The Clinton Machine

[dj-chefron]

After New Hampshire I was like :wtf: how can the polls shift that much in one day.Now Clinton supporters are blogging and going on the talk shows laying the ground work to overturn what might be the will of democratic voters by allowing the Mich. and Fl. results,and now I read this.


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Black voters are heavily represented in the 94th Election District in Harlem's 70th Assembly District. Yet according to the unofficial results from the New York Democratic primary last week, not a single vote in the district was cast for Senator Barack Obama.

That anomaly was not unique. In fact, a review by The New York Times of the unofficial results reported on primary night found about 80 election districts among the city's 6,106 where Mr. Obama supposedly did not receive even one vote, including cases where he ran a respectable race in a nearby district

[chldfknungrnd764]

We thought Bush was a monster?

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p269/chldfknungrnd764/TV%20Show%20images/upeA161.jpg

[DJ Loka]

After New Hampshire I was like :wtf: how can the polls shift that much in one day.Now Clinton supporters are blogging and going on the talk shows laying the ground work to overturn what might be the will of democratic voters by allowing the Mich. and Fl. results,and now I read this.


source?

[dj-chefron]

source?AK posted the full article in his thread New York Election Results.

[DJ Loka]

AK posted the full article in his thread New York Election Results.

:thumbsup:tks

[AK]

:thumbsup:tks

I don't think the NYT article deals with the Michigan/Florida situation, but the Clinton campaign and advisers are most definitely announcing plans to try to get those delegates seated and counted. This is pretty shameless...

Posted on Sat, Feb. 16, 2008
Clinton aide who backed sanctions against Florida and Michigan now wants to end them
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON | A top adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign voted for Democratic Party rules that stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates.
Now Harold Ickes is arguing against the very penalty he helped pass.

In a conference call Saturday, Ickes said the Democratic National Committee should reconsider its sanctions on the two states, which held early contests in violation of party rules.

He said millions of voters in Michigan and Florida would be otherwise disenfranchised.

Ickes explained that his different position essentially is due to the different hats he wears as both a DNC member and a Clinton adviser in charge of delegate counting.

Clinton won the primary votes in Michigan and Florida, and now she wants those votes to count.

“We had promulgated rules,” Ickes said, “and those rules said the timing provision … provides for certain sanctions, automatic sanctions as a matter of fact, if a state such as Michigan or Florida violates those timing provisions.

“With respect to the stripping, I voted as a member of the Democratic National Committee. Those were our rules, and I felt I had an obligation to enforce them,” he said.

Clinton won after all the Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state because they violated the party rules.

Clinton, who flew into Florida on primary eve but did not hold a public rally, argued that her rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, had violated the pledge by airing a national ad campaign that also showed on Florida television stations.

[AK]

I have to say, I have historically been a fan of the Clintons, but I am astounded at how poorly Hillary's campaign has been run and how out of touch they seem to be with what the country is looking for right now. Her campaign's message, theme and tone seems to change from week to week, and they clearly had no game plan whatseover for what to do after Super Tuesday. When I see her in boxing gloves and railing about being tough and fighting republicans, I cringe. The imagery and message is so plainly out of step with what's resonating with the American people. Why can't they see that? And when I see her holding a "victory rally" in Florida and hear her and her advisers talking about changing the rules in Florida and Michigan after the game has been played, I cringe. Who does not see that this is cheating? Why can't her campaign see that this doesn't make her look good? That it feeds into all of the negative, win-at-all-costs perceptions that people have about the Clintons?

I will never count Mrs. Clinton out until the proverbial stake is driven through her heart, but I think history is going to show that her campaign was a colossal failure in just about every way that a campaign can fail. While I obviously want Barack to win, when I step back I really don't get any joy out of seeing Bill and Hillary self-destruct and tarnish their legacy and accomplishments. They were once beloved in the African-American community, and now find themselves virtually pariahs getting 10% of the black vote. They're now flailing about with ridiculous attacks (Obama is afraid to debate her/all he does is give good speeches) and talking openly about ways to cheat and steal the election. It's a frickin' car wreck. I really hope some class and dignity emerges before it's too late.

[Huey P. Freeman]

I have to say, I have historically been a fan of the Clintons, but I am astounded at how poorly Hillary's campaign has been run and how out of touch they seem to be with what the country is looking for right now. Her campaign's message, theme and tone seems to change from week to week, and they clearly had no game plan whatseover for what to do after Super Tuesday. When I see her in boxing gloves and railing about being tough and fighting republicans, I cringe. The imagery and message is so plainly out of step with what's resonating with the American people. Why can't they see that? And when I see her holding a "victory rally" in Florida and hear her and her advisers talking about changing the rules in Florida and Michigan after the game has been played, I cringe. Who does not see that this is cheating? Why can't her campaign see that this doesn't make her look good? That it feeds into all of the negative, win-at-all-costs perceptions that people have about the Clintons?

