Barack Obama/"new politics"



"'I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics. ... But challenging as they are, it's not the magnitude of our problems that concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics. ...'&mdash;Barack Obama, January 16, 2007."

"'Now, promoting himself as a fresh face on the national political stage, proclaiming his distance from lobbyists and the Washington culture of special interests, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has to contend with his own history. ... From Chicago to Springfield, his past is filled with decidedly old-school political tactics -- a history of befriending powerful local elders, assisting benefactors and special interests, and neutralizing rivals.'&mdash;Dan Morain, Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2007."

In 1996, his first campaign for the Illinois Senate, "Obama quickly mastered the bare-knuckle arts of Chicago electoral politics. His overwhelming legal onslaught signaled his impatience to gain office, even if that meant elbowing aside an elder stateswoman like [Sen. Alice] Palmer. ... A close examination of Obama’s first campaign clouds the image he has cultivated throughout his political career: The man now running for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by clearing it."&mdash;David Jackson and Ray Long, Chicago Tribune, January 3, 2007.

Obama: "Don't be hoodwinked. Don't be bamboozled"

 * Seymour Glass, "'You've Been Bamboozled!' Obama, Spike Lee, Malcolm X & Bill Clinton," MyDD, January 26, 2008.

An "acceptable candidate"
"About a year ago I was watching C-SPAN one day and saw an interview with a Chicago Tribune reporter who has covered Obama's rise through Illinois politics. The interviewer asked the reporter, 'Isn't Obama too radical to be elected president?' The reporter responded, 'No, you don't understand. Obama has a very good relationship with the Chicago banking community'," Bruce K. Gagnon wrote December 13, 2007, in OpEdNews.

"Now that is a very telling statement. To be one of the acceptable candidates of the banking community means that you have passed the smell test. That essentially means you will not challenge the power structure in any real way. It means you will do nothing as a president to interrupt the corporate empires ability to make money from endless war for oil and other diminishing resources.

"If you watch Obama closely he does not say much of substance in his speeches. He talks alot about bringing the nation together, the red states and the blue states, and says that things need to change in Washington. All feel good talk for sure.

"But he makes little noise about changing the dynamic in America where the rich are getting richer and everyone else is getting poorer. He says little in terms of ending the occupation of Iraq or preventing a new war with Iran. He says nothing about ending the power of the military industrial complex. His health care plan is all about helping the insurance companies have greater access to our wallets.

"Obama is a good politician who knows how to play the game. The power structure knows the voters are angry about Iraq, about the declining economy, about the lack of health care. They know they need to put candidates into place that can control the steam valve of American public opinion by appearing to be responding to the people. But these candidates, most importantly, need to remember who their daddy is. In the case of Obama he actually protects the purse of the bankers and big boys that run the show. Thus he is an acceptable candidate," Gagnon wrote.

HILLARYATTACKS website
Obama launched the new website HILLARYATTACKS on December 3, 2007, with links to articles alleging attacks by Hillary Clinton and "The Hillary Attacks Timeline."

In an email from Obama HQ, David Plouffe asked supporters for help:


 * "We're asking all of you to be vigilant and notify us immediately of any attacks from Senator Clinton or her supporters as soon as you see them so that we can respond with the truth swiftly and forcefully.


 * "These attacks could be phone calls, literature drops, blog posts, mail pieces as well as radio and TV ads. Some could even be anonymous or designed to be. Please email us at hillaryattacks AT barackobama.com the moment you see something that concerns you.


 * "Senator Clinton has said her idea of fun is to attack Barack each day from here on out, and that's why we need you to help us stop those attacks and make sure that Barack can continue to talk with voters and caucus-goers about the struggles they face and their hope for America."

Related external articles
 * "Sen. Obama Attacks," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, December 3, 2007.
 * Ann Kornblut, "Clinton Goes On Offense Against Obama," Washington Post (CBS News), December 3, 2007.
 * Elizabeth Benjamin, "Obama's Attack Tracker," New York Daily News, December 3, 2007.

