# Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign Discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 4, 2016, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873 "2016-05-04T11:09:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 70
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1383 "2016-09-16T14:16:12Z")
> [@WardB](#): > > Not the one funded by the racist Saudi slave owners who execute people for being gay or atheist. And you? You know, even if this argument wasn’t an easily-debunked hoax, I _never_ understood the logic here. Clinton has one of the most impressive track records when it comes to women’s rights there is. The Saudis are _obscenely_ anti-women. Clearly, she’s not letting herself be influenced too much by any donations she might be getting from them. Meanwhile, there’s only one person in the race who is saying that we should be “one people, under one god”. Why should we care who donated to her campaign or her charity if it’s clearly apparent that she’s not letting them influence her policies? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1384 "2016-09-16T14:49:25Z")
I’ve had an idea rolling around in my head for a while now, and want to see what you all think about it. Suppose the race remains tight through election day and PA, NH, and NV appear to be the tipping point states that are must wins for Clinton. Would a large celebrity inspired GOTV the last few days before the election be something that would make a difference? I’m thinking something along the lines of major celebrities and politicians going door to door or holding rallies in neighborhoods favorable to Clinton. Maybe Bill holding a rally on the Vegas strip or someone like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, or Angelina Jolie holding rallies in downtown Philadelphia. Does this sort of thing already happen? If not, would it make a difference if Clinton did try this? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1385 "2016-09-16T16:44:52Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders. I don’t recall either of them having to walk back false statements, claiming that they “short circuited” or stubbornly refusing to acknowledge they were sick and trying to hide a diagnosis from their own campaign team. I don’t remember them avoiding press conferences either. Do you? Sanders didnt release his Tax returns. And would not discuss some issues concerning his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1386 "2016-09-16T19:02:17Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > …All [Trump’s] supporters who are convinced that Obummer is a crypto-Muslim from Kenya will see it as submitting to political correctness, and it weakens him in the eyes of any undecided voters that are uncertain about Obama. If they can’t trust Trumps bigotry, who can they trust? Is he a tough guy that stands up to liberals, or does he knuckle under when backed into a corner? Maybe they will just stay home; advantage Clinton. Dunno. Sure hope you’re right. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not to someone who’s done a gram of preparation, i.e. not Matt Lauer. Just follow on by asking “Then why did you say … ?” and “What have your investigators in Hawaii found, and when do you plan to announce it?” and so forth. Any Trump interviewer from here on out, and any questioner or moderator at a debate, _must_ have video cued up and ready to go, point by point, if Trump lies about anything, especially as to past goofy, false and/or inflammatory statements that he’s now edging (or running) away from. They have to be prepared to _immediately_ show that he’s lying. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1387 "2016-09-16T21:22:29Z")
Indeed. Like FOX did. > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I’ve had an idea rolling around in my head for a while now, and want to see what you all think about it. Suppose the race remains tight through election day and PA, NH, and NV appear to be the tipping point states that are must wins for Clinton. Would a large celebrity inspired GOTV the last few days before the election be something that would make a difference? I’m thinking something along the lines of major celebrities and politicians going door to door or holding rallies in neighborhoods favorable to Clinton. Maybe Bill holding a rally on the Vegas strip or someone like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, or Angelina Jolie holding rallies in downtown Philadelphia. Does this sort of thing already happen? If not, would it make a difference if Clinton did try this? Probably wouldn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1388 "2016-09-17T01:26:28Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Any Trump interviewer from here on out, and any questioner or moderator at a debate, _must_ have video cued up and ready to go, point by point, if Trump lies about anything, especially as to past goofy, false and/or inflammatory statements that he’s now edging (or running) away from. They have to be prepared to _immediately_ show that he’s lying. And in doing so marginalize themselves as biased so they can be dismissed offhand. > [@](#): > > Look! They had ‘gotcha’ questions for every single question they asked Trump and only two for Hillary! Is there no depths to which the media won’t stoop to install Clinton in office?!?!?! I guess Correct the Record got to the moderator too! Face it, Trump is a genius. Be so batshit crazy the country completely habituates to it allowing you basically full reign to do and say whatever you want with complete impunity as well as lowering expectations to the point you get national kudos for shit as ridiculous as admitting Obama was born in the US. It’s brilliant. Utterly brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1389 "2016-09-17T02:42:53Z")
One of Trump’s driving desires for the last 30 years has been a high rank on Forbes’ richest people list. If he was a genius he would have cracked the top 100. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1390 "2016-09-17T03:47:38Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > … > Face it, Trump is a genius. Be so batshit crazy the country completely habituates to it allowing you basically full \*\*reign \*\*to do and say whatever you want with complete impunity as well as lowering expectations to the point you get national kudos for shit as ridiculous as admitting Obama was born in the US. > > It’s brilliant. Utterly brilliant. My bold. Full _rein_. “The usual spelling of the phrase meaning freedom to do as one pleases is free rein, not free reign. The latter is a common misspelling, and it almost makes sense given reign‘s meaning (i.e., the exercise of sovereign power). But free rein, an allusion to horseback riding, is the original form.” [Cite](http://grammarist.com/spelling/free-rein-free-reign/). ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1391 "2016-09-17T04:18:26Z")