I will never count Mrs. Clinton out until the proverbial stake is driven through her heart, but I think history is going to show that her campaign was a colossal failure in just about every way that a campaign can fail. While I obviously want Barack to win, when I step back I really don't get any joy out of seeing Bill and Hillary self-destruct and tarnish their legacy and accomplishments. They were once beloved in the African-American community, and now find themselves virtually pariahs getting 10% of the black vote. They're now flailing about with ridiculous attacks (Obama is afraid to debate her/all he does is give good speeches) and talking openly about ways to cheat and steal the election. It's a frickin' car wreck. I really hope some class and dignity emerges before it's too late.About 10 months ago one of her spokemen was on Hardball. After hearing him speak I knew what direction her campaign was going to go. I told my brother that day there was no way in hell after hearing that cat speak that I would vote for her. Her subsequent acts have done nothing but reaffirm my position. Fuck her.

[AK]

About 10 months ago one of her spokemen was on Hardball. After hearing him speak I knew what direction her campaign was going to go. I told my brother that day there was no way in hell after hearing that cat speak that I would vote for her. Her subsequent acts have done nothing but reaffirm my position. Fuck her.

One of the things that is so transparent and offensive is this. They completely lost their grip on the black vote leading up to South Carolina when they engaged in conduct that many saw as unfair attacks that were demeaning of Barack. Now they have obviously decided that such unfair, demeaning attacks are their last best hope of pulling out the election. In other words, already lost the black vote so fuck them, let's try to resonate with whites and latinos.

Barack only gives a good speech and hasn't actually accomplished anything? How insulting and degrading to this man who is obviously an extraordinarily accomplished United States Senator. Barack has disagreements with Hillary on some of the issues, but I guarantee you he would not sink to the level of dismissing her qualifications and accomplishments out of hand, as though she is not worthy of even competing against him. In fact, while many inside and outside of his campaign have wanted him to directly call her out on her so-called "35 years of experience," he has declined and always been respectful of her accomplishments.

[dj-chefron]

If the Clintons want to play the game of dirty politics even though I would hope we were beyond that well I say let the games begin.
By David Corn

February 15, 2008


Maggie Williams brings back memories—and baggage. The new campaign manager for Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, who replaced Patti Solis Doyle earlier this week, was chief of staff for First Lady Clinton. In that role, she became a bit player in two major Clinton War battles of the 1990s: Whitewater and the campaign-fundraising scandal, which included allegations that China had tried to illegally funnel donations to the Democratic Party. In each case, Williams was the target of conservative suspicions about the Clinton gang—some overheated—but she escaped any real trouble. Her involvement in the White House fundraising caper, though, did raise questions about her credibility.

Whitewater was a mess of a scandal. It began with allegations about a real-estate partnership the Clintons incorporated in Arkansas in 1979 with a dodgy banker named James McDougal, and spread to include the suicide of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster, and, later, Bill Clinton's extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. After Foster's body was found on July 20, 1993 in Fort Marcy Park above the Potomac River, on July 20, 1993, right-wing journalists and agitators cooked up and promoted wild theories connecting his death—or murder!—with the Whitewater scandal. The allegation was rubbish. But one part of the scandal centered on the charge that high-ranking Clinton officials, after hearing of Foster's death, quickly cleared his office of supposedly incriminating documents related to Whitewater. Williams, Clinton antagonists claimed, was part of this conspiracy.

During the Republican-led Whitewater hearings held in the Senate in 1995, GOP senators tried to nail Williams. Pointing to phone records that showed dozens of phone calls among Williams, Hillary Clinton, White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum, and Susan Thomases, a Hillary pal, Republican senators suggested this group had conspired to remove documents from Foster's office before investigators probing his death could examine them. Yet the investigation produced no solid evidence. A Secret Service agent did testify that he saw Williams leaving with files, but she denied doing so and submitted to two lie detector tests, which registered no deception on her part. (She maintained that she had transferred files out of the office only after investigators were done with them.)

The whole Whitewater/Foster to-do was a blur of allegations. Foster's death was repeatedly ruled a suicide. And in the end, neither the Clintons nor their aides (including Williams) were charged with any wrongdoing.

