great, now you’re got that song stuck in my head. [Ritchie Valens] La la la la Obamba… [/Ritchie Valens] ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/17 "2007-02-22T18:54:19Z")
[QUOTE=leo rider] Obamba has to learn what they all learn, that when you hang out with scum the scum think they own you, and will use your name to do their dirty work for them. He has to learn to shuck those users now, or in a year he will be smothered by them. [/QUOTE] Please explain? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/18 "2007-02-22T19:08:52Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Apparently the Clinton campaign has decided to portray Hillary as a shrill, harpy-like character. I’m not sure how that will play in Peoria. 😛 [/QUOTE] Yeh, my jaw hit the floor when I came across this story. What a stupid move by the Clinton camp; it highlights a ton of the negatives she’s got to get past. Obama’s response to this idiocy made him look just fine and made her camp look like petty whiners: > [@](#): > > “It’s not clear to me why I’d be apologizing for someone else’s remark,” Obama said, according to his press secretary, Dan Pfeiffer. Obama told reporters, “I have said repeatedly I have the utmost respect for Sen. Clinton and have considered her an ally in the Senate and will continue to consider it that way throughout this campaign.” ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/19 "2007-02-22T19:59:05Z")
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen] Obama is peaking too early… [/QUOTE] I’m not sure he WANTS to win this time around. I think he might just be raising money and public awareness of who he is. Now, in 2012, I think he’ll take it. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212/20 "2007-02-22T20:25:15Z")
I keep hearing that Obama will be a shoe-in in 2012. Does that not presuppose a Republican victory in 2008? I think it’s at least a coin flip at this point. If the Dems win this time around without Obama (or with him as the VP) then he will not get to run for president until 2016- barring unforseen circumstances. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-camp-wants-obama-to-do-what/393212.md?page=2)