The "Illinois Caucus"

 * Jeff Dinelli, "Iowa Candidates Dinner," The Left Coaster, November 11, 2007.
 * Mike Glover, "Focusing on who can vote in Iowa, N.H.," Associated Press (Boston Globe), November 27, 2007.
 * David Yepsen, "The Illinois Caucus," The DesMoines Register (ABC News), November 30, 2007.
 * Ben Smith, "Clinton aide: Obama trying to 'manipulate the Iowa caucuses'," The Politico, December 1, 2007.
 * John McCormick, "'The Illinois Caucuses'," The Swamp Blog/Baltimore Sun, December 1, 2007.
 * Mike Allen, "Obama warned drive could offend Iowans," The Politico, December 1, 2007.
 * Lynn Sweet, "Sweet column: Will Obama's Chicago textbook politics backfire in Iowa? Yepsen, Iowa top columnist wonders. UPDATE," Chicago Sun-Times, December 1, 2007.
 * Lynn Sweet, "Obama's Chicago-style plan doesn't play in Iowa," Chicago Sun-Times, December 2, 2007.
 * Holden Caulfield, "More on the 'Chicago Caucus': Iowans to Obama - PlayFair!" MyDD, December 2, 2007.
 * Staff, "Another Stolen Election," HillaryIs44.org, December 2, 2007.
 * Mike Connery, "Democratic Campaigns Should Not Advocate Voter Disenfranchisement,"' MyDD, December 2, 2007.

Michigan primary ballot boycott
"A spokesperson for Michigan Secretary of State Office [said October 9, 2007, that] Barack Obama, John Edwards and Bill Richardson filed paperwork to boycott the ballot. Democratic candidates already agreed not to campaign in Michigan because it broke national committee rules by moving its primary ahead of February 5."

"Five individuals connected to five different campaigns have confirmed -- but only under condition of anonymity -- that the situation that developed in connection with the Michigan ballot is not at all as it appears on the surface," Lynda Waddington reported October 11, 2007, in the Iowa Independent. "The campaign for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, arguably fearing a poor showing in Michigan, reached out to the others with a desire of leaving New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as the only candidate on the ballot. The hope was that such a move would provide one more political obstacle for the Clinton campaign to overcome in Iowa."

Related external articles
 * "Obama, Edwards Pledge to Skip States Holding Early Primaries," Associated Press (Fox News), September 1, 2007.
 * Gordon Trowbridge, "Clinton stays, four Dems quit Michigan presidential race," Detroit News, October 9, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Obama and Edwards to Skip Michigan," TaylorMarsh.com, October 9, 2007.
 * George Weeks, "Efforts to stem lunacy of Dems' boycott," Record Eagle (Mich.), October 14, 2007.
 * Dawson Bell, "Michigan court OKs early primary," USA TODAY, November 21, 2007.
 * Bob Moser, "Fumbling Florida," The Nation, November 29, 2007 (posted); December 17, 2007 (issue).
 * Stephen Ohlemacher, "Democrats Strip Michigan of All Delegates for Scheduling Early Primary," Associated Press (Talking Points Memo), December 1, 2007.
 * Juan Cole, "Michigan Delegates Excluded From Democratic Convention," Informed Comment, December 3, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Fight for Michigan and Florida," TaylorMarsh.com, January 25, 2008.

2004

 * Said Cao, "So who is Barack Obama?" Cao's Blog, August 27, 2004.

January

 * Lynn Sweet, "Sweet column: Obama attack unfounded. Clinton wrongly accused," Chicago Sun-Times, January 23, 2007: "The source for both slurs started in a report posted on the Web site of Insight, a conservative magazine published by the Washington Times."

February

 * Jennifer Hunter and Lynn Sweet, "Obama 'not clear on' Clinton Iraq plan. 'My judgment was that we should not be proceeding'," Chicago Sun-Times, February 12, 2007.

March

 * Carla Marinucci, "Political video smackdown. 'Hillary 1984': Unauthorized Internet ad for Obama converts Apple Computer's '84 Super Bowl spot into a generational howl against Clinton's presidential bid," San Francisco Chronicle, March 18, 2007.

April

 * Ben Wallace-Wells, "Obama's Narrator," New York Times, April 1, 2007. See page 4.

May

 * Howard Fineman, "Talking points for Obama. An inside look at how one candidate courts support," MSNBC, May 2, 2007.