During the campaign-finance investigation, plenty of sleazy fundraising practices (of both Democrats and Republicans) were probed by House and Senate committees. Williams, for her part, became ensnared in an episode involving Johnny Chung, a Taiwan-born businessman and prominent contributor to the Democratic National Committee. A frequent White House visitor, Chung often hung out in the First Lady's office staring—literally—at pictures of Hillary Clinton. Williams' assistant, Evan Ryan, testified that that the First Lady's staff found Chung's visits "disturbing." But Williams told Senate investigators that because Chung was a "contributor," she instructed her office to treat him with respect, like "any other irritable jerk who would show up."

On December 19, 1994 the DNC received a $40,000 donation from Chung, and the next day he was allowed to bring a delegation of Chinese businessmen to the White House residence for a holiday reception, where Chung and the gang had their pictures taken with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Several months later, Chung asked Hillary Clinton's office for help on several fronts. He wanted a photo with Hillary, a tour of the premises, lunch in the White House mess, and an invitation to bring another delegation of Chinese business associates to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to attend the President's weekly radio address. Ryan, Williams' assistant, testified that she had told her boss about these requests and informed Williams that Chung intended to make a contribution to the Democratic Party. According to Ryan, Williams instructed her to help Chung and mentioned that perhaps the Democratic Party could use a donation from Chung to pay the White House money it was owed by the party. (The DNC, like other organizations, had to pay for expenses related to events it held at the White House.)

Chung's request was granted, and on March 9, 1995, he and his business pals were escorted by Ryan to the White House for lunch, given a private tour, and were taken to the Map Room for a photo op with the First Lady. Afterwards, Chung handed Williams a donation to the DNC, this time for $50,000. That weekend, he and his business associates attended the President's radio address.

A key issue was whether Williams and the First Lady's office had traded favors at the White House for campaign cash. In testimony before the Senate governmental affairs committee, Williams denied she had asked for the donation and said there had been no quid pro quo. She insisted that Chung had essentially shoved an unsolicited check into her hand and that she immediately dropped it in her outbox for forwarding to the DNC—without even looking at the amount. She said that it was not unusual for Hillary Clinton's office to receive unsolicited contributions for the Democratic Party in the mail and that her aides routinely sent them on to the DNC. Chung told a different story, claiming Williams and Ryan had requested the donation.

Overall, Chung contributed $366,000 to the DNC between 1994 and 1996 (and eventually there were questions about whether this was his own money or whether he was fronting for other sources, including the Chinese government). It was pretty obvious at the time that he was looking to impress his business associates with the access those gifts won him. And that was a central part of the Clinton fundraising scandal: the selling (or renting) of access to whomever would donate big bucks to the DNC. Those who did so could brag to friends, clients, and business connections that they were well-wired into the Clinton White House—and perhaps that helped them grease their own business deals. This sort of quasi-scam was not a Democratic or Clintonian sin. But the Clinton White House did perfect the art. (It is illegal to solicit or receive political contributions in government offices, but it was not clear if taking a check and placing it in an outbox—as Williams said she did with Chung's donation—was a violation of the law.) In 1997, the DNC returned Chung's contributions.

In testimony before the Senate government affairs committee—then chaired by Republican Fred Thompson—Williams downplayed the Chung episode. But on a few key points Ryan, her assistant, contradicted her. Years later, it's not unreasonable to look at the record and conclude that Williams was part of a shifty system in which the Clinton White House would hand out favors (maybe just small ones) for anyone brandishing a check—and that she might have stepped over the line in following this standard operating procedure.

After leaving the White House in 1997, Williams, who'd previously worked for the Children's Defense Fund, spent several years in Paris as a communications consultant. She later returned to the U.S. and became president of Fenton Communications, a public relations firm that represents many progressive outfits and causes. Back in Hillary's employ since January, she's a reminder that the Clinton administration—beyond the trumped-up Whitewater matter and the much-exploited Lewinsky affair—had its share of legitimate ethics troubles. In 1997, Chung famously said, "I see the White House is like a subway: You have to put in coins to open the gates." Williams, according to Chung, was one of the collectors. Now she's Hillary Clinton's conductor.

[mhd]

maggie williams is no joke, this change in strategy is coming from her, for his part, obama does not have to say a word about it, because every time you see maggie williams name in print you are going to see a reference to johnny chung, as for dirty tricks, again, obama does not have to play that game, hilary is doing a great job of demeaning herself, its kind of sad really, especially when you have harold ickes speaking out of both sides of his neck, the more they pursue this strategy the more she can't win, like john lewis said, we can count and we see the clock, hilary is losing support more and more each day