I wonder do people think that Clinton was using politician double-speech here, or was it just an unfortunate off the cuff choice of words at the end of this video when asked directly if Obama was a Muslim during the 2008 campaign? She answered no but then added “as far as I know” after saying no? I could read it both ways, but the cynic in me thinks maybe she was planting a little seed of doubt at the end of her answer. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdA9F4rfHU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdA9F4rfHU) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1392 "2016-09-17T05:13:53Z")
Clinton is not above taking advantage of anything and if you read Game Change you’ll find that she was really an advocate of going after Obama on his “otherness”. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1393 "2016-09-17T06:25:30Z")
> [@](#): > > …A March 2007 memo obtained by Bloomberg, which is often erroneously regarded as a smoking gun, showed Clinton’s then-chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn, make the case for attacking Obama’s “limited” relationship with American values because of his upbringing in Hawaii and Indonesia… > > …Poking holes in Obama’s American identity, however vile a tactic, is not the same as suggesting someone is not a natural-born American citizen. _The memo contained no reference to Obama’s citizenship, and Clinton did not pursue the strategy that Penn outlined_. Penn was fired from the campaign in April 2008… (Shortened for being too long, and stuff) Emphasis added because I can’t trust you to get it. **The Origin Story Of The Big Lie That Hillary Clinton Started Birtherism** [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/where-did-hillary-clinton-started-birtherism-myth-come-from](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/where-did-hillary-clinton-started-birtherism-myth-come-from) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1394 "2016-09-17T06:51:37Z")
No, I accept that Clinton didn’t start birtherism although many Clinton supporters did and as you point out, some members of her campaign had ideas about how to exploit Obama’s “foreignness”. Clinton herself believed there was a Michelle Obama tape out there where she lashed out at “whitey” because Sid Blumenthal told her so. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1395 "2016-09-17T11:44:08Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Clinton is not above taking advantage of anything and if you read Game Change you’ll find that she was really an advocate of going after Obama on his “otherness”. You mean the book written by the hackiest of the hack journalists? Anything you pull from Halperin should have an asterisk by it labeled “HACK ALERT!”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1396 "2016-09-17T12:10:45Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I wonder do people think that Clinton was using politician double-speech here, or was it just an unfortunate off the cuff choice of words at the end of this video when asked directly if Obama was a Muslim during the 2008 campaign? She answered no but then added “as far as I know” after saying no? I could read it both ways, but the cynic in me thinks maybe she was planting a little seed of doubt at the end of her answer. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdA9F4rfHU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdA9F4rfHU) I’m not happy about her answer, but it’s a tough position. The ideal answer would be, “I don’t care, because it doesn’t matter,” or else “No…but it wouldn’t matter if he _were_.” But the sad reality is that in our society it DOES matter, so this sort of answer could be seen as an unfair or unfounded “attack” on a political opponent (which Obama more or less was at the time). ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1397 "2016-09-17T12:22:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > You mean the book written by the hackiest of the hack journalists? Anything you pull from Halperin should have an asterisk by it labeled “HACK ALERT!”. The only criticism i’ve heard about the accuracy of the book is from you. It’s regularly cited by media sources from across the ideological spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1398 "2016-09-17T12:32:33Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The only criticism i’ve heard about the accuracy of the book is from you. It’s regularly cited by media sources from across the ideological spectrum. Are you kidding? There were virtually no sources cited in the book. It was like “bad SDMB post: The Book”. It was the political equivalent of a supposed Hollywood tell-all from a failed actor. It’s been criticized constantly and “across the ideological spectrum”. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1399 "2016-09-17T13:04:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The only criticism i’ve heard about the accuracy of the book is from you. It’s regularly cited by media sources from across the ideological spectrum. There are many different media bubbles. If you know everyone who writes for Politico and can predict who will be Wolf Blitzer’s guest based on the topic, you might have heard people cite Halperin without contempt. But if you go a couple of steps outside the Beltway media, Halperin has a pretty terrible reputation. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1400 "2016-09-18T01:48:21Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …Any Trump interviewer from here on out, and any questioner or moderator at a debate, _must_ have video cued up and ready to go, point by point, if Trump lies about anything, especially as to past goofy, false and/or inflammatory statements that he’s now edging (or running) away from. They have to be prepared to _immediately_ show that he’s lying. > [@Cyberhwk](#): > > And in doing so marginalize themselves as biased so they can be dismissed offhand… Well, they can certainly do it for Hillary too - but it’s The Donald who flip-flops and denies previous statements with such sangfroid. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1401 "2016-09-18T02:50:58Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Are you kidding? There were virtually no sources cited in the book. It was like “bad SDMB post: The Book”. It was the political equivalent of a supposed Hollywood tell-all from a failed actor. It’s been criticized constantly and “across the ideological spectrum”. That’s the nature of insider accounts. Bob Woodward’s books are no different. Good journalists know how to shake people down for info and compare it to what other people have said. Your demand for cites is nonsense, since anyone who went on record would never work for a campaign again. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873/1402 "2016-09-18T04:54:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s the nature of insider accounts. Bob Woodward’s books are no different. Good journalists know how to shake people down for info and compare it to what other people have said. Your demand for cites is nonsense, since anyone who went on record would never work for a campaign again. So, it’s mostly gossip & rumor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873.md?page=69) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clintons-presidential-campaign-discussion/753873.md?page=71)