June

 * Mike Dorning and Christi Parsons, "Carefully crafting the Obama 'brand'. From his first days in the U.S. Senate, the Illinoisan has followed a strategy envisioning a White House bid," Chicago Tribune, June 12, 2007.
 * Greg Sargent, "Obama Campaign Circulating Negative (And Ultimately False) Story About Bill Clinton," TPM Election Central, June 15, 2007.
 * Ben Smith, "Obama's oppo," The Politico, June 15, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "So Much for Mr. Nice Guy" and "Obama Camp Smears the Big Dog," TaylorMarsh.com, June 15, 2007.
 * Steve Benen, "The speech Clinton didn’t give on Sept. 11," The Carpetbagger Report, June 15, 2007.
 * Adam Nagourney, "The Backstory on Obama-Clinton Attack Memos," The Caucus Blog/New York Times, June 15, 2007.
 * Chris Lehmann, "Parsing Obama’s ‘Punjab’ Flub," New York Observer, June 19, 2007.

July

 * Greg Sargent, "Obama Escalates Battle With Hillary," TPM Central, July 25, 2007.
 * David Paul Kuhn, "Obama models campaign on Reagan revolt," The Politico, July 25, 2007.
 * Andrew Merten, "Obama on Clinton, 'Bush-Cheney Light'," First Read/MSNBC, July 26, 2007.
 * Kevin Landrigan, "Obama fires back, calls Clinton ‘Bush-Cheney Lite’," The Nashua (NH) Telegraph, July 27, 2007.
 * John Dickerson, "Obama's Achilles' Heel. What's he ever done?" Slate, July 30, 2007.

August

 * John Mcdonald, "Edwards and Obama Attack Political Establishment," ezine, August 23, 2007.
 * Klaus Marre, "Obama camp: Clinton obsessed with GOP 'attack machine'," The Hill, August 24, 2007.
 * Perry Baker Jr., "The Outsider's Insider. After three decades in Washington, Pete Rouse is a voice of experience for Sen. Barack Obama," Washington Post, August 27, 2007. re Pete Rouse
 * Jennifer Hunter, "Obama getting tough as going gets rough. Campaign trying to regain momentum for stretch run," Chicago Sun-Times, August 28, 2007.

September

 * Dan Balz and Perry Bacon Jr., "Iowa Trip to Mark New Intensity for Obama Campaign. Tour's Theme: 'Judgment and Experience'," Washington Post, September 30, 2007.

October

 * Greg Sargent, "Obama Attacks Hillary Over Iran Vote; Camp Hillary Hits Back," TPM Election Central, October 8, 2007.
 * Marc Ambinder, "The Obama Campaign's Memo," The Atlantic, October 12, 2007.
 * Scott Helman, "Similarities to Clinton land Obama in a tough spot. To stay positive, he refrains from attacking character," Boston Globe, October 30, 2007.
 * Ari Berman, "When Will Obama Attack?" The Nation, October 3, 2007.
 * Lynda Waddington, "Michigan, Iowa and the Games the Politicos Play," Iowa Independent, October 11, 2007.
 * "Obama, Edwards Attack Clinton On Iran. Democratic Front-Runner Accused Of Switching Stance On Negotiations," Associated Press (CBS News), October 12, 2007.
 * John McCormick, "Obama: Bye-Bye Mr. Nice Guy?" Chicago Tribune, October 12, 2007.
 * Kevin Drum, "Obama on the Attack, Revisited," Washington Monthly, October 27, 2007.
 * Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny, "Obama Promises a Forceful Stand Against Clinton," New York Times, October 28, 2007.
 * Roger McShane, "Barack on the Attack," Slate, October 28, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Edwards Schools Obama," TaylorMarsh.com, October 28, 2007.
 * Chris Bowers, "Obama Campaign Post-Mortem," Open Left, October 29, 2007.
 * Matt Stoller, "We Reacted Like a Movement Should to Obama," Open Left, October 29, 2007.
 * Eric Kleefeld, "Obama Questions Validity of New Hampshire SEIU's Edwards Endorsement," TPMElectionCentral, October 31, 2007.
 * Greg Sargent, "Obama Camp: ASFCME Endorsed Hillary Because Bill And Union Head Are Pals," TPMElectionCentral, October 31, 2007.

November

 * Sam Stein, "Obama Launches New Attack Line: Clinton Copies My Votes," The Huffington Post, November 2, 2007.
 * Pamela Leavey, "The Politics of Dish and Swipe," The Democratic Daily, November 2, 2007.
 * Big Tent Democrat, "Obama: Hillary Is Like Rudy," TalkLeft, November 2, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "How Bogus Media Narratives Begin," TaylorMarsh.com, November 3, 2007.
 * Dan Balz, "Obama Criticizes Clinton's Drive to Win. An Eye on the Prize Is Not on the Issues of Ordinary Americans, He Asserts," Washington Post, November 4, 2007.
 * "Obama supporters pressed officials to keep Colbert off ballot," CNN, November 6, 2007.
 * "Fact Check: Bill Paid, Tip Left At Iowa Maid-Rite," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 8, 2007.
 * Lynn Sweet, "Ambinder: Obama campaign 'helping to place' Hsu story," Chicago Sun-Times, November 8, 2007. re Norman Hsu
 * "Obama Distorts Hillary's Record On Ethanol," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 8, 2007.
 * Jamison Foser, "A 'terrible' performance," Media Matters for America, November 9, 2007.
 * Steve Soto, "New Politics?" The Left Coaster, November 9, 2007.
 * "Help Tim Russert Question Barack Obama," Hillary is 44.org, November 10, 2007.
 * "Fact Check: Obama on Meet the Press," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 11, 2007.
 * Ben Smith, "Edwards, Obama: The enemy of my enemy ...," The Politico, November 11, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Barack Obama is Not the Anti-Hillary," TaylorMarsh.com, November 12, 2007.
 * Scarecrow, "Barack Obama in Iowa ... or Oz," Firedoglake Blog, November 12, 2007.
 * Steve Soto, "Obama: 'I Don’t (Make) A Lot Of Mistakes'," The Left Coaster, November 13, 2007.
 * eriposte, "A Short History of Recent U.S. Presidential Politics - Part 2: Bringing Honesty and Integrity Back to the White House," The Left Coaster, November 13, 2007.
 * Rich Lowry, "Obama Joins Right-Wing Attack Machine," National Review (RealClearPolitics), November 16, 2007.
 * "Sen. Obama Recycles Discredited Claim From Failed Book," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 17, 2007.
 * Ben Smith, "More Iowa TV," The Politico, November 18, 2007.
 * "Obama Campaign Tactics," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 18, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Obama Reaches into Hillary Hit Book," TaylorMarsh.com, November 19, 2007.
 * Greg Sargent, "Obama Camp Uses Disputed Gerth Account Of Clintons' 20-Year-Plan To Fault Hillary," TPMElectionCentral, November 19, 2007.
 * Partially Impartial, Comment re planted questions, The Daily Kos, November 23, 2007.
 * Fred Hiatt, "Calculation and Conviction," Washington Post, November 26, 2007.

December

 * Robert Novak, "Obama helped ex-boss get $1 mil. from charity. Senator's spokesman: 'Not a conflict to do what's right'," Chicago Sun-Times, December 2, 2007.
 * News Release: "Sen. Obama Rewrites History, Claims He Hasn't Been Planning White House Run," HillaryClinton.com, December 2, 2007.
 * Peter Nicholas and Peter Wallsten, "Romney, Clinton shake up tactics. As they slide in polls, he plans to speak on his religion, while she draws pointed differences with rival Obama," Los Angeles Times, December 3, 2007.
 * eriposte, "Hillary Clinton's Shockingly Unbelievable Character Attack on Barack Obama," The Left Coaster, December 3, 2007.
 * eriposte, "A Short History of Recent U.S. Presidential Politics - Part 6: Barack Obama Mimics the Media's Fraudulent Campaign against Al Gore," The Left Coaster, December 3, 2007.
 * "Fact Check: Hillary’s Iowa Remarks," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, December 3, 2007.
 * Bruce Dixon, "Oprah & Obama: Corporate Marketing for a Corporate Campaign," ZMag, December 13, 2007.

2008

 * Taylor Marsh, "Bill Clinton Chews Out the Press" and "Mr. Hope Plays Divider," TaylorMarsh.com, January 23, 2008.